'ORGANIC  and BIODYNAMIC' PRODUCTION

The island has a number of organic producing estates and produces a range of other organic products, such as spices, Cashew nuts and so on.

ORGANIC CERTIFICATIONS:

Our Colombo premises are certified by Skal international (CU) to ECC No:20092/91 and (NOP) USDA standards for all their exports & invoicing.

Our U.K. premises are certified by the Demeter certification scheme of the Biodynamic Agricultural Association (BDAA) for all our imports and re-exports.

Within Sri Lanka (Ceylon) we operate with estates that are certified for Biodynamic production by Demeter International, for Organic production by the Institute for Marketcology (IMO) and also for Organic production Skal International (CU).

COLOMBO OFFICE CERTIFICATION:

U.K. BUSINESS:

Our Demeter certification covers our imports of Biodynamically and Organically produced products.

The inspection process and certification is carried out by at least two different companies and it is very strictly controlled. All packing and exporting facilities are inspected and the computer trail is followed with inspections to the final importers such as our own U.K. business or clients abroad.

CERTIFICATES:

We are as a fully certified business for exports from Colombo and imports into the U.K..

We are very happy to provide a copy of our current certification to clients marketing our products. Both from the body that we are members of and also from the U.K. Register of Organic Food Standards body, U.K.R.O.F.S. which is based at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, London. We also work with Skal International (CU), IMO of Switzerland. 'Bio dynamic' status is certified by Demeter International of Germany and for our U.K. office under the Demeter certification scheme of the Biodynamic Agricultural Association (BDAA).

ORGANIC PRODUCTION:

We have at this stage selected three estates that we work with. Thotulagala  Black for organic production, Iddalgashinne  Biodynamically and organically produced Black & Green teas in both loose and tea bag packing. Finally Venture estate for Biodynamically and Organically produced black loose tea. Our policy is to assess other estates and build to requirement. Whilst we do not always carry items such as Biodynamic and Organic white teas in stock, we can obtain these direct for our clients.

It is important to point out that all the estates in Sri Lanka conform to practices in the field that avoid pesticide spraying as much as possible. Only as a last resort, spot spraying is allowed and then the estates have to throw away the leaf for some 28 days before the leaf can be taken for manufacture. All estates look to practices that encourage and balance populations of beneficial insect species. These can involve the growing of Sunflower, to matting with grasses and provision of shaded areas to encourage the Braconid wasp (Macocentrus Hormonae). This wasp parasitises the Tortrix moth which if unchecked leads to Tortrix attack. This has been developed since the 1960's and is fully implemented. Thus the island is to be commended for this level of control and development towards an ideal which Western Agriculture is only now awakening to.

Field Practices for Organic production:

Normal controls are to the elimination of standard artificial fertilizers and the use of substances such as 'Poonac' a bye product of producing animal feeds from coconut and cereals, composted cow manure and green manure composts. The above items have been used for centuries by local communities in tech production of spices and fruit. The compost is usually placed in a pit in the soil above the bushes at pruning and covered with a thatch of leaf and straw. The use of organic accepted sprays if needed, but ideally practices which encourage beneficial insects as above, to prey on damaging insects. All organic estates will comply with these requirements plus a preliminary testing period with no organic production (often 2-3 years) whilst soil testing is carried out by the certifiers.

Beyond these requirements some managements are looking even further forward and Iddalgashinne is such a group. Here the management is involved in Bio dynamics. The estate has several systems under management to produce ideal materials for Organic production. Above and beyond the call of duty! For details of Thotulagala  and  Iddalgashinne, please visit their estate pages.

Biodynamic Production:

Worm culture (Vermiculture): This is carried out in a large shed with beds and small concrete tanks i the floor. Compost from various sources including grass, green manure, lactating cow dung, and coconut waste is heaped into an area of high density worms. The worms create large quantities of caste material, which is collected each morning. The caste material is then used in various way. It can be put into a ball of coconut fibre and many of these are added to large drums of liquid built up from other preparations in tanks. The balls of fibre are added constantly and the mixture stirred with a paddle every week.

Worm Wash: This is where worms are kept in a number of tanks and supplied with quantities of various beneficial herbs, rather than standard green manure materials. Again the worms degrade the material and water is allowed to feed into the tanks, passing through, washing the bodies of the worms and finally percolates out of the bottom of the container. This again is collected and applied to the tea bushes in very small amounts, e.g. Half an ounce of concentrate per acre. It is interestingly named 'worm bath water'. At Iddalgashinne they have a large drum of worms in a bed of rotting material, a can of water is suspended above the drum and gently drips into the drum, seeping down through the worms and dripping out at the bottom into a collecting receptacle.

Cow Horns: Here Cow horns (not bull horns) from 1st lactation cows only, are buried with herbal matter and allowed to remain for at least six months. The horns are re-used. The degraded material is then applied to the soil around the tea bushes. There are two main preparations used in the tea.

500:    Here horns as above are packed with rotted manure, plus various other preparations made from selected herbs that have been prepared in their own pits. These range from 502 = Yarrow. 504 = stinging nettle to 507 preparation from Valeria and preparations prepared in a Stag's bladder. The 500 preparation is buried from October to March. It is then applied 3 times a year in June/July - October and March.    Before burying the horns in a pit. They are left upright and water evaporated. They are then buried horn opening downwards. The preparation is used prior to 501 and is believed to encourage root development and vigour of the bush.

