Madras savoured neither tea nor coffee at its birth 375 years ago. It was possibly Madeira wine for the English of Madraspatnam and arrack for the inhabitants, surmises a history buff.
When did tea and coffee come to Madras and how did coffee become the city’s choice of beverage? Coffee planting (1820s) preceded tea by over two decades in Madras Presidency. A few garden houses in the city had coffee plants. A few years from 1835, the Governor of Madras, Sir William Denison brought in Chinese tea makers. The first tea estate, Thiashola, was established in 1859 and tea perhaps came to Madras sometime then. With the establishment of Kanan Devan tea plantations in 1897, tea became popular in Madras. Evening tea became a ceremonial occasion but tea remained confined to at-homes and garden parties. Though coffee faced a reversal with blight destroying crops (1860-70), it had made an impression. An Indianised version of it seemed to percolate into the small towns around Madras.
Meanwhile, Madras became home for planters from Ceylon who moved away from coffee plantations overrun by blight. Madras also housed Chinese convicts in jail, who were sent to plant tea in the Nilgiris. They were also used in laying the railway lines. Tea in a circuitous way was building Madras. The city became home to almost all South Indian tea companies, many of which continue to function from here, major players being Parry and Company, Stanes of Coimbatore (now owned by Amalgamations Group), and A.V. Thomas Tea. They remain united by another common love: filter coffee.
