Field Report: Sri Lanka—Exploring Coffee Culture in Kandy and Colombo
From hidden alleyway cafés to design-forward coffee bars, we trace Sri Lanka’s evolving specialty-coffee scene alongside its deep-rooted tea legacy.
BY JEN ROBERTS
FOR BARISTA MAGAZINE
Photos by Jen Roberts
Before I could find my bearings on a busy downtown street in Kandy, my tuk-tuk had already sped off into traffic, its horn fading into the distance. I tightened the straps on my backpack and spotted a bright-yellow sign pointing toward Café Secret Alley.
I followed the arrow up the steps and down a narrow path, where two monkeys played on an overhead ledge, until I reached the café, perfectly tucked at the end—as if the alley’s only purpose was to bring me there.
With its sunshine-yellow exterior, red-tiled roof, and blue doors, the café charmed me before I even stepped inside. I ordered a cortado and settled at a picnic table, my backpack occupying the opposite bench. The cortado was the perfect balance of espresso and steamed milk, a far cry from the instant coffee and tea options provided at my guesthouse. I stopped the server to ask whether the coffee was local; he answered in the negative but, sensing my interest, offered to prepare another with Sri Lankan coffee if I wanted.
Of course that’s what I wanted. The cup he soon delivered had citrus notes, bright acidity, and a hint of spice. When I went to pay, I struck up a conversation with the café’s owner, Dilshan Ranaweera, known to everyone as Arty. In just a few minutes—because I had a train to catch—Arty shared how the local coffee scene has changed since the shop began. There are now more specialty cafés, more coffee producers, and an overall buzz of excitement. I got swept up in the conversation and had to scurry to the station, unsure if I’d even make my train.
Unexpectedly, I left Kandy with a bag of Sri Lankan coffee Arty had gifted me, a phone full of new coffee contacts, and freshly piqued curiosity.
Sri Lanka’s Coffee History
It’s believed that Arab pilgrims brought coffee to Sri Lanka from Yemen in the 17th century, though at that time only the leaves were used in curries and the flowers employed as temple offerings. Coffee production, like so many things in Sri Lanka’s history, is intertwined with colonialism. The Dutch were the first to cultivate coffee on the island in 1740, but large-scale production took off under British rule in the early 1800s.
By 1860, Sri Lanka ranked among the world’s top coffee producers, alongside Brazil and Indonesia, with more than 275,000 acres under cultivation. But in 1869, the island recorded the first epidemic of coffee leaf rust, which devastated crops. Within decades, land devoted to coffee shrank to just over 11,000 acres. The British shifted to commercial tea cultivation in the country, and to date, Sri Lanka remains one of the world’s largest tea-producing countries.
monkeys playing on the ledge.
Just days before meeting Arty at his café in Kandy, I had taken the well-known train ride through the highlands to Ella, a small town surrounded by hills covered in cloud forests and tea plantations. The train wound around lush countryside, green mountains, and rows of manicured tea bushes as far as the eye could see.
In Ella, tea shops far outnumber coffee shops, so I drank a lot of chai. I spent a morning touring a tea plantation and was the only one on the tour, so I pestered the guide with questions, eager to understand how tea production compares to the coffee trade.
The Coffee Revival
Sri Lanka’s central highlands, with their high altitude, consistent rainfall, regulated temperatures, and tropical climate, are ideal for growing coffee. Their inland location protects plants from the monsoon rains, and the region’s diverse terroir—with mineral-rich soils, varied elevations, and humid microclimate—supports both tea and coffee production.
The revival of Sri Lanka’s coffee industry has been slow but steady. In the 1970s, the Department of Export Agriculture (DEA) recognized coffee’s economic promise and began supplying saplings, financial support, and technical training to growers. By the 1990s, most Sri Lankan coffee was grown in home gardens, often by tea farmers who had a few coffee plants. Beans were harvested and processed using traditional methods and sold cheaply at central trading houses in Colombo, the country’s capital.
Tharanga Muramudali recognized the untapped potential of the highlands and the growing global demand for traceable coffee, opening Natural Coffee in 2012. The café became a hub for coffee experts, which allowed him to grow relationships and explore the entire chain from cultivation to brewing.
Six years later, he launched Helanta Coffee, a community-focused coffee brand now working with more than 1,500 coffee-farming families in the Kotmale region. “We have a lot of commercial coffee in Sri Lanka, but when I learned about specialty coffee, I wanted to focus on improving coffee through the taste,” he says.
