Also of interest is the fact that the origins of tea could be traced to China and the North East parts of India. It found its way to Ceylon (as Sri Lanka was then called) in 1824 from China and 15 years later, in 1839 from Assam (India) and was grown in the Botanical Gardens in Peradeniya and Nuwara Eliya, respectively, on an experimental basis.

However, it took 28 (long) years thereafter, when tea planting on a commercial scale was undertaken. James Taylor planted tea on Loolecondra Estate in the Hewahata District with seeds procured from Assam (India). Around the same time, clearings were opened by the brothers Solomon and Gabriel de Worms at Labookellie Estate in the Ramboda District with seeds procured from China. The year 1873 saw the first tea export from Ceylon to London. It contained 23 pounds.

Twenty years later, the exports increased to a staggering 82 million pounds - the result of prudent expansion of tea planting. Little Sri Lanka, today, can be justifiably proud of being the leading exporter in the world with the figures for the year 2002 posting nearly 650 million pounds. It naturally follows that, as a result, Colombo is the largest tea auction centre in the world.

Nestled amidst the picturesque hills along the road from Kandy to Nuwara-Eliya lies the charming Mackwoods Labookellie Tea Centre. Natasha Akolawala dropped in to try a ‘cuppa’. The Mackwoods Labookellie Tea Centre is popular for a freshly brewed premium cup of tea from the misty hills, enjoyed with a piece of rich home-made chocolate cake beside a magical view. The Centre offers true ‘tea culture’ with an instructive tour around the tea factory to understand the finer points in tea production and its proud heritage.

At the Tea Centre a selection of the finest quality aromatic graded Mackwoods teas are available; ranging from blended high grown to single estate teas like the Mackwoods Labookellie, Weddamulla and Frotoft estate teas. What makes the Tea Centre refreshingly unique is that it’s a place where fragrant teas are hand-plucked, packed and sold garden fresh right where it is grown.

The Mackwoods Gift Teas selection offers something for everyone and is presented in a wide range of pack sizes and designs, with tea flavoured with lemon, Earl Grey, strawberry, mint, cinnamon etc, and exclusive collections of gift teas packed in exquisitely crafted ceramic, delicate porcelain, terra cotta and wood containers, soft-toys and intricately carved brass and silver-plated tea chests and tea canisters.

The Mackwoods Group has plans to develop and expand the existing Tea Centre because of its popularity as a tourist attraction. They want to incorporate as a tourist attraction. They want to incorporate more awareness-building activities on the importance and history of tea and inculcate the healthy habit of tea drinking among the younger generation. In addition, initiatives are underway to improve all aspects of the plantation to become more competitive globally.

The Tea Centre is in the process of creating a Sri Lankan tea museum nearby so that visitors could not just or purchase tea but learn more about Sri Lanka’s highest revenue earning crop. The focus of the company is to elevate Mackwoods Fine Tea to niche product status rather than a mere everyday commodity.

Labookellie Estate Tea factory was recently awarded ISO 9001-2000 Certification from the SGS, UK, thus making it the first tea factory to be accredited with this certification for the manufacture of black teas. Mackwoods Single Estate Fine Teas have also been launched internationally through several pioneer ‘Tea Tasting and Opera’ events conducted in Europe.

Last summer, the Mackwoods tea marquee at the World Tea Party in London hosted by the Horniman Museum in London which is famed for its association with the tea trade, provided the opportunity for many to enjoy the special flavour of Mackwoods Fine Tea. Alongside Blend for the discerning tea connoisseur.

Mackwoods was accorded the unique privilege of presenting the Mackwoods ‘Queen’s Golden Jubilee Blend’ at Buckingham Palace, London. This connoisseur’s blend, which carried the official Golden Jubilee Logo, was especially created to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, thereby establishing Mackwoods Fine Ceylon Tea as a brand of exceptional quality.

At last a place has opened in Colombo dedicated to serving a decent cup of tea. Like a breath of fresh air to chase away the fumes of the city, Tea Breeze has opened in Colombo with the noble objective of making a good cup of tea a reality for residents and visitors. In the capital of Sri Lanka, the country that gave the world “Pure Ceylon Tea,” the opening of a café serving tea might not sound newsworthy. But it is.

