From hidden alleyway cafés to design-forward espresso bars, we hint Sri Lanka’s evolving specialty-coffee scene alongside its deep-rooted tea legacy.
BY JEN ROBERTS
FOR BARISTA MAGAZINE
Photographs by Jen Roberts
Earlier than I may discover my bearings on a busy downtown avenue in Kandy, my tuk-tuk had already sped off into site visitors, its horn fading into the space. I tightened the straps on my backpack and noticed a bright-yellow signal pointing towards Café Secret Alley.
I adopted the arrow up the steps and down a slender path, the place two monkeys performed on an overhead ledge, till I reached the café, completely tucked on the finish—as if the alley’s solely function was to convey me there.
With its sunshine-yellow exterior, red-tiled roof, and blue doorways, the café charmed me earlier than I even stepped inside. I ordered a cortado and settled at a picnic desk, my backpack occupying the alternative bench. The cortado was the proper stability of espresso and steamed milk, a far cry from the moment espresso and tea choices supplied at my guesthouse. I ended the server to ask whether or not the espresso was native; he answered within the unfavourable however, sensing my curiosity, supplied to arrange one other with Sri Lankan espresso if I wished.
After all that’s what I wished. The cup he quickly delivered had citrus notes, vibrant acidity, and a touch of spice. Once I went to pay, I struck up a dialog with the café’s proprietor, Dilshan Ranaweera, recognized to everybody as Arty. In only a few minutes—as a result of I had a prepare to catch—Arty shared how the native espresso scene has modified for the reason that store started. There at the moment are extra specialty cafés, extra espresso producers, and an general buzz of pleasure. I obtained swept up within the dialog and needed to scurry to the station, not sure if I’d even make my prepare.
Unexpectedly, I left Kandy with a bag of Sri Lankan espresso Arty had gifted me, a cellphone full of recent espresso contacts, and freshly piqued curiosity.
Sri Lanka’s Espresso Historical past
It’s believed that Arab pilgrims introduced espresso to Sri Lanka from Yemen within the seventeenth century, although at the moment solely the leaves have been utilized in curries and the flowers employed as temple choices. Espresso manufacturing, like so many issues in Sri Lanka’s historical past, is intertwined with colonialism. The Dutch have been the primary to domesticate espresso on the island in 1740, however large-scale manufacturing took off underneath British rule within the early 1800s.
By 1860, Sri Lanka ranked among the many world’s high espresso producers, alongside Brazil and Indonesia, with greater than 275,000 acres underneath cultivation. However in 1869, the island recorded the primary epidemic of espresso leaf rust, which devastated crops. Inside many years, land dedicated to espresso shrank to simply over 11,000 acres. The British shifted to business tea cultivation within the nation, and thus far, Sri Lanka stays one of many world’s largest tea-producing nations.
monkeys taking part in on the ledge.
Simply days earlier than assembly Arty at his café in Kandy, I had taken the well-known prepare journey by means of the highlands to Ella, a small city surrounded by hills lined in cloud forests and tea plantations. The prepare wound round lush countryside, inexperienced mountains, and rows of manicured tea bushes so far as the attention may see.
In Ella, tea retailers far outnumber espresso retailers, so I drank plenty of chai. I spent a morning touring a tea plantation and was the one one on the tour, so I pestered the information with questions, keen to know how tea manufacturing compares to the espresso commerce.
The Espresso Revival
Sri Lanka’s central highlands, with their excessive altitude, constant rainfall, regulated temperatures, and tropical local weather, are perfect for rising espresso. Their inland location protects crops from the monsoon rains, and the area’s various terroir—with mineral-rich soils, various elevations, and humid microclimate—helps each tea and occasional manufacturing.
The revival of Sri Lanka’s espresso trade has been sluggish however regular. Within the Seventies, the Division of Export Agriculture (DEA) acknowledged espresso’s financial promise and commenced supplying saplings, monetary help, and technical coaching to growers. By the Nineties, most Sri Lankan espresso was grown in house gardens, usually by tea farmers who had just a few espresso crops. Beans have been harvested and processed utilizing conventional strategies and bought cheaply at central buying and selling homes in Colombo, the nation’s capital.
Tharanga Muramudali acknowledged the untapped potential of the highlands and the rising international demand for traceable espresso, opening Pure Espresso in 2012. The café turned a hub for espresso specialists, which allowed him to develop relationships and discover your complete chain from cultivation to brewing.
Six years later, he launched Helanta Espresso, a community-focused espresso model now working with greater than 1,500 coffee-farming households within the Kotmale area. “We’ve plenty of business espresso in Sri Lanka, however after I realized about specialty espresso, I wished to deal with enhancing espresso by means of the style,” he says.
To help farmers, Tharanga established a nursery and now distributes crops to farmers for gratis. He additionally supplies coaching and buys farmers’ crimson cherries to make sure constant processing.
