Deer Park Hotel - Destination Guide

What does “The Hound of the Baskervilles” have to do with Ceylon tea? Read on.

“Those were the royal days of coffee planting in Ceylon, before a single season and a rotting fungus drove a whole community through years of despair to one of the greatest commercial victories which pluck and ingenuity ever won. Not often is it that men have heart when their one great industry (coffee) is withered, to rear up in a few years another (tea) as rich to take its place, and the tea fields of Ceylon are as true a monument to courage as is the lion at Waterloo.”

~ De Profundis, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ~

Sir Arthur's comments came in response to the disastrous demise of the coffee industry, which Ceylon overcame by trying its luck at growing tea, emerging eventually as a leader in the industry worldwide. The person who contributed to this success above all was a Scotsman named James Taylor, who dedicated his life to cultivating tea in Ceylon in the 1860s. Although he died a poor man the perfect cup of Ceylon tea has since become the sine qua non of our daily lives.

The phenomenon even caught Mark Twain’s attention back in 1896, when he noted in his journal “Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World”:

“Tea-planting is the great business in Ceylon, now. A passenger says it often pays 40 percent on the investment. Says there is a boom.”

The abundance of fragrant tea plantations in Sri Lanka today holds testament to this success. Nuwara Eliya is one of many places famous for producing Ceylon tea of the most delicate flavor and aroma. Its tea is exported to countries ranging from the United Kingdom to Russia, South Africa and the United States; providing that cup that "cheers you up" the world over.

Centuries before the tea trade boomed, the spice trade had attracted the Portuguese and the Dutch to the island of Sri Lanka, which was strategically placed on the sea route from India to Southeast Asia and China. The Dutch were promised a monopoly over the island’s spice trade by the Kandyan king, Rajasinha II, in return for their help in driving out the Portuguese. Yet, as fate would have it, having driven out the Portuguese, the Dutch decided to stay on themselves – an ironic twist in the story of control over Sri Lanka’s rich resources.

The Dutch presence proliferated the use of cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg and black pepper in international cuisine through global trade. Ceylon’s cinnamon became the most sought-after for its superb ability to improve the palatability of food and its gift to add a sense of inner warmth to food cooked in cold climates.

When you visit Sri Lanka, it’s obligatory to visit a spice garden and have the owner explain the many wonderful properties and uses of each plant, from cooking and medicine to perfume. You can buy the freshest ingredients here to add that special flavor to your meals at home, or that refreshing cup of tea. Spice tea, anyone?