I remember in the 1980s walking into a medium-range café (now closed down) on the Galle Road and asking for a cup of tea. I was told, by the manager who was sitting at his desk with a mug of tea in front of him, that the establishment did not serve tea. That was true, and has been true for decades – there has been nowhere in Colombo (apart from some enterprising hotels) to have a good “cuppa.”

The local cafes and corner stalls serve hot water in which has been marinated a few tea bags, or water that has been poured through a sieve of tea and had heaps of sugar added to it. There are also those wonderful wayside boutiques where a lad juggles with containers and pours a frothy stream of a milky concoction, from a great height from one container down into another. An interesting beverage, but not tea, as we know it.

Tea Breeze however, provides a unique tea experience to discerning clientele, and is an eminently suitable platform for Ceylon Tea. It is part of the Mackwoods Group, one of Sri Lanka’s oldest conglomerates, founded in 1841. (A portrait of the original Mackwood appears on the side of the tea pots in the café.) Mackwoods also runs the Labookellie Tea Centre on the road between Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya, the most popular of hill country tea outlets. For years it was the only place where visitors could buy freshly packed, single estate tea, whilst also enjoying a tour of the tea factory on Mackwoods Labookellie tea estate.

Mackwoods, of course, was also the pioneer of fine tea tasting and opera events in Europe, and had the distinction of carrying the Queen’s Golden Jubilee logo, and presenting their Connoisseur’s Ceylon tea “The Queen’s Golden Jubilee Blend”, created to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of the Queen, at Buckingham Palace.

With the opening of Tea Breeze it is at last possible actually to drink and enjoy single estate teas (there are 33 varieties available) in the centre of Colombo in a refined setting. The entrance is through the Arkipelego store on the right, heading inland up Dharmapala Mawatha from the Liberty Plaza roundabout. Tea Breeze is perched on the first floor, with a wide window view of the traffic below.

The flooring is parquet, the tea bar of handmade walnut burl, the ambience genteel and contemporary, the service smooth, and the tea – well, its however you want it like Orange Pekoe (OP) without sugar and the couple of cups I had there reassured me that good tea is alive and well. It is served in individual tea pots and comes with complimentary tiny tea cookies.

Tea Breeze is open everyday from 9:00 to 19:00hrs and features some amazing variations on tea. “Tea Tantalizers” are drinks of flavoured tea, cream and ice cream, all in delectable flavours. A big hit is the English High Tea of scones, jams, butter, a slice of gorgeous gateau or cheese cake (fasinationgly made from different grades of Mackwoods teas), and a pot of single estate tea.

The name Mackwoods is synonymous with high quality Ceylon tea, as the company has been associated with tea almost since its inception. Jonathan Swift said that “Tea is water bewitched.” This describes the refreshing flavour of Mackwoods Labookellie tea centre, surrounded by the lush green tea plantations of Labookellie estate enroute to Nuwara-Eliya. This is a warm and welcome sight for many a traveler, both local and international. Over the years, the Mackwoods Labookellie tea centre has refreshed and rejuvenated the young and old from across the globe, with its freshly brewed ‘cuppa’ and its mouth-watering chocolate cake.

Visitors are given an invaluable insight in to the process by which the ‘two leaves and bud’ so deftly plucked by nimble tea pluckers are transformed into the aromatic tea which is served at this center.

The Mackwoods Tea marquee at the world tea Party, hosted by the Horniman Museum in London famed for its association with the tea trade. Provided the opportunity for many to enjoy the special flavour of Mackwoods tea marquee offered visitors a delectable rang of Ceylon teas including flavoured teas such as chamomile and mint. Different grades of single estate Labookellie tea to satisfy all plates. As well as special blends such as the unique Mackwoods 160th anniversary blend for the discerning tea connoisseur.

