You, me and Camellia Sinensis
by Aditha Dissanayake
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Tea boilers |
"Tea has sustained us, not just the economy"
Chairman,
Colombo International Tea
Convention Organising
Committee,2007
***
Boy George was perhaps right when he said if he had to choose between
having a good cup of tea and having sex, he would choose the former.
Especially if it happens to be tea made in Sri Lanka, for as Dr. Ziyad
Mohamed once observed when he was the Director of the Tea Research
Institute Thalawakelle, Ceylon Tea is the best tea in the world.
Does everyone agree? "Well....no comment" mutters a delegate from
Tanzania when I pose the question to him at the Tea Convention, 2007,
last Thursday.
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Tea fields in Thalawakelle |
Even though he admits he is the owner of four tea estates in
Tanzania, he says he would rather not comment on the difference between
the tea manufactured in his country and the tea he has tasted here in
Sri Lanka, especially that morning during the tea break .
"Talk to the leader of our delegation" he suggests meaning in other
words he would like to terminate the conversation. No way! Is this his
first visit to Sri Lanka? Does he like our country? He gives me a wide
grin. "Yes.
This is a lovely country. I like it very much" Even the awful
weather? (Remember it rained cats and dogs in Colombo on Thursday
morning). "Yes. Even the weather is great." he says still smiling. "
Back in Tanzania we consider the rain, a blessing".
But for Dan Seevaratnam, the rain on Thursday morning prophesied
doom. In his interesting presentation on Scientific Land Use Planning,
Employment Challenges and Managing Costs, Seevaratnam, commented that
the torrential rains that morning was an unusual occurrence and
signified the drastic results of global warming.
Talking about Employment Challenges, he admitted that finding a
solution for the problem of worker migration from plantations was easier
said than done and emphasized the need of addressing the concept of
mechanisation on tea estates.
Would this change the quality of the tea we drink? Would this change
that taste of perfection we are used to? It might. It might not. Chris
Lightfoot, the Representative from the Tea Research Foundation in
Zimbabwe had other things on his mind.
He said he was interested at the moment in research on Maximum
Residue Limits in tea. You and I might not fall into this category but
according to Chris, consumers world wide want the use of pesticides
minimised in the manufacturing process of the tea they drink.
This view tied up with the views expressed by the Minister of
Plantation Industries, D.M Jayaratne who emphasized the importance of
making the tea industry grow not only in volume but in value, as well.
Because tea, as everyone at the Colombo International Tea Convention
2007 agreed, is surely manna from heaven. A hot cup is not only a
refreshing drink, but a stress buster, a handy home remedy and one of
the few all-natural beverages that contain no sodium, fat, carbonates or
sugar - and of course, no calories.
Moreover, tea is totally natural. Nothing is added to the leaf from
the moment it is plucked to the moment it lands in your shopping bag.
From the tea bush to the tea cup, tea is free of additives, free of
colorants, free of preservatives.
Whereas coffee is for those in a rush, tea is for those who wish for
something to savour, something cleansing and good for your health and
above all something which helps you to slow down.
Ever heard of a word called tannin? Tannin is the "flavour" part of
the natural tea leaf.
Tannin gives you that distinctive tea flavour. Tannin will refresh
you and revive you with no after effects. A hangover? From the tannin in
your tea? Never.
Remember, when the world is all at odds and the mind is confused, a
cup of tea will make the laden moments vanish somehow into space. The
world will become a lovely place, all because you briefly stopped to
brew a cup of tea.
As William Gladstone said, "If you are cold, tea will warm you; if
you are depressed it will cheer you; if you are excited it will calm
you".
So, party all night, forget all your worries, find cloud nine with
this elixir called Camellia sinensis.
***
"The first cup, moistens
your lips and throat.
The second shatters
your loneliness
The third causes the wrongs
of life to fade gently
from your recollection.
The fourth purifies your soul.
The fifth lifts you to the realms
Of the un-winking gods"
- Chinese mystic during the Tang Dynasty
***
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