Coffee is one of the most popular crops in Sri Lanka from ancient times to the present day. It is no secret that coffee had become such a popular drink among the Sri Lankans, regardless of their rural or urban status. Coffee was first introduced to Ceylon by Muslim pilgrims who came through Yemen and India in the early 17th century. They first introduced the “Arabica coffee” variety. But at present two main types of coffee are cultivated in Sri Lanka. Arabica coffee is widely grown in the highlands and Robusta coffee is widely grown in the lowlands. Out of these, the high-quality flavors, aromas, and other values of Arabica coffee are in high demand and high price in foreign markets. There are many varieties of this coffee.
Coffee was introduced to Ceylon by the Arabs in 1503 and was cultivated by the Dutch in 1658. The golden age of coffee cultivation in Ceylon was marked during the British rule. In 1825, the British began to expand coffee cultivation into every cultivable land in Sri Lanka, then known as Ceylon. As a result, by 1870, Ceylon had become the world’s leading coffee exporter, exporting over 100 million pounds worth of coffee a year. Due to coffee cultivation, infrastructure such as highways and railways were developed in the country. But the rust that plagued coffee in the 1870s destroyed almost all coffee plantations, and the coffee plantations were later transformed into tea and rubber plantations. However, later research led to the discovery of a cure for this disease, which later led to the growth of coffee cultivation. Today, coffee cultivation has become the livelihood of millions of Sri Lankans.
Coffee is the second most sold commodity in the world, second only to oil. Since then, the world’s population has consumed 1,400 million cups of coffee a day. It is second only to water in terms of popularity. But most of all, coffee has an amazing effect on the brain. Although frozen or iced coffee is plentiful, it is usually served hot. Many people drink coffee with breakfast at home or at dinner or in restaurants. It is often served at the end of a formal meal, usually with dessert and sometimes with mint after dinner, especially at a restaurant or dinner party. Drinking coffee is generally safer than a normal diet, and 3 or 4 cups of coffee per day improves health rather than harming you.
It is also widely used as a medicine to cure diseases.