Rate of application:    25 g in 13 Litres of rain or spring water / Acre

Application: Afternoon (called descending part of day) on ground. Flicked from container.

501:    This preparation is applied in buried in the opposite period of the year and applied to the bush to encourage Photosynthesis. Horns are packed with various preparations including ground down Quartz crystal (Silica Dioxide) which looks like talcum powder. The horns are buried from March to September and applied twice a year - August & February. It is flicked onto the bush. Some estates use knapsack sprayers. The application is done immediately after plucking the bush, when there is a 7 day gap to the next plucking.

Rate of application:    1 g in 13 Litres (3 galls) / Acre. The solution is stirred in a vortex at sunrise and then sprayed or flicked, 1 hour after sunrise (Ascending part of day).

Liquid Manure:    Rate 4 Litres in 40 Litres. Application is 6 times a year alternating with CPP below. As a foliar spray, stirring 15 minutes before application. Applied immediately after plucking. After Noon in the descending period.

CPP:    This is called cow cake (Poonac). It is made from the waste products in the coconut industry and was used as cow cake and fertilizer from the 1870's. The rate of application is 1 Kg in 40 Litres. Applied on the ground or to mulch around the bushes.

Moon Culture: All the field work operations on the estate, such as planting out of V.P. plants, pruning and lopping are timed to the cycle of the moon, which is the Biodynamic calendar by Dr. Rudolf Steiner.

To some, this may sound far fetched but it ties in with agricultural practice of long ago when these cycles were general practice. All the above practices are being carried out together with the other more standard requirements of 'Organic' Production.

Green Teas:

These generally follow the Japanese and Chinese types of production. The leaf is first steamed in a box or barrel shaped container, rolled to requirement, to arrest fermentation. it is then rolled and steamed again. This occurs several times and then finally sent to the drier for firing. This format differs from estate to estate.

The roller for the above is not the normal Traditional manufacture type but a small machine with a pan shaped base with curved sides. The charge capacity of the roller is small by normal standards, being some 15 to 20 kilos per charge. The firing is prolonged in that it is fired through two separate firing machines.

At present we have two very different green teas available.

The green tea from Elpitiya Estate is a classic Gunpowder type, with a very light liquor but with a full rounded pungency. The leaf grade is traditional GP

The other green tea is an 'ORGANIC' Biodynamic tea from Iddalgashinne Estate and is completely opposite in taste. It has a very clear liquor with a complex sweetness and light pungency. The leaf grade is a very bold O.P. 1 (very large leaf). Other grades can be obtained and we shall be stocking small stocks of 'Silver Tips' (made from picked buds only which are expensive and can be quoted and ordered on request.

Manufacture here is with the standard traditional manufacture machinery set-up. The actual rolling process is not being divulged to the public but the factory operates two systems.

a) Morning leaf is steamed and kept over night for morning rolling.

b) Evening leaf is withered overnight, steamed in the morning and then rolled in the traditional sequence explained at our Tea Manufacture pages.

'SILVER TIPS': (Also known as 'WHITE TEA')

Near the end of the 'Price List' we have listed three very specialist products.

A hand rolled Non-organic leaf from the first field planted in the island in 1867 and rolled by the pluckers by hand, after plucking. This in the manner that all early  leaf was rolled in 1867 onwards until the early elliptical Traditional rollers were brought in. This is a very specialist product and we only make it for special occasions or orders.

SILVER TIPS  -    Plus two 'Silver Tip' packs. One is non-organic and the other a 'Biodynamic Organic'. These specially selected buds are picked by the most experienced pluckers early in the morning when the bud hairs are raised. only the best long buds are selected. The plucking has to be completed before sunrise. These cost considerably more than our other teas. 1. The estate has to maintain the specific bush clone that lends itself to this production. 2. The pluckers normally work in a new field where they can expect to earn nice bonuses in overpound  payments. Picking buds is a very slow and skilled job, with a plucker perhaps picking 100 g of tips.  Finally the tips are taken straight to the factory and laid out in pans in a room and they dry naturally to a slight crispness.

Because they are extremely fragile, they have to be packed into a pack that protects them, either a bottle or box. We commissioned some special dark hardwood Toona boxes from Government licensed timber, which are beautifully lined inside and specially printed with gold leaf. The boxes are of superb quality with a brass hinged lid and clasp fixing. The base has four velvet pads to protect furniture and therefore a useful item in itself. Packed as below:

125 g Loose buds in a heat sealed foil pack within the above described boxes.

Black and Green Tea, Biodynamic Organic tea bags in cartons. Orthodox & Biodynamic 'Silver Tips' in crafted boxes.

TEA BAGS:

We have developed two packs of 'Organic' Tea bags, both are 'Biodynamic':

It is also complete nonsense to suggest that the shape or type of bag has any influence on the brewing of the tea. Naturally the bag should be made of approved materials that do not have injurious chemicals. The finest tea bag is a proper tea pot which allows instant contact with the point of boil water. This is vital for a quality tea whether BOPF or OP 1. Tea bags are a commercial invention to satisfy a supposed need for convenience. Nothing in this world that satisfies convenience is ever to the advantage of a natural product. There are of course situations e.g. the office break or perhaps in a high rise building without disposal facilities, that require this convenience. However whether you are a private consumer or a commercial tea shop I really do urge you to examine the exact saving between loose leaf and tea bags. The tea bag has undoubtedly become the marketers dream idea of tea but there is a need for a balance in approach to marketing.