BeanScene Magazine

Our adventure to India was all about meeting the people who put so much work, effort and love into the simple green beans we roast each and every day. It’s a nice thought to reflect on as I sip my morning cup of coffee – as without them, we wouldn’t be able to.

As usual we were quietly hopeful of finding some extraordinary coffee and just maybe having some fun while doing it. To aid in that area we (as usual) had chosen to do the trip by motorcycle.
Now Indian roads are infamous for their wild curves and traffic, and our contacts tried in vain to talk us out of travelling by motorbike with their usual charm. “You won’t last five minutes in Bangalore traffic,” they warned.  “I’m telling you! And whatever you do – do not ride at night.”

With those comments still ringing in our ears we landed in Bangalore and immediately made our way to collect our Royal Enfield Motorcycles. These are ancient looking vehicles, still built new in India. We chose them as the best form of transport to negotiate our way around the mountain top coffee plantations of India.

It took ages to get set up and with most of the day gone, we set out through Bangalore towards the mountains. It seemed everyone was trying to force us off the road or run us over.
Already breaking both pieces of advice we were given, late that night we arrived in Hassan to meet our friend Devia of Allana & Sons who manages some of the largest processing factories in this part of India and exports quality beans around the world.

We learned of the late rains destroying nearly half the regional crop and the subsequent shortages of quality coffee. We were lucky to cup some of the finest Monsoon Malabar and other coffees before catching up with the workers in the processing areas and learning more about that end of the business.

By chance we learned that Scott Bennett from H.A.Bennett & Sons in Melbourne was also exploring the region for coffee. After a two-day bike ride, avoiding more dangerous public transport and a few ‘holy cows’ we were welcomed by Scott and his family at Kelagur Heights Coffee & Tea Plantation. Here we enjoyed great hospitality, and were introduced to not only great coffee, but also the intrigued workings of tea processing.

Tea is picked every 10 days and blown overnight with fresh cool air while resting on large drying beds. The tea leaves are then cut finer and finer and finally put in a large tumble dryer.

The tea is then spread onto large floor areas, where over time the leaves lose their natural green colour and takes on its familiar dark brown tint. Black tea needs to be fired and we learned that their furnace takes 3 kilograms of wood to produce enough heat to fire 1 kilogram of tea. The tea is then sorted by a series of machines that remove any unwanted stalks and grades the tea whether its for pot brewing or tea bags. It was a great few days and we thank Scott for his hospitality.

Our next destination was Devon Estate near Koppa Karnataka, which was reached with a few more tumbles and bruises having been in contact with the local wildlife.

Devon Estate’s main focus is tea, while their sister plantation, located four hours drive away, grows some of the very best Arabica and Pulp Natural ‘Honey Coffee’ on the foothills of Merthi Mountain. We cupped numerous varietals. We think we’ve found something very good, but until we test it with our Western Australian water and on our own style of espresso machines, we won’t know for certain.

That night we were challenged to a game of cricket against the plantation children. We enjoyed (but lost) our game – the whole coffee village came out to ensure we were beaten. Together we all ate copious amounts of the very best Indian home-cooked foods.

It came time to get onto our trusty steeds and made our way to the coffee growing region of Merthi Mountain. The expected four hour drive turned out to be 10 hours which we put down to extreme weather conditions, lack of a sense of direction and never ending road construction. It wasn’t anything a hot shower and scotch couldn’t fix, kindly organised by our host who, we named ‘The Guru’ who was patiently awaiting our arrival. The Guru was so named because he had a passionate opinion on every matter – apparently even Ghandi had a lot of things was wrong. The Guru proved to be a great host and a lot of fun.

After a well earned sleep we made our way to Ottumani Estate, closely affiliated to Origin Coffee and fell in love with the people and their passion. RFA Certified, this estate is taking great steps to protect the environment. The owners use sophisticated machinery to manage the waste water that comes of the mill when processing coffee and are continuously exploring ways to improve the quality of their crop while staying in close contact with the coffee roasters they supply to.

We shared the infamous Coorg Pork Curry with great company and we learned as much as we could about the future of Indian Coffee. Our next destination was through Tamil Country towards Gudalur, where we countered wild boar, antelope, and vicious monkeys that seem to enjoy chasing motorcyclists. We even heard the roar of the Tamil tiger and barely escaped stampeding elephants. It was a bit our own fault, as  we were told by the National Park Rangers not to stop for photographs and maintain a minimum speed of 50 kilometres an hour. You can imagine it’s difficult to get a good photo while riding.

Over the next few days we travelled up massive mountain roads (more like networks of potholes) and arrived at an old plantation that was one of the first to receive organic certification. The coffee looked good but we were unable to cup it on site, although they sent us samples. With production of less than 30 tonnes a year, availability will be scarce. Also very popular for export is their Monkey parchment coffee (equivalent to the well known Civet Cat Poo Coffee except from a monkey) of where up to 50 workers can collect up 25 kilograms per day.

Our trip continued through the coffee regions of Tamil Nadu and towards Kerala and Kanataka from there we headed back up north along the west coast.

It was a brilliant adventure. We found some great beans and learned more about the Indian culture and their coffee plantations. Their passion for great coffee is extending more and more into looking after their environment, along with their workers and families. We met many plantation workers, working along side them, playing cricket, sharing meals and talking about the joy they are bringing to us in the West with their great coffee. Along the way we found a couple of great beans. That you could say was mission accomplished.

Yahava KoffeeWorks is based in Western Australia, and are Australian Certified Organic Roasters.