About Us

Our Heritage

AZ Tea is a unique tea brand, founded on a passionate commitment to quality and authenticity in tea. As pioneers in the Ceylon Tea Industry, we boast four generations of expertise, experience, and knowledge. Our history dates back to the late 1890s, when tea was first introduced to Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) in the central hills of Kandy by James Taylor, the founding father of today’s multi-billion-dollar Ceylon Tea Industry.

Our great grandfather, a true pioneer and ambassador of Ceylon tea, declared his commitment to the tea industry by purchasing the first tea plantations and tea production facility in Kandy, the birthplace of Ceylon Tea. In the early 1900s, our tea production facility, Kurugama Tea Factory, was one of the few tea production facilities in the country. Today, we own one of the most modern and largest tea production facilities on the island. His love for tea transcends generations, with his family today growing, manufacturing, and packing teas to offer consumers around the world only the finest.

Our Process

Today, we are one of the world’s few vertically integrated tea companies; we truly understand the formula for a perfect cup of luxury tea. We even design our own packaging, all planned and perfected in-house.

Quality is Our Obsession

Every time you sip a cup of AZ Tea, you might be surprised to know that it has actually been tasted eight times before you. Quality control is a bit of an obsession for us. To ensure you get a proper brew every time, each pack is ‘eight times tasted’ from the harvest to the auction room, pre-shipment and landed samples, and pre- and post-production.

When testing, our tea tasters don’t just sip gently—they use special spoons and noisily slurp. This ensures plenty of oxygen mixes with the tea before it passes over their taste receptors so they get the full flavor.

Our Commitment to Tradition

We even take our tea flavoring very seriously, not merely as a fad to lure customers. Our Ginger Tea is a product of 8 weeks of trial and error to perfect the art of an authentic cup of ginger tea, similar to that made by a Ceylon mother. Our Earl Grey Tea is scattered with Cornflower petals, and we use natural Bergamot essence, a superfood for the heart.

AZ Tea is also distinct in being Traditional Tea that is Single Origin and packed Garden Fresh. These are important because traditional tea, made in the ‘orthodox’ style—a production process that starts with handpicking the leaves and continues through withering, rolling, oxidation, and firing—follows a technique perfected over centuries. It produces teas that are varied and sophisticated.

Our Commitment to Freshness

AZ Tea is Garden Fresh, for it is freshness that guarantees a rich and satisfying cup, which is also potent in healthy antioxidants. The alternative is CTC, a relatively recent method of production designed to offer a quick cuppa, but in the process, sacrifices all that is special in tea. Experts describe CTC as ‘tea without a soul.’