These are places which you can't leave without suitcases full of tea and coffee varieties.
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Sri Lanka
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Ceylon tea has long ago become a global brand. Alpine hills of the island of Ceylon (which everyone knows today as Sri Lanka) were covered with carpets of tea plantations in the middle of the XIX century. Such world brands as Dilmah, Lipton, Brooke Bond and Ahmad Tea are engaged in harvesting it there. The higher in the mountains located plantations, the better are the tea leaves and the more flavored is the tea.
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It is believed that the best quality Ceylon tea grows on a high plateau in the vicinity of an old-fashioned colonial town of Nuwara Eliya. There are nearly two dozen plantations of Mackwoods company, one of the oldest tea enterprise. Being at the factory, you can take a look at the entire process of tea collection and its production (from the assortment of raw leaves and fermentation to packaging tea in boxes), taste several varieties of drink and buy it in the local shop.
India
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Tata Tea, «Princess Gita», Twinnings, Greenfield Classic Breakfast - all these kinds of tea come from India, a country which is the second largest tea producer in the world after China. The most elite Indian variety of tea is Darjeeling, growing in the vicinity of the town of the same name and valued by the British for a sophisticated, slightly tart taste.
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Tea growing is easier and cheaper in the state of Assam in the Brahmaputra river valley, between Shillong and Eastern Himalayas. The best views and the most picturesque plantation need to be looked for not far from Jorhat town, unofficial "tea capital of the world." The best option is to stay overnight in one of the local colonial mansions, dedicating a couple of days to walks through tea plantations and shopping. If you find yourself in the south of India - visit the mountains of Nilgiri (Tamil Nadu, Highfield Tea Factory), where they grow fragrant Indian black tea.
China
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The most populated country in the world is a major exporter of white tea, which was brewed at the time of the Chinese emperors. Almost all kinds of white tea belong to the elite category. It is gathered very carefully: in the early morning hours and in clear weather. Young leaves are dried in the sun and in the oven, and then - without undergoing fermentation process - are packed into boxes.
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The main tea province in China is Fujian, wnich territory has 90 percent of the mountains. In one of them - called Wuyi (Wuyishan) is famous for production of Lapsang Souchong (a drink of Winston Churchill) and Oolong. The history of some of the local plantations (Tianxin, Liuxianjian, Niulanken, Wuyuanjian) is very ancient.
Indonesia
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The country, the climate and topography which are perfect for agriculture, in the race of the world coffee exporters is in the end of the first five biggest exporters. The blame is a nasty fungus Uredinales, causing "rusty disease." Strange plant epidemic raged throughout the territory of South-East Asia, and by the end of the XIX century destroyed most of the plantations with Arabica. During this time Latin America pulled ahead. And Indonesians had to make a major bet on the more simple varieties - Robusta, which is grown today on almost all the plantations of the country.
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You can see coffee plantations on several dozens of islands - including Java, Sumatra, Bali and Sulawesi. Sumatra coffee is growing around the giant volcanic Lake Toba and in Aceh (Aceh), in Bali - near the village of Kintamani and Batur volcano.