Award-Winning Tea from Wonderland: A Journey into Terroir at Glen Nevis, Tea Plantation 🇱🇰

A place to come and stay, it will imprint itself deeply on you.

The awarded Aratenna Silver Tips is produced from the cultivar TRI 2043 that was developed in 1958 from open-pollinated seeds.

At Glen Nevis Tea Plantation, nestled within the hills of Sri Lanka’s Kandy region and experienced through the quiet elegance of Jade Villas, you will find a living expression of terroir—a concept often reserved for wine, but just as vital, if not more so, in tea.

TRI 2043 (in the middle) is a rare and specialized cultivar —often referred to as a “purple tea” bush due to its reddish, anthocyanin-rich leaves and silvery buds.

“Terroir is simply a plant's ‘sense of place.’ It is the sum of the effects the local environment has had upon the plant's growth and production.” — TeaTime Magazine

Here, the idea of terroir is not at all theoretical. It is visible in every slope, every cool morning, and in all the plants that grow in this lush, biodiverse environment, which shape the outcome of the tea.

The biodiversity is visible all around at Glen Nevis. This image shows a huge mango tree.

Biodiversity Shapes Flavor

Every creek, hillside, and mountainside at Glen Nevis carries its own identity. Terroir is shaped by longitude and latitude, yes—but also by subtler forces: wind patterns, water flow, surrounding flora, and the people who care for the land. And also the animals that live here. From cows to ponies, dogs, lots of birds, and many more species.

One of the happy inhabitants at Glen Nevis!

“Terroir is the poetry written by nature and interpreted by the farmer.” — Desert Sage

Walking through this wonderful estate, it becomes clear that what ends up in your cup is not just agriculture—it is collaboration. Between nature and nurture. Between land and legacy.

The Aratenna Special Silver Tips was awarded in 2025. A recognition that places this tea from Glen Nevis among the finest in the world.

Glen Nevis Plantation, anno 1898 

The land and its tea bushes were starting to be thoughtfully restored in 2020. Today, it's a place where specialty teas are made so well that in 2025, Glen Nevis received the Great Taste Award for its Aratenna Special Silver Tips. This recognition places it among the finest tea producers in the world.

Without the lovely tea pluckers, the high-quality teas cannot be made!

Beyond Tea: A Living Botanical Experience

What makes Glen Nevis even more compelling is that tea is part of a bigger picture.

The surrounding ecosystem contributes to both biodiversity and experience. Among these are plants like butterfly pea flower (Clitoria ternatea), a striking blue botanical known across Asia for both its beauty and health properties.

Butterfly pea flowers are naturally caffeine-free and rich in antioxidants called ternatins.

Also, Ranwara flowers further enrich the environment, adding layers to the estate’s natural character. And these plants are only two examples. Here, many plants like pepper, cardamom, clove, coffee, mango, jackfruit, mulberries, cashews, and many more thrive!

Stay tuned for more from Glen Nevis and Jade Villas through me!

A Place that Teaches You to Taste with all senses wide open

To stay at Glen Nevis is to slow down and reflect. This is not a place you rush through.

It asks you to notice. To taste carefully. To understand that tea is more than a beverage, a reflection of geography, biology, and human intention.

“When you drink a cup of tea, you're not just tasting the tea leaves but also the unique terroir in which they were grown.” — BlendTea

And here, that truth becomes undeniable.

Arnold Perera and his wife own Glen Nevis and the Jade Villas and started the process of restoration in 2020.

You will hear more from Glen Nevis through me. Stay tuned. If you already know you would like to order some of their extraordinary teas, you'll find me here. 

The Jade Villas have an extraordinary view of the surrounding landscape. The place to stay during your plantation visit.