Tea, Coffee & Drinks

This department holds everything poured into a cup or a glass in an Asian home, from the first pan of chai to the last mug of malted milk. It brings together loose and bagged tea, instant and filter coffee, milk and malt drinks, soft drinks and juices and cordials and syrups.

Tea comes first for most of our shoppers. Indian and Pakistani households brew doodh patti with strong CTC leaf, boiled with milk, sugar and a crushed cardamom pod. Sri Lankan families drink Ceylon tea plain or with milk powder, often sweetened heavily. There are also British tea bags for a quick builder's brew, masala chai premixes, green and herbal infusions, and speciality Ceylon teas such as golden tips and white tea for a slower cup.

Coffee in South India means filter kaapi: dark roast coffee blended with chicory, brewed through a steel filter and frothed with hot milk between two cups. Instant coffee, sweet coffee sachets and sukku malli, a warming Tamil drink of dry ginger and coriander seed, complete the coffee shelf. On the milk side, full cream milk powder is the base of Sri Lankan milk tea and countless sweets, and malt drinks remain a childhood habit for many adults.

Cold drinks follow the seasons. Rose syrup and sherbet go into falooda and iced milk, nannari syrup into lemon sarbath, and Sri Lankan cream soda and nelli drinks are the taste of a Colombo or Jaffna summer. Brands include Niru and Sunrise, next to the familiar British names.

Tea, coffee and milk powder all pick up moisture and smells, so move them into airtight caddies away from the spice shelf once the pack is open. Whole-leaf and speciality teas taste best within a few months of opening, while CTC tea stays strong for longer.