A Journey Steeped in Heritage
The story of Ceylon Tea from Akbar is more than just a tale of agriculture — it is a chronicle of resilience, innovation, and global impact that dates back nearly two centuries.
It all began in 1824, during British colonial rule, when the first tea plant arrived in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) from China and was planted in the Royal Botanical Gardens, Peradeniya — an institution that remains vital to Sri Lanka’s botanic history even today.
James Taylor – The Pioneer of Ceylon Tea
The pivotal moment in this journey came with the arrival of James Taylor from Scotland in 1852. Assigned to manage the Loolecondera Estate in the Kandy District, Taylor faced a turning point when the island’s coffee plantations were devastated by coffee rust disease in the 1860s.
In a bold move, Taylor turned to tea. In 1866, he sourced tea seeds from Peradeniya and began cultivating tea on the Loolecondera Estate. That marked the birth of the Ceylon Tea industry.
Soon after, he developed the first formal tea estate — Field No. 7 — and built a fully operational tea factory. These innovations laid the foundation for an industry that would soon capture the world’s attention.
From a Modest Export to Global Fame
In 1873, just a few years after Taylor’s breakthrough, a shipment of 23 pounds of Ceylon Tea was exported to London, capturing the interest of tea traders abroad. This moment sparked a rapid rise in international demand.
The launch of the Colombo Tea Auction in 1883 provided the infrastructure to scale exports. The industry received further global endorsement when Sir Thomas Lipton visited in 1890 and invested heavily in the island’s tea plantations, further boosting international visibility.
Read more about the Colombo Tea Auction.
A Legacy of Innovation and Resilience
Ceylon Tea’s story is also one of adaptability. In 1963, the industry introduced instant tea — a major innovation at the time. The rise of e-commerce in the early 2000s opened global markets even wider, including platforms like shop.akbar.com, offering authentic Ceylon Tea to customers worldwide.
Even during the 1970s, when nationalization affected estate management, the Tea Research Institute and other stakeholders kept standards high and supported sustainable development across the industry.
Ceylon Tea Today: A Symbol of National Pride
From the initial 19-acre Loolecondera Estate, Ceylon Tea has evolved into a globally recognized brand — synonymous with purity, quality, and tradition.
As Sri Lanka celebrates 150 years of tea cultivation, the spirit of pioneers like James Taylor lives on in brands like Akbar, where we proudly carry forward the essence of Pure Ceylon Tea.
