ORTHODOX TEA

Our journey begins with the careful hand-picking of tea leaves, each one chosen for its quality and freshness. These leaves are then expertly blended and specially packed, ensuring that their flavour remains robust and vibrant.

Within our Orthodox Tea range, you’ll find an array of tea bag options, from tag-less double chamber bags to enveloped varieties, each designed to cater to different preferences. Whether you prefer the convenience of string and tag tea bags or the eco-friendliness of staple-free options, we have something to suit every tea lover’s needs.

Sri Lankan teas offer a remarkable diversity, ranging from small leaf to long leaf varieties, each boasting its own unique flavour profile and visual appeal. Despite this diversity, the majority of Ceylon tea is crafted using the traditional orthodox method, ensuring a consistently high quality product.

Let’s delve into the captivating process of crafting our exquisite black tea:

1. Plucking: A skilled team delicately plucks only the uppermost leaves, ensuring the selection of the finest foliage.

2. Withering: The freshly plucked leaves are carefully spread out to undergo a transformative process, lasting 18 to 24 hours, where they lose moisture and undergo crucial changes.

3. Rolling: Through mechanised rolling, leaf cells are ruptured, releasing enzymes and facilitating aeration.

4. Aerating (Oxidation): The rolled leaves undergo aeration, allowing for vital chemical reactions to occur, with timing critical to achieving the desired flavour profile.

5. Drying: The tea leaves are then subjected to high temperatures, ranging from 99 to 104˚C (210-220˚F), halting further chemical transformations and resulting in the formation of classic black tea.

6. Grading: Following drying, the tea is sorted by leaf size, with larger grades commanding premium prices, and then bulk-packed for consistency.

7. Terroir Influence: Each region’s tea bears a unique taste and aroma, shaped by natural factors like soil, climate, and altitude.

Despite the standardised manufacturing process, each region’s tea offers its own unique characteristics, influenced by factors such as terroir, weather conditions, and the specific cultivars used. It is this diversity that makes Sri Lankan tea so special, offering a rich tapestry of flavours to delight tea lovers around the world.