We were in India back in 2007 but didn’t have near enough time so this trip has been very well planned and has resulted in a 12 day pre planned coffee hunt. We have visited many farms and shook hands with many farmers on this trip and I’m going to cover two farms in this report that we will be working with going forward. One farm that we have been dealing with for the past two years with which we will be extending the relationship further taking on their Robusta and another farm that we found through a passing contact made in the UK that has turned out to be a real gem.
The Indian coffee has become quite important to us as we are finding a growing appreciation from our internet customers and cafés which we supply that are serving filter and/or guest espresso - although Indian coffee is not that well represented in the UK coffee market as a whole. Our existing portfolio consists of a classic monsooned (aged) coffee, plantation A washed and plantation A natural (PAN). If you haven’t tasted Indian coffee before you will find it well balanced, mild with a good body, generally low on acidity and buttery with subtle pleasing spicy notes. From a roasting prospective, Indian coffee works through a whole range of roast profiles and methods of brewing. Wonderful as a single estate espresso, great in an espresso blend and outstanding through filter drip - we used the PAN in our espresso blend Vertical Break. We have been roasting Sethuraman Estate coffees for just over two years brought about by sample cupping in the UK. We spent not far short of a day at the farm on the 26th Dec 2012 which is located in the Chikmagalur district 12km outside the small town of Magundi, on the Bhadra river. The farm sits at an altitude ranging from 2500-3200 ft.
We had come to the farm to cup its award winning Robusta and we were not disappointed, in fact we were astounded by the quality and cup. On meeting Nishant Gurjer, the owner and sixth generation coffee farmer, we were treated to a cup of coffee while talking about our trip and his farm. The coffee was of course taken and given black and it was outstanding (beautiful). We then learnt we had been given Robusta, but on first taste, no way was this Robusta, it was not classic quality Robusta. You can call it next generation Robusta if you like, beyond Robusta. The quality in the cup was just outstanding. The farm is planted in the main with SLN 274 Robusta under a two-tier mixed shade canopy, comprising of new and mature trees. The coffee tree stock ranges from sixty years old to seedlings.
As with all coffee farms that grow under shade, the shade trees prevent soil erosion on sloping terrain in the wet season, they enrich the soil by recycling nutrients from deeper layers of the soil while protecting the crop and adding to the flora and fauna. The coffee is selectively hand-picked and dropped onto ground sheets for ease of picking and then transferred to 50kg bags ready for transportation to the holding tank pre-processing.
The estate uses a pre-separator which works by removing any greens or half-ripe cherries as well as any picking debris. The cherries destined for washed coffee are then put through a de-pulper pre-fermentation and then tanked and fermented.
The ferment is classic – the small remainder of the pulp is removed with the thick layer mucilage by a breaking down of the cellulose. The fermentation takes between 24 and 30 hours, depending on the temperature, thickness of the mucilage layer and concentration of the enzymes in the fermentation.
Robusta is a more juicy fruit than Arabica and because of this the fermentation is very active. When the fermentation is complete, the coffee is thoroughly washed with clean water
The farm uses worm culture to make compost which is a mix of earth, coffee pulp and leaf mulch which is used to feed the coffee trees – last year the farm made around 200 tons. As a pesticide the farm uses a concoction of organic 'lovelies' that smells like rotten cheese and egg. This is sprayed onto the plants to ward off pests
In the main, picking on the farm is undertaken by a transient workforce and around 40 full time workers. Picking wage rates are well above the commercial norm, with full time workers being paid above average and provided with medical care and schooling for their children. On cupping the coffee blind you can be fooled into thinking the Robusta is Arabica with notes and acidity that are quite unexpected in Robusta, with no off flavours associated with typical or even specialty grade Robusta we have tasted in the past. The aromatics from cup were higher than I’d expected – normally Robusta aromatics are low.
In the cup I found bittersweet dark chocolate with a rich buttery mouth feel that stayed long into the finish. The coffee should be in our roastery mid-March to early April and we will be designing a new espresso using around 25% of this Robusta and will be sold as a single estate Robusta as this would out-cup most if not all Robusta’s.