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SRI LANKAScheduled Dates: Flexible Price: $375/day, 4 days. Includes all ground transportation, high quality lodging, food, staffing, and events. Meeting Airport: Colombo, Sri Lanka Visa Required: None
THE ORIGIN: Sri Lanka, once named Ceylon, is a tiny island just south of India. Despite its small size, Sri Lanka is one of the world's most prolific producers of tea. At the center of the island, beautiful mountains and highlands provide a high-altitude, fertile home for tea. Good Ceylon tea has a characteristic brisk, citrusy profile.
Historically, Sri Lanka's production has been run under the colonial estate system. This system produces tea at a huge scale for the mass market (think Lipton teas), often at a very cheap price. This has caused problems for ethics and sustainability. The tea pickers at the estates are paid low wages and have a very low standard of living. However, some estates have been improving their ethical standards, and crafting some incredible teas as a result. We will spend our time at one such estate.
THE GROWERS:
Amba Estate in Uva, Sri Lanka Amba Estate is a smaller estate that has empowered their workers. The workers are involved at every step of the teamaking process, allowing them to have a sense of craftsmanship in their teas. The result is some of the most innovative, high-quality teas in Sri Lanka.
The estate also practices biodiverse agriculture, growing other crops like clove, black pepper, lemongrass, and cinnamon. This is beneficial not just for the environment, but for creating a more sustainable agricultural business for the workers and the community. >> Learn more about Amba Estate.
THE EXPERIENCE: In the Sri Lanka segment, we will experience first-hand the challenges in the South Asian tea industry, and see how ethical developments can help the problem. Enjoy the natural beauty of the Sri Lankan tea landscape and the colonial charm of the estate setting, as we will stay at the Amba Estate's garden bungalows. Meet the teamakers on the estate, and enjoy innovative Ceylon teas like Amba's OP1 With Tea Flowers, and enjoy the natural beauty of the Sri Lankan landscape along with the colonial charm of the estate setting.
Amba Estate's OP1 With Tea Flowers.
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