Explore Colombo Differently: Taste 35+ Teas at PMD’s Historic Tea Room
2025 marks a special milestone for PMD Tea – 80 years of dedication to Ceylon’s finest teas.
To celebrate this legacy, we’ve lovingly restored our historic premises at 155 Dam Street in Pettah, Colombo – a location that’s been the heartbeat of our operations since 1969, when the Beatles ruled the charts and Apollo 11 touched the moon.
Nestled in the vibrant trading district of Pettah, this iconic space has long been where produce from Sri Lanka’s hill country met the world.
Back in the day, our family traded rice here – I remember sitting atop 60-kilo sacks of rice as a child, watching my father and his team weigh and sell to local buyers, their table lined with rice samples for inspection.
Now, the Colombo Tea Room offers visitors a window into that heritage – a space that fuses old-world charm with a new chapter of immersive tea education. The tasting room, built in traditional style with warm wood and brass fittings, features a truly one-of-a-kind tasting table.
Under a pane of tempered glass lies a curated collection of company archives spanning over 50 years – ledgers, letters, and handwritten notes that tell the story not just of PMD, but of this corner of Colombo.
Adding to the authenticity, the original Avery weighing scale from Birmingham and a Milner safe from Liverpool – both of which have remained in the premises since opening – stand as proud relics of our trading past.
And for the first time ever, we’re opening this space to visitors and tea lovers from around the world. Whether you're navigating the colourful chaos of Pettah Market or exploring Colombo on a deeper level, our tasting room offers a moment of calm, history, and sensory discovery.
Led by one of PMD’s expert tea tasters, each session is an authentic tasting journey through more than 35 teas – spanning Sri Lanka’s rich terroir and covering the spectrum from White, Green, Oolong, to Black Teas, including handmade artisanal selections.
Guests will learn the professional art of tasting: grading the dry leaf, assessing the infused leaf, examining the liquor in the cup, and of course, the final tasting (and spitting!) – all done with the same tools and methods used by professionals.
Planning a visit to Colombo?
Don’t miss the chance to step inside a living story of Ceylon Tea.
