It is believed that coffee plants were first brought to Sri Lanka by Arabian traders in the year 1503. However it was only in the 18th century that coffee was cultivated as a commercial crop. For almost the next one hundred years, Sri Lanka’s coffee plantations went from strength to strength, and gained recognition as one of the finest varieties of coffee known to man at the time.

After being completely destroyed by the ‘coffee blight’ (caused by the fungus Hemileia Vastatrix), the industry began a slow but steady resurgence in the late 20th century. The efforts of those brave farmers and passionate botanists eventually bore fruit, and today Sri Lankan coffee is once again making its presence known in countries such as the Maldives, Chile, Australia, China, and the United States.