India
India is the 5th largest producer of coffee in the world ahead of Ethiopia and a bigger producer than any of the Central American countries with an estimated production of around 4.4million bags produced by approximately 140,000 coffee farms.
Coffee was first cultivated in India in the mid 16th century the story goes that an Indian pilgrim to Mecca – known as Baba Budan – smuggled seven coffee beans out of Arabia and back home to India. There he planted the beans in the Mysore region, establishing the first coffee plantation in India.
Today, coffee is grown in the established southern states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the more recent areas of Andra Pradesh and Orissa in the Eastern Ghats and in the North Eastern ‘sister states’ of Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.
India has around 900,000 hectares of coffee trees with over 90% of all coffee farms consisting of less than 10 acres. These are located at around 900 to 1,200 metres above sea level.
However, these farms account for just over half of all land used for coffee production but only a small percentage of coffee produced. Around two thirds of production is Arabica and the remaining third Robusta.
The main coffee varietals cultivated are S.288, SLN 795, SLN 9, SLN 6, Cauvery (Catimor) and Kents.
The harvest is November to March each year. The coffees may be processed using either the natural or washed methods, known locally as Cherry and Parchment, respectively. The coffee is dried using patios, tables and mechanical dryers although the later is only on the larger estates where they require a large drying capacity and can afford this investment.
India is also the creator of the famed ‘monsoon malabar’. Green coffee is warehoused in an open-sided structure protected from rain by a roof which allows moist tropical air to blow through the storage area. In a 2 to 3 month period, the beans absorb moisture, lose a degree of their natural acidity and become brittle and pale. The result is a toasty nutty roast which is often used to add body and weight in a blend.
The process of coffee cultivation in India is based on the two-tier mixed shade canopy model. A large array of spices and fruit crops such as vanilla, orange, banana, pepper, cardamom and other leguminous species are inter-planted amongst the shorter coffee plants. (For a full discussion of shade techniques, see the longer analysis in our ‘Articles’ section on this website.)
The new crop coffees from India arrive in February/March.