Mackwoods directors were accorded the unique privilege of presenting the Mackwoods ‘Queens Golden Jubilee Blend’ at Buckingham Palace, London.  This connoisseur’s blend, which carried the official Golden Jubilee Logo, was specially created to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Throughout its philosophy of commitment to quality. Mackwoods established in 1841. Continues this tradition of excellence in Ceylon tea internationally.

Lasciamo i bimbi e proseguiamo per la fabbrica: la Labookellie, consigliata sulla nostra Lonley Planet.

Si tratta di un fabbricato in metallo, posto al centro delle piantagioni. Ogni piantagione forma una comunità, chiamata Estate. Ognuna ha un proprio villaggio per i dipendenti, una scuola e un asilo (quello in cui per caso eravamo finiti), un medico. Insomma sono autosufficienti, e non potrebbe che essere così…

The ladies opted for "Ayurvedic" massage, which took up the whole morning. I took a stroll around Kandy old town, listed on UNESCO world heritage site. There are a mix of old colonial and ancient buildings, which included the famed Temple of the Tooth (of Buddha). After a quick look at the Temple, we left for Nuwara Eliya. Enroute, we stopped at Labookellie high-grown tea factory, one of the biggest for free tea-tasting and factory visit. Many purchased the tea here, which are all hand-picked. We arrived in Nuwara Eliya at about 6pm, giving us a little time to drive around the town. We even managed to shop for "branded" outdoor gear, which is manufactured in Sri Lanka for the Western market. Overnight Nuwara Eliya...

Labookellie is one of the 700 tea factories in Sri Lanka and are producers of the best tea on this island. It's a multistore building and is just abt. 10 km from Nuwara Eliya in the Rambod sub-district.

Sri Lanka is the world's biggest tea exporter, so it is a must to visit one tea factory, otherwise you can not say you have been in Sri Lanka...

Aside from the tea plantations, tourists can also visit some tea factories in the area. You will soon get used to the unappealing sight of these factories - they are drab two- or three-storied buildings, which somehow look like sinister boarding schools. Notwithstanding the appearance, the fresh tea smell emanating from the factories is truly enticing.

One factory open to visitors is Labookellie, 10 kms along the Nuwara Eliya-Kandy Road. While passing it by bus on your way from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya, ask the conductor to be let off there, leave your luggage in a storage room, and have a look around. You can also purchase some of Labookellie's tea, which is supposed to be among Sri Lanka's best. The tea estate is also an easy taxi ride from Nurelia.

I feel particularly fond of this tea for three reasons. Firstly because it is a good tea in itself; secondly because I twice had the privilege of visiting the plantation and factory, near Nuwara Eliya in the central hills of Sri Lanka; thirdly because it brings back such happy memories of a night spent at the splendid Hill Club, also at Nuwara Eliya.

The Labookellie Tea Factory is an extraordinary place - a large wooden building filled with the delicious scent of drying tea leaves. The machinery used for moving, filtering, sorting and packaging the tea all has a delightful Heath-Robinson look to it. The wooden tea-crates awaiting shipment with the company name and content stencilled in black on the sides seem to me ever so romantic - shades of the East India Company, Thermopylae, Cutty Sark and the other great tea clippers. They serve a first-class afternoon tea there too, accompanied with slices of excellent home-made fruit-cake and chocolate-cake...

"We believe in optimism, skill, resilience, and faith in the face of adversity. This is the success story of our business and the prime reason for our existence even after 161 years," said the Chairperson of the Mackwoods Group of Companies, Mrs. Sriyani Nonis. "No one can survive without it."

Mrs. Nonis said adding that "The company has withstood two world wars and has seen the changing demands and vicissitudes of three centuries. "We have served the country through these eras of rapid change, and we have been constantly prepared to adapt, while still maintaining our core business philosophy "Tradition with vision".

Die Teefabrik von Mackwoods gehört zu denen, die trotz Angst vor Werksspionage auch heute noch besichtigt werden kann. Fotografieren ist jedoch in weiten Teilen der Anlage verboten, nachdem US-Amerikaner ein paar Blätter auf dem Boden fotografiert haben und der Fabrik anschließend in einer Fernsehsendung unhygienische Verarbeitungsweisen vorgeworfen wurden.