History of Ceylon Tea

Ceylon Tea is still king, but there is a new kid on the block – coffee. The pinnacle of coffee culture in Sri Lanka used to be the fanciest instant coffee you can buy at the supermarket; a rather big gap in coffee appreciation until urbanite Millennials, Gen-Zers and bands of foreigners Down South swore by burr grinders and espresso machines for their cup of Joe.

Now you can go out to Colombo and find a coffee house nearly in every borough. There was a time when coffee shops were too bourgeois and were limited to the fancy neighbourhoods of Colombo 3, 4 and 7. Coffee shops are still bourgeois, with a cup of Americano priced Rs. 500 upwards – the price of a good chicken rice and curry, a bus ride to Fort from Navinna and a lottery ticket. But consumer culture is evolving and the young and bold hipsters with their freelance gigs and jobs in IT have the mullah to blow and they want to get their work done in plush seats next to frothing cappuccinos.

Coffee was Sri Lanka’s cash crop until blight devastated swathes of cultivations in 1867 – paving the way for commercial tea. However, before the advent of tea, coffee culture was alive and well. Even today, a wooden shack café in a village is called a kopi kade (Sinhala for coffee shop). It’s really telling when Sri Lanka’s longest running TV show is called Kopi Kade.

I have noticed how we as Sri Lankans overwhelmingly choose coffee given the option to pick between coffee and tea. And what is with ordering a “strong tea” when you can just make a cup of coffee? Maybe coffee really is in our DNA. For a culture that prefers strong spicy dishes, coffee is just more complementary than tea. This is why the article is titled ‘coffee renaissance’ because I believe that Sri Lanka’s coffee hype is so much to do with ‘rebirth’.

I spoke to the founder of an independent coffee shop, a coffee producer, a barista and the head of a coffee company. These are their stories.

Cowboy capitalist

Dave O’Connor can be described as a cowboy capitalist from Canada. He is the founder of Dickwells Coffee – a specialty coffee brand for tourists and digital nomads Down South. He got sent to Sri Lanka during the Covid-19 pandemic while vacationing in Bali, Indonesia. “I stuck around Hiriketiya and founded Dickwells Coffee,” he said.

Dave said that he has always been a coffee aficionado, but couldn’t find a decent cup of coffee in Sri Lanka. “I found it was criminal, I couldn’t get my hands on a decent coffee, since Sri Lankan produce is world-class. I thought: if Ceylon Tea is a hit why can’t it be the same for coffee, since the country has a history with coffee.”

It is speculated that the first Arabica plants introduced to Sri Lanka may have arrived from Yemen via India, by Arab pilgrims in the early 17th century. However, the locals were unaware of the use of berries to make coffee so they only used the young leaves for curries and flowers as offerings at temples.

In 1740, the Dutch tried to introduce coffee cultivation, but it was confined to the low-country and was relative unsuccessful with low-levels of production.

Dave spent time scouring the hill country and teamed up with a local producer. “I market to tourists since Sri Lanka tourism is the fastest growing in the world. The local market is also interesting, especially in Colombo, with coffee shops opening around the urban areas.”

However, he says that Sri Lankan coffee can’t compete with large-scale coffee producers in the region such as Indonesia and Vietnam, but it can be its own thing.

Dave says that the Sri Lankan soil is special and that coffee grown here has the potential of being world-class. “It is a risk. I was here during the economic collapse. But I believe that the economy is on the rebound. You don’t find the flavour notes here in other kinds of Asian coffee. It tastes like dry fruits and nuts, and there is also a bit of spiciness to it.”

He said he was surprised to see wild coffee trees in Sri Lanka’s interior. “I was used to seeing coffee in plantations, but in Sri Lanka, you can see them in backyards and forests – I guess they are the remnants of the coffee brought by the Dutch a long time ago.”

Dickwells coffee is mostly Honey Processed and Dave trades directly with growers. “Sri Lanka has the opportunity for fair-practice with direct trade,” he said.

However, Dave does admit that Sri Lankan coffee has a long way to go. “Harvesting is very delicate. You can’t just pluck a kilo of coffee and compromise on quality. Coffee growing also requires a lot of patience,” he says, adding that coffee trees take five years to mature and that Sri Lankan coffee growers need to learn a lot to make it star-class and competitive.

Producer

Tharanga Muramudali is a coffee farmer, roaster, processor taster and founder of Helanta Coffee. He’s been in the coffee business since 2012 and is in partnership with Dickwells.

Tharanga is based in Kotmale and produces speciality coffee. “We source from 1,500 local women farmers who are the heads of their households; we gave them free coffee trees and training. We use Wet, Dry and Honey methods of coffee bean processing,” Tharanga said.

Elaborating on his partnership with Dickwells, he said his goal as a farmer is giving the best product to investors and retaining them. “There is a difference between selling a product as a Sri Lankan versus a Sri Lankan product sold by a foreigner,” Tharanga said, adding that we, the locals, should appreciate, learn and adapt to better market indigenous products.

