Tea Keeps Teeth in Good Condition by Preventing Decay

     Researchers from the UK claim that drinking black tea may help keep teeth in good condition by preventing tooth decay and gum disease. A review of existing studies focused on tea's ability to combat two types of bacteria 

•   Streptococcus mutans and 
•   Lactobacillus 

       And concluded that three to four daily cups reduced their respective levels in the mouth. Compounds found in tea and known as flavanoids and catechins appear to reduce inflammation. They actually prevent the growth of bacteria that start a chain reaction with carbohydrates to produce acid, which then dissolves enamel. Similar effects were observed for green tea, which was also found to have the potential to aid weight loss by boosting energy expenditure and burning up more fat.

Japanese Green Tea Producessing

A New Trend... Biodynamic Farming

Tea Growing Areas in Sri Lanka

       The cool-breeze touched lush green-carpeted hill country of Sri Lanka is pregnant with the ideal climatic conditions for the growth of the worlds' finest tea, famous for its exquisite, qualities of invigorating flavor, color and taste-buds tickling aroma. However, tea is grown in slopes at three different elevations- 4000 ft above sea level (high grown), between 2000 ft. and 4000 ft. (mid- grown) and finally, below 2000 ft.(low grown).

Each elevation has its own distinctive characteristics in 

• Appearance
• Flavour
• Aroma
• Strength

Therefore, different grades of tea, by nature, come from different locations.

There are six main tea prodcing areas

• Nuwara Eliya

Delicately Fragrant

       As Nuwara Eliya is unique, so is its tea, the fragrance of cypress trees and the menthol of wild mint and eucalyptus float through the air and contributes to the teas characteristic flavour. Recognized by tea connoisseurs, it has been said that Nuwara Eliya, at 6,250 feet (1,900 meters) above sea level for Ceylon tea is what champagne is to French wine. Brewed light it makes for a very smooth cup of tea that can also be iced for a refreshing difference.

• Dimbulla

Refreshingly Mellow

       One of the earliest areas to be planted after tea took over from coffee in the 1870’s, Dimbulla is, perhaps the most famous name associated with Ceylon tea. The plantations, located at 3,500 to 5,500 feet (1,100 meters to 1,700 meters) above sea level, cover the western slopes of the district.

       The monsoon rain and the cold dry weather produce a range of teas, from full bodied to light and delicate. Enjoy with or without milk.

• Kandy

Intensely Fullbodied

        An ancient capital of Ceylon, Kandy is also the first place where tea was grown in Sri Lanka. These mid country teas, grown on plantations at 2,000 to 4,000 feet (600 meters to 1,200 meters) produce a full bodied tea. Ideal for those who like their tea strong and bursting with flavour. Best served with milk.

• Uda Pussellawa

Exquisitely Tangy

        Located east of Nuwara Eliya, the tea grown on the Uda Pussellawa mountain range experiences two periods of superior quality. The traditional eastern quality season from July to September is the peak but the dry, cold conditions of the first quarter of the year yield a range of rosy teas. Of medium body and subtle character these teas produced a majestic flavour.

• Uva

Exotically Aromatic

        Grown at an elevation between 3,500 to 5,500 feet (1,100 meters to 1,700 meters) above sea level, on the eastern slopes of Sri Lanka’s central mountains, the Uva teas have a truly unique flavour. These teas are commonly used in many different blends but, with there different characteristics, they can also be enjoyed on there own.

• Ruhuna

Distinctively Unique

        These teas uniqueness begins with the low elevations of its plantations. The southern part of Sri Lanka, though now traditionally known for its tea growing does produce an exceptional tea. Grown from sea level to about 2,000 feet (600 meters) above sea level, the particular condition of the soil gives the leaves blackness and imparts in the brew a strong and distinctive taste. A perfect cup for those who like there tea thick and sweet, with or without milk.

Sustainable cultivation methods

Ceylon Tea and the Environment

     Sustainability is not just a fashionable catch-phrase among members of Sri Lanka’s tea industry. In recent years, the drive towards sustainable practice in all aspects of the cultivation, manufacture, storage, transportation and distribution of Ceylon Tea has gathered momentum, with new legislation and industry rules being put in place. Alliances have been forged with international conservation bodies and hundreds of individual initiatives are being practised on estates and smallholder farms throughout Sri Lanka’s tea-growing districts. Concern for sustainability is not new to the Ceylon tea industry. An early industry initiative was to prohibit the use of DDT, while the use of wooden tea-chests was abandoned over twenty years ago. Sri Lanka now produces the world’s only ozone-friendly tea, certified under the Montreal Protocol on greenhouse gases. This was achieved through an industry-wide effort backed by the Tea Board. Read more about this important advance.

A tradition of sustainable forestry

     Although the central mountains of Sri Lanka were thinly inhabited in ancient times, historical authorities hold that a kind of forest conservation was practise under the Sinhalese kings who ruled the island in those days. Its purpose was to preserve local ecosystems which ensured that the monsoon winds would shed most of their moisture in these mountains as rain, and that this rainfall should run freely down natural watercourses in the mountains to reach reservoirs built among the foothills.

     Thence, the water would be channelled through a network of canals and naturally-occurring streams to fill the vast artificial reservoirs or tanks that irrigated the rice-fields of the central and southern plains of ancient Lanka. The remains of ancient hydraulic works are still found at various locations in the hill country.

Preserving the forests

     Above the estates of the Sabaragamuwa tea-growing district lies the Sinharaja, a tract of virgin high-altitude rainforest that is home to hundreds of species of plant and animal found nowhere else in the world. Apart from its natural treasures, the Sinharaja forest also has important climatic effects on the surrounding countryside. Other high-altitude ecosystems, such as the Hakgala forest reserve in Uda Pusselawa district, Horton Plains and the Peak Wilderness around Adam’s Peak, are also essential elements in the web of climatic and ecological interactions that give Ceylon Tea its unique character.

Tea planters have long understood the importance of preserving the forests that lie above the tea, and a considerable part of the labour of running a tea-estate is dedicated to this task. To an experienced planter, the condition of the surrounding forests is one of the marks by which a well-run tea plantation is judged.

     Today, when climate change is a reality experienced daily and deforestation is a worldwide issue, the emphasis on forest conservation in the Ceylon Tea industry is stronger than ever. It is, in fact, part of a wider concern for environmental issues relating to tea cultivation, such as competition for water resources and pollution from fertilizers, on which the industry is now acting. Many Sri Lankan estates and smallholder cooperatives have entered into partnership with the Rainforest Alliance, an international non-profit organization that sets standards for sustainable practice by land users of all kinds, including tea cultivators. The Alliance offers valuable certification to cultivators who conform to these standards, and works with some of the world’s leading tea producers to promote them.

Standards and best practices

     Sri Lankan tea growers now follow the standards the Sustainable Agriculture Network, an international body that sets standards and recommends best practices for sustainability. Inspection and certification is undertaken through the Rainforest Alliance. The first estates to achieve this were in Uva, among the Passara and Namunukula mountain ranges; other regions soon followed, with estates in Dimbula, Kandy and Uda Pussellawa being among the early adopters. The process still continues  indeed, at the time of writing, Alliance representatives are visiting several estates in the Nuwara Eliya district, as well as  for the first time  smallholder farms in the low-grown regions of Ruhuna.

(Source :- Sri Lanka Tea Board)