Ceylon Tea ceremony launched during CHOGM 2013

The Sri Lanka Tea Board launched the first ever Ceylon Tea Ceremony for the First Ladies among the visiting VVIPs and leaders in attendance at CHOGM 2013.

As part of the spouses program, the visitors were taken on a tour of the Ape Gama exhibition, with a stopover for a quick visit at the Jana Kala Kendraya on November 16. The Ceylon Tea Ceremony was conducted during refreshment time hosted by the Sri Lanka Tea Board.

Sri Lanka which has the finest Ceylon Tea for over 150 years, has no tradition or ceremony like the Japanese tea ceremony.

The Sri Lanka Tea Board launched a new concept, a unique tea 'ceremony' for Ceylon Tea.

Upto now, Sri Lanka's tea industry had adopted the British Hi Tea version and had not developed a unique ceremony depicting its culture and heritage.

As a pioneering move, the Sri Lanka Tea Board initiated the Ceylon Tea Ceremony to offer brewed tea served with Sri Lankan traditional sweets and savouries with an artistic intervention.The Sri Lanka Tea Board obtained the services of Chandana Wickramasinghe's Dancers' Guild, for a specially designed dance and Sri Lankan Catering with their culinary expertise to introduce a special menu for the Ceylon Tea ceremony.

The Ceylon Tea Ceremony conceptualised the experience as being in the 'Court of the Kandyan Kingdom' of King Narendra Singha of the ealry 18th century AD. The 'King' in costumed regalia, welcomes his noble audience of visitors and summons the ladies of the court dressed as the Sigiriya Apsarawos to serve the guests.

A brew of fresh and hot Nuwara Eliya tea was poured from porcelain pots into porcelain cups.

A leaflet on seven agro climatic growing regions of Ceylon Tea, and instructions graphically presented on 'How to brew a perfect cup of Ceylon tea' was also distributed among the guests.

Finally, a specially crafted fine porcelain gilded Tea Pot in a presentation pack was presented to all the First Ladies.

The Sri Lanka Tea Board launched the Ceylon Tea Ceremony depicting Sri Lankan culture to bring respect, glamour and dignity to the brand and to the practice of tea consumption. The ceremony will be a regular feature at the Ceylon Tea House due to be opened soon and tourists could experience this event which will provide an experience of tea culture in Sri Lanka and indirectly help improve the image of Ceylon Tea in the world.