One other turning level got here in 2017, when the Market Improvement Facility (MDF), a multi-country initiative funded by the Australian authorities, noticed a possibility for Sri Lanka to capitalize on the rising demand for specialty espresso. “We realized that Sri Lanka may by no means compete in commodity espresso since you want volumes, and we don’t have the land for that,” says Vishan Rajakaruna, a enterprise advisor at MDF. “We analyzed the market and recognized that there’s a possibility right here that we are able to actually faucet into in specialty espresso. With just a few interventions, we may strengthen your complete worth chain.”
MDF prioritized high quality over amount, working to extend manufacturing, enhance high quality, and coordinate trade promotion. At the moment, Sri Lanka was importing extra espresso than it exported. When the pandemic triggered a ban on inexperienced espresso imports, cafés have been compelled to show to native producers. “It was a superb coincidence,” says Vishan. “We have been working to strengthen native espresso producers on the time, and cafés have been importing espresso. With this ban, they needed to begin on the lookout for native options.”
Specialty within the Metropolis
As I ventured to Colombo, I compiled an inventory of cafés to go to. I began with Kiri Kopi, house to Asela Kaushan, winner of this 12 months’s regional barista championship in Kandy. Housed in a Neoclassical constructing with tall white columns, the café’s interiors are simply as stately, with a grand staircase that greets you on the entrance. On one aspect, a big counter with pastries, grinders, and an espresso machine anchors the minimalist area. A wall-mounted show shelf provides simply sufficient texture to stability the café’s simplicity.
On the day I visited, Kiri Kopi had 4 coffees—an Ethiopian, a Brazilian, and two Sri Lankan choices—displayed in perfume-like bottles for purchasers to inhale their aromas. The café’s in depth espresso
menu is paired with an all-day brunch that pulls each native households and vacationers.
From there, I visited Seed Café, positioned within the tree-lined neighborhood of Horton Place. The café’s most important location was underneath renovation, so it was working within the different half of an outdated colonial home with painted ceilings and intricately tiled flooring.
Over lunch, proprietor Mahesh Alkegama described his plans for the brand new area as daylight streamed into the plant-filled rooms of this momentary location. I couldn’t think about something higher than the place we have been sitting, however Mahesh may see his imaginative and prescient: “It’s going to be an analogous idea however with a much bigger bar, so we are able to correctly introduce specialty espresso to this a part of city,” he defined. “We’ll have a much bigger kitchen, a micro-bakery, and a roaster is coming.”
Seed now has a second location contained in the U.S. Embassy, however it’s only one a part of Mahesh’s rising espresso portfolio. Earlier than Seed got here Grind, which opened in 2018, and after it got here Radicle in 2025. Every café serves the identical high-quality espresso however was designed with its personal distinct aesthetic.
“We began the cafés as a result of there was no good place to drink espresso,” says Mahesh, who got here to Sri Lanka after a decade dwelling in London. “Colombo is a small market, so the way in which we felt we may maintain
everybody is to have totally different manufacturers. We maintain the drinks and meals a bit related, however the aesthetics are so totally different.”
Grind occupies one aspect of the foyer of a enterprise advanced. Its modern, fashionable design distinguishes it from the company setting, whereas the café buzzes with enterprise conferences and workplace employees grabbing
espresso on their option to work.
workplace constructing.
Radicle, in contrast, is positioned behind an artwork gallery within the coronary heart of downtown. “It’s a historic constructing, the place Duran Duran shot their ‘Hungry Just like the Wolf ’ video,” Mahesh says. The place Grind exudes business-like vitality, Radicle pulses with creativity. “We wished to create a platform for native artists and promote native espresso,” he provides.
Throughout all his cafés, Mahesh serves Sri Lankan coffees in addition to single-origins from around the globe; he balks at authorities restrictions on importing inexperienced espresso. “It’s a barrier that is mindless,” he says. “In case you have beans coming from Colombia, Ethiopia, or wherever, the native farmers can study and enhance our sport. That’s the way in which enterprise may broaden.”
Mahesh says that on this growing space, high quality management stays a problem. “It’s onerous to discern which farmers are doing specialty espresso and that are nonetheless selecting each crimson and inexperienced cherries,” he says. “Sri Lankan espresso is the same as what’s grown on farms in Latin American and African nations. The farmers simply want correct training.”
This text initially appeared within the December 2025 + January 2026 difficulty of Barista Journal. Learn extra of the problem on-line right here free of charge.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jen Roberts (she/her) is a contract author who’s (principally) excited by espresso and international social points. She’s presently writing a guide about girls in espresso and has spent a lot of the final two-and-a-half years doing analysis in origin nations. Be taught extra about her work at jen-roberts.com.
Subscribe and Extra!
As all the time, you may learn Barista Journal in paper by subscribing or ordering a difficulty.
Help Barista Journal with a Membership.
Signup for our weekly publication.
Learn the December 2025 + January 2026 Situation free of charge with our digital version.
