The UK Tea Academy

Ceylon Tea Masterclass

10 hours of learning over 4 live webinars, taught by James Suranga Perera, specialist in Ceylon teas and the Ceylon Tea industry.

Price includes a selection of over 20 fine Ceylon teas shipped directly to your door, for tasting during the webinars (International postage is £30. Restrictions apply, please click here for more info, especially if you live in Spain or Portugal)

In this masterclass, we will learn about the history of the Ceylon tea industry and explore some of the new types of tea being made in Sri Lanka as well as the traditional black teas produced in the island's 7 regions. We will visit each of those regions, learn more about the character of teas made there, and understand how some producers are thinking outside the traditional types of tea and are making teas crafted into flowers, coin-like rounds, beautiful regular balls or torch shapes.

To reserve your place on this course, you may complete the registration and pay an initial £75 deposit. You will then be asked to pay the remaining sum 4 weeks before the class (on or before 16th March 2024). Payment of the remaining balance in instalments is also possible, please contact us to arrange this. The deposit is non-refundable.

£30 postage for non-UK addresses. Restrictions apply, please make sure you read the information on this page carefully before making your booking, especially if you live in Spain or Portugal. If you wish to join the course from a region outside the UK, N America and Europe, please contact us to discuss further options

WHAT DOES IT COVER?

Webinar 1 (1 hour): An Introduction to Ceylon Tea: this opening webinar will discuss the Sri Lankan kingdom and its kings and introduce in detail the history and background of the Ceylon Tea Industry. This will include the first planting of tea in the 1830s, the crucial part played by James Taylor, the collapse of the coffee industry in 1869, Thomas Lipton’s contribution to the success of Ceylon tea, the effects of nationalisation of the tea estates in the 1970s and privatisation in the 1990s, the Lion Logo, characteristics of Ceylon teas, the 7 tea regions, and the 3 altitudes.

Webinar 2 (3 hours), Low Growing Ceylon Teas: we start in the hot and humid region of Ruhuna where assamica plants thrive, and we visit Lumbini, an award-winning tea estate where both traditional black teas and carefully handcrafted teas are produced. Next we visit Pothotuwa Tea Estate whose teas regularly achieve premium prices in the Colombo auctions. We then move on to Brombill Tea Factory in low lying Mathugama, New Vithanakande Tea Factory in Sabaragamuwa, and (our final visit in this module) Sithaka Tea which produces a number of varieties of black tea at its 2 factories. During the class, we will taste 5 different grades of tea produced by these estates.

Webinar 3 (3 hours), Mid and High Grown Teas: in this module, we will taste 10 teas from 4 different regions. Our first stop is Kandy, once the capital of the Island and still an important cultural centre. Other regions visited in this module include Dimbula, Nuwara Elia, Uva and Uda Pusselawa and we will taste and discuss 2 black teas from Kandy, 3 from the Dimbula region, 2 from Nuwara Eliya, 1 from Uva district and 2 from Uda Pusselawa.

Webinar 4 (3 hours) Ceylon Speciality Teas: In the past few years, more and more Ceylon tea factories have been making unusual ‘speciality teas’ and this webinar focuses on producers who are making hand-crafted and other types of ‘special’ tea. The teas we will taste come from different parts of the island are grown at different altitudes, and some are made with leaves plucked from wild tea trees growing amongst other diverse vegetation in forests. We will taste one of Sri Lanka’s now famous ‘Golden Tip’ teas and a Silver Tip tea from Great Western Tea Estate before discussing some typical Ceylon tea blends. We will end with an explanation of the auctions in Sri Lanka and how electric auctions have taken over from the old-fashioned system in the auction hall.

WHAT WILL I NEED?

1. Your computer to access the webinars on Zoom and online resources.

2. Kettle, filtered water, and some necessary teaware items

For brewing the teas, you will need some teaware items. A list of recommended equipment will be sent upon booking, to help you prepare for the course.

Completion of this masterclass will count as one credit towards our Level 3 Tea Diploma qualification.

Our online masterclasses are open to anyone. If you are working towards a final Level Three qualification but you have not yet achieved your Level Two Tea Sommelier qualification, you will still receive a credit towards the Tea Diploma qualification.