To support farmers, Tharanga established a nursery and now distributes plants to farmers at no cost. He also provides training and buys farmers’ red cherries to ensure consistent processing.
Another turning point came in 2017, when the Market Development Facility (MDF), a multi-country initiative funded by the Australian government, spotted an opportunity for Sri Lanka to capitalize on the growing demand for specialty coffee. “We realized that Sri Lanka could never compete in commodity coffee because you need volumes, and we don’t have the land for that,” says Vishan Rajakaruna, a business advisor at MDF. “We analyzed the market and identified that there’s an opportunity here that we can really tap into in specialty coffee. With a few interventions, we could strengthen the entire value chain.”
MDF prioritized quality over quantity, working to increase production, improve quality, and coordinate industry promotion. At that time, Sri Lanka was importing more coffee than it exported. When the pandemic triggered a ban on green coffee imports, cafés were forced to turn to local producers. “It was a good coincidence,” says Vishan. “We were working to strengthen local coffee producers at the time, and cafés were importing coffee. With this ban, they had to start looking for local alternatives.”
Specialty in the City
As I ventured to Colombo, I compiled a list of cafés to visit. I started with Kiri Kopi, home to Asela Kaushan, winner of this year’s regional barista championship in Kandy. Housed in a Neoclassical building with tall white columns, the café’s interiors are just as stately, with a grand staircase that greets you at the entrance. On one side, a large counter with pastries, grinders, and an espresso machine anchors the minimalist space. A wall-mounted display shelf adds just enough texture to balance the café’s simplicity.
On the day I visited, Kiri Kopi had four coffees—an Ethiopian, a Brazilian, and two Sri Lankan options—displayed in perfume-like bottles for customers to inhale their aromas. The café’s extensive coffee
menu is paired with an all-day brunch that draws both local families and tourists.
From there, I visited Seed Café, located in the tree-lined neighborhood of Horton Place. The café’s main location was under renovation, so it was operating in the other half of an old colonial house with painted ceilings and intricately tiled floors.
Over lunch, owner Mahesh Alkegama described his plans for the new space as sunlight streamed into the plant-filled rooms of this temporary location. I couldn’t imagine anything better than where we were sitting, but Mahesh could see his vision: “It’s going to be a similar concept but with a bigger bar, so we can properly introduce specialty coffee to this part of town,” he explained. “We’ll have a bigger kitchen, a micro-bakery, and a roaster is coming.”
Seed now has a second location inside the U.S. Embassy, but it’s just one part of Mahesh’s growing coffee portfolio. Before Seed came Grind, which opened in 2018, and after it came Radicle in 2025. Each café serves the same high-quality coffee but was designed with its own distinct aesthetic.
“We started the cafés because there was no good place to drink coffee,” says Mahesh, who came to Sri Lanka after a decade living in London. “Colombo is a small market, so the way we felt we could keep
everyone interested is to have different brands. We keep the drinks and food a bit similar, but the aesthetics are so different.”
Grind occupies one side of the lobby of a business complex. Its sleek, modern design distinguishes it from the corporate setting, while the café buzzes with business meetings and office workers grabbing
coffee on their way to work.
office building.
Radicle, by contrast, is located in the back of an art gallery in the heart of downtown. “It’s a historical building, where Duran Duran shot their ‘Hungry Like the Wolf ’ video,” Mahesh says. Where Grind exudes business-like energy, Radicle pulses with creativity. “We wanted to create a platform for local artists and promote local coffee,” he adds.
Across all his cafés, Mahesh serves Sri Lankan coffees as well as single-origins from around the world; he balks at government restrictions on importing green coffee. “It’s a barrier that makes no sense,” he says. “If you have beans coming from Colombia, Ethiopia, or wherever, the local farmers can learn and improve our game. That’s the way business could expand.”
Mahesh says that in this developing area, quality control remains a challenge. “It’s hard to discern which farmers are doing specialty coffee and which are still picking both red and green cherries,” he says. “Sri Lankan coffee is equal to what is grown on farms in Latin American and African countries. The farmers just need proper education.”
This article originally appeared in the December 2025 + January 2026 issue of Barista Magazine. Read more of the issue online here for free.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jen Roberts (she/her) is a freelance writer who is (mostly) interested in coffee and global social issues. She’s currently writing a book about women in coffee and has spent much of the last two-and-a-half years doing research in origin countries. Learn more about her work at jen-roberts.com.
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Source: Barista Magazine