Read only if you really really LOVE tea

..you might want to put the kettle on...

 Ella is a wonderful little village in the hill country surrounded by tea plantations. The weather is sunny but not too hot, the vista in every direction makes you feel small in the good way (yes- looking for original ways to say 'nice view') and the only minor drawback is that they seem to have a bit of a fly problem. Or maybe that was just me after 3 weeks of backpacking...
Tea is huge in Sri Lanka and most of it is grown here in the hills where the temperatures are a little cooler.

The land of rolling tea plantations

We visited the Uva Halpewatte tea factory for a tour to learn more...

Each plantation, and all the plantation workers, are run independently by farm managers and the factories have no influence. The manager sets the no. of kilos the workers must pick each day to earn their salary, based on a visual survey of how much looks harvestable that morning. 

The tea pickers choose the younger leaves from the top of the tea bush as these give the highest quality. Machines were once tested to pick the leaves but results were poor as the best way to identify these younger softer leaves is through human touch. Most people in this area are employed through the tea industry, which employs over 1 million people, directly & indirectly, throughout Sri Lanka, and has played a key role in the country's development.

The leaves are at the factory day after being picked. They are then spread out to dry at air temperature for 12-15 hours losing 45% of their weight & moisture. Next, the leaves are put through machines called 'rollers' which break down the cell structures in the leaves to initiate the chemical processes which create the strength, flavour, quality etc... There are 4 rollers each taking 20-30 minutes. Some leaves are sieved and removed after roller 1 (highest quality) and the rest goes through roller 2 and so on until roller 4 is left with only stalks and tougher older leaves. This residue is used as fertiliser and to make the poorer quality cheaper tea that is sold in Sri Lanka. 95% of tea grown here is exported.

The broken down leaves are then left out to ferment and oxidise for 2-3 hours. After this they are fired to cease oxidation and fully remove the moisture.Now it is ready for packaging according to different grades based on size of the broken leaf which depends on which roller it came out of. Still following?!

We got to taste 4 different grades, the stronger end goes into English breakfast tea and the higher quality more refined flavour is for more speciality teas, apparently more suited to the afternoon dahling. This factory only produces black tea. All other tea comes from exactly the same plant but is just processed differently. 

The whole process from plant to packaging takes only 24-36 hours. Samples are sent to tea brokers, of which there are only 8 in Sri Lanka. These tea experts will taste and value the tea (as each crop obviously has variations) and then sell at a physical auction to tea magnates from around the world. The consistent flavour we find in most of our famous tea brands come from their method of blending lots of different teas from different places. So it's very unlikely you would drink tea only made in Sri Lanka.

What's particularly interesting is the way that the technology and method of distribution has changed so little over the last century. They seem very proud of these methods. The only modern additions to the factory are electronic scales and some air humidifiers.

Phew. After learning all we could about tea we climbed Little Adams Peak, named after the larger and more famous Adams Peak further West in the hill country, a pilgrimage site where Adam is said to have first set foot on Earth after being cast out of heaven, also know as Sri Pada, the sacred footprint left by the Buddha as he headed toward paradise. It's little sister was not too little and presented us with beautiful views of surrounding hills and waterfalls.

We passed this exclusive and isolated set of holiday homes en route...

...shortly before finding the helipad that serves these ridiculously nice cottages

Useful sign at the top of another nearby peak

The lovely Ruwana Falls

We managed to hitch a ride in a real life air conditioned car down to the South coast as a driver had just dropped someone off in Ella and had to go back down but wanted to make a few bob along the way if he could. So compared to 113km for £25 in a tuk-tuk, 180km in a car for £12 was pure affordable luxury. We're not getting lazy, just making sure to sample all forms of transport available in Sri Lanka yah?

stopping off for a short-eat