Life is like a cup of tea, it's all in how you make it. Brewing tea is not as easy as it seems. From how much you should heat the water, to which utensil should be used, to when you should add the leaves, you need proper expertise. For a country slowly recovering from decades of a bloody civil war with the Tamil Tigers or the LTTE, tea has become an expression of Sri Lankan soft power, much as yoga is for India. 

The industry was introduced to the island nation in 1867 in Kandy by James Taylor, a British planter who arrived in 1852. The tea industry is one of the highest foreign exchange earners and employs over 1 million people in the island nation.

The High Commission of Sri Lanka in New Delhi, in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Tea Board and the Chambers of Commerce, hosted a tea party recently as part of the 150-year celebrations of Sri Lankan tea industry under the brand 'Ceylon Tea'. Though year-long celebrations are underway in Sri Lanka, the unique global 24-hour tea party began at 5 pm on 6 July in every time zone across the world.

High Commissioner Chitranganee Wagiswara, while welcoming guests which included Ambassadors from major tea-producing countries, highlighted the common British heritage of India and Sri Lanka and stressed the importance of tea as a health drink. Some drink tea like connoisseurs, much as they sip wine. The chief guest of the event was Union Commerce Secretary Rita Teotia, who in her speech emphasised that there should be cooperation on the tea sector between India and Sri Lanka: They need to work together with global regulatory bodies on some of the tea regulatory issues on global standards. She said that climate change affected the quality and profitability of India's tea industry.The Commerce Secretary also referred to a meeting at FAO in October 2015, where a proposal was put forward to have an International Tea Day as an annual event ~ a timely step to promote and develop the global tea industry.

Ceylon Tea is preferred for its rich aroma and taste. Though coming from the same plant as many of the most popular teas, they all vary in taste due to numerous factors which include the oxidation process. It has stronger taste than most other teas and has similar health benefits to black tea, but is favoured for its superior quality and flavour.

Minister Counsellor (Commercial) Sumedha Ponnamperuma did a comprehensive presentation on the history of tea plantation in Sri Lanka, introducing the seven prime teagrowing regions. He spoke about the variations in taste due to the different climatic conditions. He also referred to the standard and the quality of tea and the uniqueness of Ceylon Tea which is maintained by the Sri Lanka Tea Board. Tea-tasting sessions were thrown open to the audience and many took this opportunity to personally examine the variations different tea plants have. Two informative short video films sent by the Sri Lanka Tea Board were also screened. At last, a video was screened of the famous tea plucker's song "Udarata Kandukara Siriya Paradana".

The event provided an opportunity to the participants to taste different varieties of Ceylon Tea with other exciting refreshments specially prepared by the High Commission staff. Sri Lanka is the world's fourthlargest producer of tea after China, India and Kenya.