Ingredients
Tea
- 2 tsploose-leaf Ceylon black tea, about 4 g
- 250 mlwater
For milk tea
- 150 mlwater
- 100 mlmilk
- 2 tspsugar
To serve
- lemon
- jaggery
Directions
- Choose by elevation, because that is what the grades actually describe. High-grown tea from Nuwara Eliya and Dimbula is light and brisk and best drunk plain; low-grown tea from Ruhuna is dark and heavy and made for milk and sugar.
- Warm the pot with a little boiling water and pour it away.
- Use water at a full rolling boil, around 100°C (212°F). Black tea is the one category that genuinely wants boiling water, unlike green or white, which it would scald.
- Put the leaf into the warmed pot and pour the water straight onto it.
- Steep for 3 to 4 minutes for a whole-leaf grade, or 2 to 3 minutes for broken orange pekoe, which extracts much faster because the leaf has been cut.
- Strain it completely off the leaf as soon as it is ready. Tea left sitting on the leaf turns bitter within a couple of minutes, and this is the commonest mistake made with it.
- For plain tea, drink it as it is, or with a slice of lemon.
- For Sri Lankan milk tea, brew it far stronger, boil the milk and sugar together separately, then combine the two and pour the mixture back and forth between two jugs from a height to aerate it.
- Serve hot, with a piece of jaggery or a sweet alongside, which is the local habit and better than sugar in the cup.
Technique
- Boiling water, then off the leaf on time. Those two things matter more than the price of the tea.
- Ceylon tea exists because leaf rust destroyed the island’s coffee estates. James Taylor started commercial tea at Loolecondera in 1867 and the plantations followed within a decade.
- Buy loose leaf if you can. Most bagged tea is dust and fannings, which brew fast and go bitter faster.
Substitutions
- Teabags, one per cup, removed after 3 minutes without squeezing.
- Any good Assam if Ceylon is unavailable, though it is maltier and less brisk.
Variations
- Iced, with lime and a little sugar.
- Spiced with cardamom, ginger and cinnamon.
- Kahata, drunk plain and black with a lump of jaggery held in the mouth.
History
Planted after leaf rust destroyed the island’s coffee estates; James Taylor started commercial tea at Loolecondera in 1867.
Frequently asked questions
What is Ceylon Tea?
Ceylon Tea is a drink from Sri Lanka: world-famous highland black tea, drunk plain or milky. Planted after leaf rust destroyed the island’s coffee estates; James Taylor started commercial tea at Loolecondera in 1867.
How long does Ceylon Tea take to make?
Ceylon Tea takes 2 min of preparation and 5 min of cooking. The recipe makes 1 pot. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Ceylon Tea?
Yes, within limits. Teabags, one per cup, removed after 3 minutes without squeezing. Any good Assam if Ceylon is unavailable, though it is maltier and less brisk.
