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Five hundred years late: finishing the voyage
The ships brought cinnamon home. We are bringing the fruit.
By Aurora TropicsPublished Updated
In 1505 Portuguese ships reached Ceylon. They found an island heavy with spice, and with fruit Europe had never tasted: soursop with its white, creamy flesh, mangoes that dripped, wood apple, tamarind, king coconut.
The spice made it home. Cinnamon went into Lisbon’s kitchens and stayed; today it sits on top of every pastel de nata. The fruit did not. Months at sea were too long. Soursop, mango and wood apple rotted in the hold before the ships docked.
For five centuries the voyage was only half finished.
Pressed where it grows
Aurora Tropics finishes it. Our drinks are pressed and bottled in Sri Lanka, close to the farms the fruit comes from, by MAC Export Holdings. Bottling at source means the fruit is picked ripe, not picked early to survive a journey.
Nine fruits, one shelf in Portugal
We started with the nine fruits people in Sri Lanka actually drink: soursop, king coconut, wood apple, mango, tamarind, green orange, passion fruit, aloe vera and a mixed fruit blend. Each keeps its Sinhala name on the bottle, because that is what it is called where it grows.
In 2026 the bottles crossed the same ocean the carracks did, and arrived. We think that counts as finishing the voyage.
Questions about this post
Where are Aurora Tropics drinks made?
In Sri Lanka, pressed and bottled close to the farms the fruit comes from. Bottling at source means the fruit is picked ripe, not early to survive a journey. The bottles are then shipped to Portugal.
Why did tropical fruit from Sri Lanka not reach Portugal in the 1500s?
Months at sea were too long. Spice keeps, so cinnamon made it to Lisbon. Soursop, mango and wood apple rotted in the hold before the ships docked.
Which fruits are in the Aurora Tropics range?
Soursop, king coconut, wood apple, mango, tamarind, green orange, passion fruit, aloe vera and a mixed fruit blend: the nine drinks people in Sri Lanka actually drink.
