Lakpura® Single Region Kandy Black Tea comes from the hills around Kandy, the old royal capital in the middle of Sri Lanka and the place where Ceylon tea began. It is a mid-grown tea with real weight in the cup, made for people who like their tea strong.
It was on an estate in the Kandy hills that the planter James Taylor laid out the first commercial tea fields on the island, after a blight had ruined the coffee crop that the hills had grown before. Tea spread from here across the highlands, and Kandy is still known as the historical heartland of Ceylon tea.
Kandy's estates sit at mid elevation, below the high districts of Dimbula and Nuwara Eliya, and most face west, towards the southwest monsoon that waters them through the middle of the year. The best teas are made in the first months of the year, when cool, dry weather settles over the district. The character of each estate also depends on its height and on how sheltered it is from the monsoon winds.
The Sri Lanka Tea Board describes Kandy tea as intensely full-bodied, and the cup bears that out: a bright, coppery liquor with strength and a malty depth. It is at its best with milk, and it stands up well to a long steep for a proper breakfast cup.
The family comes in two formats. The 100g pack holds BOP grade loose leaf, Broken Orange Pekoe, a small broken leaf that brews strong and brisk in the pot. The 50g box holds 25 tea bags of the finer BOPF grade, Broken Orange Pekoe Fannings, which gives a quick, robust cup. Brew either with freshly boiled water and keep the pack sealed and dry once opened.
