Sri Lankans love a drink. Traditionally, the island’s drinking culture was centred on potent spirits like arrack and mildly alcoholic, refreshing drinks like raa (toddy), both of which come from the palm trees dotted across the island. Today, the contemporary cocktail culture across Sri Lanka draws from these heritage spirits and native tropical ingredients. And you’ll find some of those influences at Kolamba in the heart of London, too. 

This month, we are looking at Sri Lanka’s artisanal craft spirits and indigenous ingredients that are being revived by modern mixology culture, served everywhere from fancy cocktail bars to swanky boutique hotels.

Sri Lankan toddy and arrack

In the past, it was quite common for skilled, bare-chested men called toddy tappers to scale tall, swaying coconut palms, particularly in the coastal areas in Sri Lanka’s south and west. They would gingerly walk on tightropes to move between the trees, shaving off the tips of unopened coconut flowers. And the sap that trickles down from these flowers are collected into a small gourd or a clay pot tied to the base of the flower. 

Typically, a tapper would climb the coconut palms twice a day, to prepare the flowers and collect fresh sap. Once the sap is collected, this sweet, clear liquid begins to ferment naturally and quickly turning into a milky-white, mildly alcoholic palm wine known as raa, or toddy. A favourite pastime drink for many Sri Lankans, toddy was something people enjoyed at the village tavern. 

Toddy is then distilled and aged in wooden vats for arrack, with 33% to 40% ABV. And some of the popular brands include Ceylon Arrack from the legendary Rockland Distilleries. This medium-light bodied smooth spirit – aged in local halmilla caskets – has delicate citrus, floral, and honey notes. It’s now increasingly used in modern mixology, and even drunk neat in sleek, upscale bars and restaurants, from Colombo to London and Sydney.

Although toddy tapping – a profession passed down from father to son – is a dying tradition today, Sri Lankans have been tapping coconut trees for nearly 2000 years. While coconut toddy and arrack are popular, there are also other types. Across Sri Lanka’s north, locals collect the sap that oozes out from the palmyrah palm flower. Journeying across the sundrenched northern plains, you’ll still come across tiny drinking holes dedicated to palmyrah toddy, where it’s also sold in takeaway bottles – a few local entrepreneurs are distilling and bottling palmyrah arrack, too. Meanwhile, the kithul (fishtail) palm grows in the wild in the island’s rainy, wet jungles – and the sap collected from the palm’s flowers is used for kithul toddy.

Sri Lankan arrack cocktails

Both toddy and arrack are now part of innovative cocktails, and are paired with vibrant ingredients and botanicals that are native to our island. Think of the Coconut Arrack Old Fashioned cocktail served at Kolamba East – an arrack-based, sweet and spicy tipple with fat-washed coconut oil arrack, kithul syrup and cardamom bitter. One of our house classics is an ode to watalappam – a sweet, gooey egg custard topped with crunchy cashews prepared by the Muslim community during Eid. The Watalappam cocktail at Kolamba blends fat-washed coconut oil arrack with aromatic spices, jaggery, coconut water and cashews.

In the Sri Lankan capital Colombo and resort-heavy south coast, you’ll find groovy bars highlighting native ingredients like bael flower, which is traditionally dried and boiled to prepare a herbal tea. Or you’ll get sweet, delicate and floral spices like Ceylon cinnamon; fragrant curry leaves that are abundantly used in island kitchens to elevate the flavour of our coconut-based curries; and sweet, smoky kithul treacle made by boiling down the sap of the kithul palm flower. 

One of our top picks at Kolamba is the funky Pol Mezcalita, which blends Mezcal with coconut, citrus and scotch bonnets, a tiny, fiery chilli pepper used in Sri Lankan cuisine. Pol sambol – the everyday condiment made with freshly scraped coconut, chilli, and a generous sprinkle of lime – is the key component of the drink.

Sri Lankan tea cocktails

Sri Lanka is one of the world’s leading producers of tea. While locals traditionally drink tea with milk powder and sugar, mixologists now use tea in cocktails. At Kolamba, our menu features Spiced Iced Tea, which blends spiced rum with mango, passion fruit, blood orange and Ceylon black tea – a refreshing tropical drink that goes well with Sri Lankan meals. One of our favourites is the citrusy Ceylon Tea Sour, with gin, coconut and cold-brewed tea. 

Get a table at a tea lounge in Colombo, and you’ll find drinks that blend vanilla tea with rum, coconut, and pineapple. There are also refreshing vodka-based drinks paired with spiced tea.

From Colombo to London, these exquisitely presented modern Sri Lankan cocktails reflect the tropical abundance, heritage and the culinary traditions of our island home. While they pair perfectly with spice-heavy curries and condiments, they are also a whimsical rendering of the island’s diverse flavours that were once limited to our food. ​