From Bean to Brew: Soul Brewology brings Sri Lanka’s first coffee experience studio to Colombo

By Kaveesha Fernando

Sri Lanka is known as an island of tea, but it wasn’t always so. When the British first brought coffee to Ceylon, the crop was expected to thrive, but a devastating coffee blight destroyed plantations across the island, paving the way for tea, which would come to define the country.

 Inspired by this history, Founder and CEO of Soul Coffee Group Rinosh Nasar reexamined Sri Lanka’s potential for coffee cultivation and founded Soul Coffee in 2014. Encouraged by the brand’s success with wholesalers and retail customers alike, Rinosh and his team launched Soul Brewology, the country’s first coffee experience studio, at Chatham Street earlier this month.

Soul Brewology is not a traditional coffee shop. Instead, it is a space where hardcore coffee enthusiasts can gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the craft. This expansion addresses that by providing a complete ecosystem for both B2B (business to business) and B2C (business to consumer/retail) customers. Café and hotel owners can browse machines, sample products on demand, and enrol baristas in training programmes, etc. Coffee enthusiasts, meanwhile, can explore a range of speciality coffees, syrups, and accessories, get personalised recommendations, and sample products before purchasing coffee beans.

Rinosh personally selected the range of coffee machines offered at the studio after extensive research abroad, including home-use models, entry-level café machines, and high-end professional setups.

The studio is the sole distributor in Sri Lanka for coffee machine brands such as Slayer, Faema, Casadio and Giffard syrups, the latter of which uses beet sugar instead of cane sugar (used by more common brands) to enhance flavour.

While other providers may offer a cluster of these products and services, Soul Brewology aims to deliver the full spectrum under one roof. Says Rinosh, that without the right equipment or trained staff, even the best beans cannot reach their full potential.

Coffee cupping is a standardised sensory evaluation process for assessing a coffee's aroma and flavour quality, and the session done by Soul Coffee is an educational experience where customers can learn about the products. Monthly cupping sessions are held free of charge.

Looking ahead, Rinosh envisions taking Sri Lankan coffee to the international market, positioning it alongside Ceylon tea as a premium product. "We can go head-to-head with the international market, but we have to do it right," he says, adding that even if one step in the process from growing to finally grinding and brewing the beans goes wrong, the whole product is affected, which is why he is focusing on total coffee solutions.

For more information, visit https://www.soulcoffee.lk/ or contact sales@soulcoffeeco.com. The studio is open at 92 1/1, Chatham Street, Colombo 01.