Loose leaf tea is a luxury in more ways than one. It encourages proper brewing, and the enjoyment of fine tea. This is more important than ever today as the serenity in a cuppa begins with brewing, continues through its appearance and expression of the influence of nature.

With or without milk, fine tea is a luxury that only demands a little respect. Fine tea is the ultimate taste adventure – infinite in its nature induced variety, a natural and inspiring herb that is imbued with natural antioxidant goodness and taste. That’s just one part of the story though for good tea requires good brewing. Whether with or without milk, tea can only delight when brewed properly. It’s not hard, but it is rewarding, and at a time that stress and chronic illness are increasing, we have never needed the goodness in tea more than now. The jury is out on whether tea should be taken with or without milk and it’s mostly a question of taste, but that debate should not distract anyone from drinking tea.

A new generation is driving change in a tea category where for decades price has meant more than taste or goodness. The trend they are forcing is about taste and wellness but so much more. As younger customers turn to tea, they are demanding a more sincere appreciation of ethics and sustainability. This offers a glimmer of hope for passionate tea growers who make tea for the love of the leaf.

A growing body of scientific evidence points to the human health benefits in tea. Yet tea growers who value quality suffer the consequences of discounting that drives them to compete with cheap, blends that are popular for the ability it gives brands to discount and lure consumers through price. That is harmful to an industry struggling to overcome an exploitative, colonial history and evolve into a sustainable, climate adapted, socially responsible tea industry.

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Amidst the chaos and cost of COVID are looming climate and social challenges. A focus on cheap as a means of restarting retail post COVID has the potential to create greater dislocation than COVID itself.

In March last year, an accomplished and empathetic photographer, Yuriko Nakao visited Sri Lanka and the Merrill J. Fernando Foundation’s Western Centre on the outskirts of Colombo. Making pictures at…

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The Colombo International Tea Convention 2017 concluded on Friday, elegantly supported by our most accomplished cricketer and commended by several of the international delegates as the most significant gathering of…

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For centuries the world has valued tea more than any other herb. Of course there is coffee, but the bean only shares a faint glimmer of the brilliance in tea.…

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View Full Album There is a powerful emotion that the act of pouring a cup of tea evokes. Visually, the cues include the appearance of the amber liquid pouring into…

  There is no beverage quite like tea. Brewed from the leaves of a herb first recorded as a medicine five thousand years ago, tea has since been celebrated in…