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Stratford Avenue marks the end of Colombo. It separates Sri Lanka\u2019s capital city from it\u2019s suburbs to the southeast\u2014up and down, the short stretch of road is dotted with small shops and hole-in-the-wall restaurants, and hums with faint chantings of a nearby Buddhist temple. Here is where\u00a0Kopi Kade<\/span><\/a> calls home.<\/span><\/p>\n Opened in 2016, the cafe stood out at the gate. A product of Nimeshan Namasivayam, Kopi Kade directly translates to “coffee shop” in both Sinhala and Tamil. It\u2019s also the name of a long running and extremely famous soap opera<\/span><\/a>. The show centered around the idea of a kopi kade as a community hub.<\/span><\/p>\n The unassuming facade of Namasivayam\u2019s Kopi Kade gives way to a clean, former warehouse\u2014designed by local architect Manju Wijeratne, the space is decorated with clean-cut teak tables and chairs, bronze light fixtures, and the work of artist\u00a0Shaneea Mendis<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Before founding Kopi Kade, Namasivayam worked as a barista, coffee roaster, and a coffee taster for more 15 years in Australia, where he lived for most of his life. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s more about ensuring consistency,\u201d says Namasivayam of running a successful cafe. \u201cWe use very good water filtration systems and always fresh milk.\u201d He\u2019s also using Kopi Kade to build Colombo\u2019s barista community, offering workshops to local restaurant staff and home baristas alike.<\/span><\/p>\n The menu here sees a constant change, with rotating single-origin coffees from Costa Rica to Ethiopia to Indonesia. \u201cWe change the coffee every three to four weeks, not just from different countries, but from different roasters,\u201d Namasivayam says. <\/span><\/p>\n Kopi Kade also has its own 1kg Giesen<\/span><\/a>\u00a0abutting the back wall, on which Namasivayam trial roasts small lots of Sri Lankan coffee.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe want to see if we can improve farming and processing techniques, which would result in a better cup of quality coffee,\u201d Namasivayam says of his relationships with a few local smallholder coffee farmers. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of potential to produce good Sri Lankan coffee, as the terroir is perfect for coffee growing in the hill country.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n For espresso beverages, the cafe uses a two-group\u00a0Victoria Arduino VA388 Black Eagle<\/span><\/a>\u00a0along with two\u00a0Mythos One<\/span><\/a>\u00a0grinders. Brewed coffee is offered either on\u00a0AeroPress<\/span><\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Hario V60<\/span><\/a> and ground with a\u00a0Comandante<\/span><\/a> hand grinder. There\u2019s also a \u201cSri Lankan Style\u201d cold brew made sweet to match Colombo\u2019s palate\u2014it\u2019s a darker-roasted African coffee mixed with 40-percent milk. <\/span><\/p>\n Kopi Kade\u2019s food menu is filled with modern takes on traditional Sri Lankan dishes, like spiced lamb and prawn sliders and the Coconut French Toast\u2014fluffy, eggy, pani pol<\/i>\u00a0bread covered in caramelized coconut flakes and coffee-infused coconut sugar syrup, gently spiced with cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon.<\/span><\/p>\n At Kopi Kade, Namasivayam has built a community of regulars with whom he shares not just new coffees, but sizable doses of information about production, taste, brewing, and coffee culture. In doing so, he hopes his coffee shop can be more than just that. \u201cIt\u2019s an experiential learning experience,\u201d Nimeshan says, and one with the name recognition that just may draw the masses.<\/span><\/p>\n Zinara Rathnayake is a freelance journalist based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. This is\u00a0Zinara Rathnayake’s first feature for\u00a0 Sprudge.<\/em><\/p>\n Photos by Nathan Mahendra<\/em><\/p>\n The post In Sri Lanka, Kopi Kade Brings Specialty Coffee To The Capital City<\/a> appeared first on Sprudge<\/a>.<\/p>\n Source: Coffee News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Stratford Avenue marks the end of Colombo. It separates Sri Lanka\u2019s capital city from it\u2019s suburbs to the southeast\u2014up and down, the short stretch of road is dotted with small…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[39],"tags":[63],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2309"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2309\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"kopi](\"https:\/\/sprudge.com\/file\/2019\/03\/Kopi-Kade-Sri-Lanka-01-1170x780.jpg\")
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<\/span><\/p>\nKopi Kade is located at\u00a015\/3 Stratford Ave, Colombo 00006<\/a>. Visit their official website<\/a> and follow them on Facebook<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/div>\n