A Nice Cup of Serendipity

« Return to Sri Lanka

Back at the factory, Andrew takes me through the processes of withering, rolling, fermentation, and drying as the leaves get classified and graded and slowly but surely ground down into the drink we know and love. He walks me through tea tasting, as delicate as any wine, where I ruin the genteel nature of the event by spitting out the tea and missing the pontoon. Did you know that tea-seeped water is known as liquor? I learn how tea was discovered by the Chinese thousands of years ago, when an emperor drank boiled water enriched by a wayward wind-blown tealeaf. I learn about its health benefits, from hardening arteries to preventing various forms of cancer, and how to make the perfect cup (water just to a boil, one spoon of tea per person, and one for the pot). Back at Tea Trails, I enjoy the finest tea in the world, in possibly the finest setting in which to drink it, and ponder another lesson learned…a whole new world of corporate responsibility.

From tea plantation to tea factory, the tea is packed in 50kg bags and sent to brokers who bargain for price and quantity. From here it is sent to the multinational marketers, who typically blend dozens of different teas of varying quality to get a tea bag that tastes OK for the lowest possible price. Then you get Dilmah, a family-owned, family-run Sri Lankan company that prides itself on producing pure, single origin tea. Now big companies wax on and wax off about corporate responsibilities, but I have never come across anything like Dilmah. Since its founding by Merrill J Fernando, Dilmah’s vision has always been to create a company that gives something back to the communities in which it operates. It supports an incredible 1500 community projects, from childcare to the aged, abused women, prisoner rehabilitation, sustaining the environment, education, medical - it’s overwhelming and completely inspiring. I’m typically sceptical about this sort of thing, companies that suddenly market green to take advantage of the prevailing consumer climate. But Dilmah have been giving back since its inception, and maybe it’s karma, but the fact that it now exports tea to over 80 countries means its success is spread around through its MJF Charitable Foundation. I visited one such empowerment project, where women from an impoverished village had been taught how to make pottery, and were being paid by Dilmah to make various items for their marketing. Everyone wins.

I have a moment to relax on the balcony of the bungalow before the long drive back to Colombo. A cup of tea has been brewed, and for the first time in my life I’m drinking it without sugar, as advised by Andrew (it negates all the health benefits). I wonder what songs Paul Simon played when he stayed in this same bungalow with his family, and kind of hear his guitar playing in my head. A cloud drapes over the hills, a soft wind blows, and distant cries of kids playing cricket can be heard in the distance. For a country that people are afraid to visit because of a tragic civil war, I don’t think I’ve ever quite experienced such peace. Finding something valuable not originally sort after. Serendipity indeed.

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