Galle, Sri Lanka is a small quiet town. Here instead of spending time in the city we drove an hour out to a tea plantation.

In addition to tea this planation also grows cinnamon, vanilla and pepper.

There are three main tea growing regions in Sri Lanka. These are, Low grown teas which are teas grown on an elevation between sea level to 600m, Mid Grown teas which are from 600m to 1,200m and High grown teas which are grown at an elevation above 1,200m. The taste, flavour and aroma of teas from each elevation are influenced by the conditions particular to those regions. Low grown teas, which are subjected to long periods of sunshine, dry and somewhat warm and moist conditions, exhibit a burgundy brown liquor and a malt, heavy note with black leaf appearance. Whereas High grown teas grown on an elevation of around 3,000 feet would be dramatically different – depending on the time of year, influenced by the chill winds, dry and cool conditions these teas are likely to be extraordinarily light, with greenish, grassy tones in honey golden liquors.

They use the Camellia sinensis var. assamica variety of tea bush.

Everything is done by hand, including the picking of the soft leaves and buds every 7 days.

We found it incredibly interesting to learn that black tea, green tea, oolong tea and white tea that are all grown from the same plant. The teas' only variation in how they are processed after they are plucked from the bush. Fascinating!

Here, at this small planation, they use very old, traditional equipment. The entire process of preparing the tea leaves from picking to boxing takes only three days.

A sealed box of tea can be kept for 1 year, but after opening it should be used up in 1 month.

An overall interesting experience in learning about David's national drink.