Harvest Report: Sri Lanka

An update on Sri Lanka's 2018 crop, coming soon to a cup near you.

Teas from the island of Sri Lanka are still referred to as Ceylons. These black teas provide the backbone for many of our favorite blends. Most commonly sought after for their body, austerity, bite and flavoury elements, they are preferred by the Russian and Middle Eastern markets that rely heavily on the intensity of flavor found in the cup as well as the even black color of the dry leaf. Finding leaf grades of these teas, however, can be challenging because the majority of production in Sri Lanka caters toward smaller fanning grades of tea leaves for more mass-produced tea bags. We work with a tea broker out of Colombo, whom we have worked with for many years, to seek out the leaf grades that will give us these elements of quality we hang our hats on.

There are two seasons for Ceylons - one in January/February and the other in July/August - dependent upon monsoons that hit the island at opposite ends of the year. When monsoons arrive on the Eastern side of island, as it typical in February and March, the growing climate is ideal on the Western side. After crops on the Western side of the island have been picked and processed, samples are air shipped to our Tea Department for evaluation. We receive lots of 25 or more teas that need immediate evaluation before they go to auction. Sri Lanka is one of just two remaining tea producing countries whose production is government controlled, so all purchases must be done through auction. We choose the teas we want, inform our auction partner, and ask them to go to auction and bid on our behalf.

This year, quality in the cup got off to a later start than normal, but we were able to secure some wonderful teas. Bright days and cool nights persisted through the final days of the growing season, which helped to yield high quality, concentrated and complex flavors in the lots we confirmed. Some are from marks we’ve purchased from in the past, like Kenilworth and Craighead. While others were from new gardens that surprised us. Doombagastalawa and Orange Field are two that stood out to us – showing great top notes as well as body and structure. While we mostly focused on western teas in these auctions, we were wowed by Nuwara Eliya from the Lover’s Leap garden in central Sri Lanka and some Uvas from Adawatte and Oodoowerre on the eastern side of the island. We simply had to have them. Overall, we confirmed 12 separate lots - all single garden, unblended teas - to support our production until next year’s harvest.

Taking each auction lot in stride and cupping these teas side by side shows the depth of their flavor and the diversity that the island brings throughout the year. Weather conditions and the short window of availability at harvest creates a welcomed stressful environment that builds character and complexity, both for tea buyers and the teas we buy. We’re thrilled with the quality of Ceylons heading our way and are eager to share them with you.

Warmly,
Sara Kaufman
Tea Buyer

Explore our entire collection of Sri Lankan teas here.