#കേരളചരിത്രം
#history
Tea and Coffee in Kerala.
Most people may not be aware of the fact that tea and coffee were unknown to the people of Kerala even 300 years ago.
Coffee was first introduced in Malabar in the 17th or 18th century by the Britishers.
But it was only by the late 19th and early 20th centuries, that tea /coffee shops mushroomed across the region and the drinks became popular.
The British newspaper “The Sphere” published a report with eight photographs on the Moplah rebellion in Malabar, in a 1922 issue titled “The Trouble in the Moplah Country”.
One of the pictures was of a tea-shop.
The accompanying report noted:
“There are hundreds of such tea shops all over Malabar. The Malabari is as much addicted to tea drinking as the Russian. In normal times, the tea shop is a rendezvous for all the village gossips, who discuss the most vital questions of the day, the price of rice, and the chances of a good monsoon. They are seen here drinking out of a variety of glasses and cups.”
A report from Travancore in 1941 noted that 𝘬𝘢𝘯𝘫𝘪 was being “slowly supplanted by tea, coffee, cocoa or other beverages”.
( adapted)
– Joy Kallivayalil.
