Handunugoda Tea Factory
The well-known Handunugoda Tea Factory in Ahangama is a location that definitely deserves to be on your travel itinerary. The fact that it is the sole tea estate on the island’s coastline strip greatly adds to its appeal. The estate is known for its artisanal production of “Herman’s Virgin White Tea,” a priceless item that is only presently sold and served in the opulent tea salon of Faubourg Saint-Honore in the heart of Paris.
Tour Inside the Tea Factory
A resident tea planter will meet you and take you around the private paradise of a working tea plantation. The plantation, which lies at sea level, is the famed Handunugoda Tea Factory founded by Herman Gunaratne. Herman (or a team member) will take you on a private tour of his Virgin White Tea Estate plantations, where you will learn how the famous white tea is plucked and made into one of the best teas in the world. The visit ends with a tasting session and a piece of chocolate cake! There is also a small shop where you can buy Virgin White Tea and other less expensive options as well.
Tea Estate
30 minutes from Galle Fort lies the Handunugoda Tea Estate, perhaps the closest tea plantation in the world to the sea. However, this is not the only thing that makes the Handunugoda Tea Estate special. The estate is known as the Virgin White Tea Factory — it produces white tea completely untouched by human hands.
The process of tea plucking follows an ancient Chinese Ritual where the choicest of teas were cut by virgins who never touched the tea with their bare skin and offered the resulting product as a tribute to the Emperor. Handunugoda mimics this tradition, although these days the ‘virgin’ concept only applies to the tea, not the tea pluckers! This white tea is rich in antioxidants and is said to be the healthiest tea in the world. Coincidentally it is also one of the most expensive teas in the world fetching over 1500 USD per kilo.
According to the latest testing Virgin White has an anti-oxidant content of 10.11 per cent, which is said to be the highest naturally occurring content of anti-oxidants in any beverage. Marriage Freres which is perhaps one of the world’s most exclusive Tea Salons situated at Faubourg Saint Honore in Central Paris offers its exquisite client Handunugoda’s virgin White tea.