The biggest problem here, he said, is that we don’t know how to retain foreign investors. “It’s wrong to act like two-bit hustlers,” Tharanga said, adding that Sri Lankans need professionalism, especially when the world is coming to their doorstep for goods and services.

“The need here is mutual growth without cheapening the product. Speciality coffee is everything from seed to cup. We take into account climate, soil, elevation and other factors so the coffee can be traced according to that data.”

Helanta’s turnout is Rs. 30 million per year selling speciality coffee to various coffee shops and international clientele from Thailand, Australia, UK and Canada.

Tharanga believes that Ceylon Coffee can be a commercial success as tea. “The investment potential is huge. We already have high-elevation Arabica plantations in Sri Lanka. I think it’s a very stable investment.”

The Speciality Coffee Association is the main body that controls the coffee quality in Sri Lanka. Q graders give a Cupping Score for coffee which determines price. It has everything to do from bean to cup, all the way up the supply chain. Sri Lankan Arabica is within the ‘Speciality’ bracket. Cupping Scores are rated from 0-100 with 50-60 being ‘Commercial Coffee’, 80-84 – ‘Premium’, and 90-94 and 95-100 ranked ‘Premium Speciality’ and ‘Super Premium Speciality’.

Coffee barista

Suraj Nipunasiri is not just a coffee barista, he is a coffee maestro. He won the Lanka Coffee Association’s Barista competition two years consecutively in 2023 and 2024, and he was also awarded the National Barista Championship in 2024. I asked him what it means to be a barista. “Dedication,” he says. “It’s not just a job. You have to love coffee. Love what you do and do what you love. Joining a barista crash course doesn’t make you a barista because it’s a long journey. For example, steamed milk is the heart of coffee, and it takes a lot of practice to master.”

According to him, there is not much difference between a barista and a chef or bartender. “But, a coffee barista is free to experiment. Working as a barista is all about the vibe. I think we are more connected with our customer. They know us by name and a cup of coffee can be a mood changer.

I asked him about Sri Lankan speciality coffee, and he echoed Dave’s and Tharanga’s sentiments. “Local growers have a long way to go. They should not seek short-term profits. There is nothing wrong with the bean, it’s just we have to perfect the best output.”

CEO

Yasas Kodittuwakku is the CEO of Colombo-based Damn Fine Coffee Company and Fits Retail that specialise in coffee equipment and coffee grinding among other things coffee. Yasas said how his ancestral home in Kandy used to be part of a coffee plantation and it’s not a coincidence that he found himself in the coffee trade.

The company started with importing coffee from a German company in 2019 and selling coffee vending machines. “Six months down the line, we decided to expand to the full spectrum for the coffee industry. We imported equipment from prestigious international brands.”

Asked about the high-precision equipment for coffee making, Yasas told us about that demand is rising thanks to tourism. “Coffee culture in Sri Lanka goes with tourism,” he said, adding that the clientele includes hotels, restaurants and cafes.

The coffee machines are imported from Europe; the reason, he says, is that Europeans, especially Italians, were pioneers of coffee culture and are established players in cafe equipment. While agreeing that Japan and elsewhere also make the same equipment, coffee culture, just like the coffee bean, is all about authenticity and European coffee machines keep brewing genuine and that is what cafes demand.

When asked about the potential of Sri Lankan Arabica, he said that there is certainly a “hype” on growing and many players are entering the game. “However, we have a lot of work to do to clinch Premium for our coffee. Making Sri Lankan coffee a world beater would need local producers to experiment with different strains of Arabica coupled with different processing techniques.” He said that harvesting and processing methods need to be refined.

“Coffee is produced for a purpose, a requirement. Hence not all coffee is the same, and different strains, roasts and processes are for specific beverages. For example, one kind of coffee, which is excellent for espresso, would be terrible for drip extraction,” he said.

Specialised coffee

Specialised coffee is also a very transparent commodity, Yasas said. “You take a package and everything from where the coffee was harvested, to how it was processed, roasted is included. And just like tea now, he says, it’s a matter of time when specialised coffee in Sri Lanka becomes a pricing game and we need to perfect the product.

Western consumers are different to those in Asia. Post-crash economics and conscious consumerism demand things like sustainability and fairness. We can observe this type of consumerism especially Down South, with tourists insisting on holistic experiences and organic and “fair trade” goods and services. Capitalism has matured to that point in the West where consumers have self-actualisation needs. What you buy defines who you are; your politics and personality. This is an arena where big-brands and big-corporations are vilified. It’s a major vibe-check but ironic to say the least.

In Sri Lanka’s case, Yasas says that big companies are needed when it comes to coffee consistency because they can focus resources to ensure consistent harvest and quality down the supply chain. “Even Robusta is small-holder driven. If we can get big giants to start plantations, maybe we can have our own instant coffee in time.”

Sri Lanka’s coffee renaissance is well under way, with a blend of historical reverence and modern entrepreneurial spirit driving the industry forward. While there are challenges to overcome, the unique qualities of Sri Lankan coffee and the dedication of its key players suggest a promising future for the country’s coffee sector.