Isanka Lion Holidays


Tea Plantation & Factories



"Celebrated to be the finest tea in the world, the unique flavour, fragrance and freshness of Ceylon Tea set it apart from the rest"





Around the world, Ceylon tea has become a household name and a trademark name for high-quality tea. Even after independence in 1948, the demand for Ceylon tea continued to grow, until the island became the largest exporter of tea.


Tea was initially first discovered in China, approximately 5,000 years ago by Emperor Shen Nung. In 1824, the first tea bush was planted in Ceylon (the former name for Sri Lanka). It wasn’t until the turn of the 19th century, that tea was became popular around the world, especially Ceylon tea.


Ceylon tea is famed for its outstanding quality and superior, unparalleled taste and variety of tea. According to the 2017 EU Surveillance Report, Ceylon tea was marked as the cleanest tea in the market with regard to the pesticides and other chemicals usually found in tea. In 1997 and 1999, ISO declared Ceylon tea as the cleanest as well when it came to pesticide residue. The island was also the first to achieve the status of being “Ozone Friendly Tea” by the Montreal Protocol Treaty.


The legal branding of ‘Ceylon Tea’ is denoted by the iconic Lion logo, which is also represented in the national flag of the country. Any tea that is grown and manufactured in Sri Lanka has to adhere to stringent standards of quality that are set out by the Sri Lanka Tea Board. Any tea marked with the Lion logo represents quality tea that is Sri Lankan, i.e. it’s not mixed with tea from anywhere else in the world. Any tea with the lion logo should also be packed in Sri Lanka before being exported or distributed.


GO BACK

History of Ceylon Tea





The very first patch of tea was planted at Loolkandura Estate in the Kandy district as a test after the failure of a coffee plantation in Ceylon (Sri Lanka). With the wild success of this plantation, then 21-year-old planter James Taylor who was in charge of this plantation has been forever immortalized and has become a part of the post-colonization history of Sri Lanka.


Taylor had signed on for three years as an assistant supervisor on a coffee plantation in Ceylon in 1852. The sixteen-year-old Scot, son of a modest wheelwright, would never see his native land again. Five years after he took up his post, his employers, Harrison and Leake, impressed by the quality of his work, put Taylor in charge of the Loolkandura Estate (then Loolecondera Estate) and instructed him to experiment with tea plants. The Peradeniya nursery supplied him with his first seeds around 1860. He cleared 19 acres of forest in Hewaheta Lower and planted the first seedlings which became such a success which finally caused his downfall as well.



Ceylon Tea Museum





The Ceylon Tea Museum at Hantane, three kilometres from Kandy city is served by a motorable road that circles the museum, provides easy access and adequate parking facilities for cars and tourist coaches. The museum consists of four floors. The ground floor and the second floor exhibit very old items of machinery and the first floor consist of a library and an auditorium with facilities for audio visual presentations. The third floor is allocated to tea sales outlets, where a selection of Sri Lanka's fine tea is available. The entire top floor is a tea cafe. A panoramic view of the Kandy town surrounded by the beautiful Hunasgiriya, Knuckles Range and the Matale range of hills can be viewed through a telescope mounted on the fourth floor. The grounds surrounding the Tea Museum are landscaped with different varieties of teas. Kandy is a mandatory stop virtually on every tourist's itinerary and the location of the Ceylon Tea Museum at Hantane enhances the attraction of the hill country to visitors. Additionally, its proximity to the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens and Loolecondera estate, where tea was first grown commercially in Sri Lanka makes Hantane the perfect location.



Explore Sri Lanka's Tea Plantation & Factories !


Check Our Tour Packages

Tea pluckers in action



Heritance Tea Factory Hotel - Nuwara Eliya



St. Clairs Falls among tea estates - Talawakele



James Taylor's statue at Loolkandura Estate



Exclusive Ceylon Tea Boutique



Loolecondera - The Birthplace Of Ceylon Tea



Isanka Lion Holidays



No. 90 T. B. Tennekoon Mawatha, Sigiriya 21120, Sri Lanka.
Hotline: +94 76 700 3692
Email: info@isankalionholidays.com