Estate Guide: Radella Estate – Rediscovering the Lost Aromas of Dimbula Ceylon Tea
Chatting with my dad whilst driving through the up country, he would reminisce on his time as a young boy and fondly speak of the familiar aroma of the vast number of tea factories in the area. As a child, on the drive from Colombo to Maskeliya he would know where he was in his journey having been awakened by the aroma of a nearby tea factory. Each roadside factory had the unmistakable smell of withering and rolled tea and each factory had its own unique aroma.
As a child I never experienced the same thing, I was too busy being violently sick on the drive up due to the endless bends that one experiences on the drive up to Maskeliya.
Whilst recently driving from Talawakelle to Maskeliya we spoke about how that aroma of ‘up country’ is rare and what could be the reason. The theories are endless, some say it’s due to more VP teas being planted and the old seedling stock being replaced with the style of tea that is now made on the very same estates.
Whatever the reason, one thing we can be sure of is that the aroma is not only lacking outside the factory but also in your cup and in most teas that we see in the tasting room.
Many estates especially in the up country produce Rotovane orthodox teas, these are teas that produce smaller leaf grades. In my grandfather's era and my fathers, up country estates made orthodox teas without the rotovane. Which is what many of the low country tea producers still produce with their leafy varieties of tea.
Radella Estate is found in the upper reaches of what we term the Dimbula region. Its teas grow close to the Nuwara Eliya border close to 5,000ft. Radella today produces Green Tea but in the past was known for its quality black teas. Radella estates current Superintendent Ishan is a Tea Planter who likes to experiment. With a mini roller at his disposal he has been trying to rediscover the lost flavour of Radella’s aromatic black tea.
PMD has been adamant to champion teas that capture the flavour of yesteryear. The flavours of teas that sat in the back of our own lorries on the journey down from the estates..
Radella has produced a tea that captures all its former glory. Using hand picked leaves from seedling tea plants along with leaves from quality tea clones such as PK 2 and CY9. Radella has managed to create an aromatic cup of yesteryear.
This is one tea that you must try!
