India is the latest addition to our lineup of coffee origins here at Kontext Coffee Co. The country has long been known for its very high quality Robustas and so we are particularly excited to add this beautifully nutty, round and smooth coffee to our range of Robustas - extra strength due to higher caffeine content!
 
Robusta is a different species of coffee from the more widely known Arabica. In terms of the flavour in the cup, Robusta usually produces a less complex, less acidic and less fruity cup. Bad Robusta usually makes for a bitter, burnt and rubbery cup of coffee but if done right - as in the case of our Indian friends from South India Coffee Co. - it can be quite a different story: this coffee, while still slightly less complex than the Arabica coffees on our menu - is super rich in it's chocolaty and nutty notes. Thanks to it's milk chococlatey and vanilla notes it makes a smooth filter coffee and as all of our Robustas it really shines when prepared as Espresso - you get all the notes that we love about a proper traditional Italian Espresso without the bitterness and the burnt rubbery notes. There is chocolate, depth, a full body, thick crema and a nutty smoothness that leaves you wanting for more - before that extra caffeine kicks in :). If you love espresso, this one is for you!
 
Background:
 
Commercial coffee cultivation in India dates back to the 1800s and the majority of the country’s coffee is grown in the three southern states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. Today, India is the 6th largest coffee producer in the world and many coffee farmers have been cultivating the crop for generations.
 
We are buying this coffee from Komal Sable and Akshay Dashrath of South India Coffee Co. via our friends from This Side Up Coffee (NL). After living, studying and working in the UK for a number of years, the couple decided to return to India to take over Mooleh Manay Coffee Estate which has been in Akshay's family for 5 generations. They have made it their mission to push the envelope in coffee species research aiming to make coffee in their area more resilient in the face of climate change and discover ways of making it even tastier along the way. In working with other farmers and farmer groups in their region of India, they strive to create economic sustainability for farmers while supporting them with training, know how an other inputs to ensure environmental sustainability at the same time.
 
On their own estate at Mooleh Manay, Komal and Akshay conduct studies involving different species of coffee like Arabica, Canephora (Robusta) and Excelsa as well as little known native Indian coffee species to explore their potential for adaptation strategies to climate change in their region. They also experiment with different processing techniques to achieve the best quality in their coffees and create unique flavour profiles and have a strong focus on soil health and regenerative cultivation practices.
 
This Robusta has gone through a honey sundried process: the cherries are picked when they are perfectly ripe, a waterless pulper removes the skin of the fruit (keeping the mucilage intact), the coffee is then moved to raised beds where it is dried naturally in sunlight.