Legendary Crops: Tea vs. Coffee Culture

First brought to the island as a plant for non-commercial use back in 1824 from China, the first tea sapling was placed at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Peradeniya. As we all know, every journey starts with a single step, and the first step, which was taken to establish the world renowned Ceylon Tea took place in 1867 when James Taylor introduced tea plantation to Ceylon. He started the first plantation in the lush interiors of the island, in the Hewaheta Lower area in the Loolecondera Estate. His pioneering efforts have made a significant contribution to the country as well as to the world by offering perhaps the best tea in the world. It was only in the late 19th century that Thomas Lipton visited the country and made business deals with Taylor, to purchase and distribute Ceylon Tea in the western parts of the world. It took the country a little less than a century to become the world’s largest tea exporter for the first time in the year of 1965.

The crop has earned itself a prominent place in each and every household in the island and is consumed daily in Sri Lanka. Of course there are many types of tealeaves, which also gives rise to different types of tea herbal tea, iced tea and the everyday plain tea, which we consume. Consuming tea is beneficial to everyone; it helps to keep you hydrated, immune from diseases and to increase your rate of metabolism. An exhausted citizen after a tired day of world would be more than happy to relish a cup of plain tea with a slice of ginger. The increase in consumption of tea over the years have given rise to some great tea parlors which can be found all over the island, offering some of the finest tea in the country.

The Arabians are said to be responsible for bringing down the first coffee plants to Ceylon but it was the Dutch during their time in ruling the country, which started coffee cultivation in the 18th century. Their efforts at exporting the crop were not as successful as the British, who were the first to commercialize coffee and created a platform for Ceylon to export coffee in mass quantities and thereby making coffee, Ceylon’s first largely exported crop before tea. Lt. Col Henry C. Bird and his brother George Bird were some of the pioneers in coffee plantations and opened up the islands first coffee plantation in Sinnapitiya, Gampola back in 1824. The rise in demand for coffee in Western Europe gave rise to the increase production of coffee in the island and helped to improve the economy of the country. The coffee industry of Ceylon saw a dreadful decline when the coffee blight named hemleia vastratrix, started destroying the plantations. This devastating fungus wiped off 15 years of hard work and gave rise to the consumption of tea thereafter.

In the contemporary age in Sri Lanka, the consumption of coffee has seen a vast improvement. With the opening up of world-renowned branded coffee shops and globalization, coffee also like tea has become a way of life for the average citizen. Just like tea, coffee offers many benefits like keeping you away from diseases and providing you with an energy boost due to the presence of caffeine. Both tea and coffee are two legendary crops and have made their way through generations in the country and play an important role in the society.

Here are some opinions, which some tea/coffee lovers had to say:

Kosala Wickramanayake: “Coffee helps you to wake up and work where as tea helps you to chill and wind down”

Emasha Silva: “Laughter and friendship gets built on that perfect cup of coffee with the right aroma”

Text by Migara Wijesinghe