T-artZ by Lochana Wijerathna

Lochana Wijerathna

Lochana Wijerathna hails from the picturesque province of Uva in Sri Lanka. He holds a degree in Business Administration with a specialization in Business Information Systems. Beyond his academic achievements, he has a deep-rooted passion for tea, an essential element of Sri Lankan culture. This passion was nurtured from an early age, not least thanks to the privilege of inheriting a small tea garden from his father.

This garden of just over half a hectare is located at 1200m in Bandarawella in the Badulla district. The tea bushes are on average around forty years old.

It is part of a new trend in Sri Lanka towards handcrafted teas, a break with the large-scale factories inherited from the British. His vintages are entirely handcrafted, enabling him to experiment with the finer details of young tea shoots.

For Lochana, the production of Sri Lanka's new artisanal tea is not only an art, but also a reflection of the country's culture and traditions. It's also a way of improving the quality of life of small-scale tea entrepreneurs and workers by identifying new, smaller-scale approaches to advancing Sri Lanka's tea industry and developing their commitment to it.