India's first speciality excelsa is back and this 5th iteration is the most posh! The folks at Mooleh Manay wanted to process all the Excelsa as naturals and we are glad they did so! For this year's lot ; ripe cherries were picked , floated and then dried on raised beds for 72 hrs. They were then put in barrels and a custom yeast culture was then added. Fermentation was carefully monitored and after 84 hours the coffee was put out to dry slowly in the polyhouse. From the minute we got the green sample, we knew that the sequentially fermented excelsa was going to be bonkers and it didn't disappoint! The acidity is very apple - like and the sweetness is that of honey. The usual nuttiness is very much present but we cannot get over the marigold-like florals that abound in this year's lot. Curveball is a veritable delight across all manual brews and makes for a heady shot (or 4) of espresso after 12 days of degassing. #moolehmanayexcelsa #curveball #specialityexcelsa #shadegrowncoffee #marakapi #suntikoppa #buylocal #climateresilience #birdfriendlycoffee #shadegrowncoffee #kapikottai #smallbatchroasting #supportsmallbusiness #vibes

Our OG best seller is back and this time ,with an update! This year's iteration of Mind=blown is a yeast inoculated natural. The folks at Mooleh Manay wanted consistency across the board with their naturals and honeys this year. Using a custom yeast, was the best way to ensure this. For this year's lot, ripe cherries were picked and put in a floatation tank as usual to remove immatures. The cherries that sank were then put in airtight food grade barrels and a yeast culture was added. Fermentation was carefully monitored and after 64 hours the coffee was put out to dry slowly on raised beds in a polyhouse(the new normal thanks to unseasonal harvest rains). All this care has resulted in a coffee that is fruity but also clean and insanely sweet. We find the acidity very raspberry esque and the sweetness reminds us of vanilla. We cannot state enough about how sweet and drinkable this year's iteration of mind=blown is. The coffee is very versatile and is a delight across all brews, manual (degassing time 3 days) and espresso (degassing time 14 days). #kapikottai #mindblown🤯 #moolehmanaynatural #arabicanatural #southindiacoffeecompany #shadegrowncoffee #indianarabica #birdfriendlycoffee #smallbusiness #suntikoppa #bespoke #smallbatchroasting

The good folks of Unakki estate have dabbled with more processing methods this season (with @baristaonbike 's help)and we found their naturals to be the most interesting of the bunch! These are traditional naturals with no intended fermentation design. Coffee cherries have been picked ripe and slow-dried on raised beds.  The resulting coffee is a curious concoction in the cup, being brighter than other naturals that we have cupped. While the aroma is decidedly fruity, the taste is in the  spectrum of Unakki 's washed coffee but with a higher intensity and a surprisingly delicate mouthfeel. We quite like these intriguing flavours and the coffee reminded our roaster of the rāga Sahānā. Sahānā the coffee is a delight across all manual brews and makes a very sweet shot of espresso after 14 days of degassing. #arabicanatural #chikmagalur #chandragiri #shadegrowncoffee #birdfriendlycoffee #fruitycoffee #kapikottai #smallbatchroasting #smallbusiness #supportsmallbusiness #bespoke #bulletr1v2 #sahana #raga #buylocal #indianarabica

Our favourite coffee from Joldal Palya is back for a third year! The good folks at Unakki estate have upped their processing game this year(with some help from the effervescent , @baristaonbike )and it really shows in the cup with this washed arabica. For this lot, ripe cherries have been pulped and then rested in the fermentation tank (without water )for 18 hours. The coffee has then been washed and dried slowly on raised beds. The result of the careful fermentation has resulted in a very complex and very bright cup that pings with the acidity of sweetlime and has the sweetness of sugarcane juice. This coffee is an upgrade from last year's iteration in all departments! Bahār the coffee is best enjoyed as a manual brew, preferably on a V60. It can lend itself to espresso after 2 weeks of degassing. #washedarabica #kapikottai #unakkiestate #chikmagalur #shadegrowncoffee #birdfriendlycoffee #forest #smallbatchroasting #bespoke #supportsmallbusiness #sustainability #ailliobullet

Specialty coffee FAQ with our Founder and Kapi Master (in jest) We believe that good coffee does not need the help of chicory. Order freshly roasted coffee from the links in the description!

Kāmbhōji has been one of our most intriguing buys this season and we thought we should talk more about where the coffee comes from. It also helps that @chitravainika visited the place a few weeks ago! Located in a valley near the village of Kamanur in the Kodaikanal region, Ram estate is at an average altitude of 1200m ASL (with some parts going upto 1350m). The farm is ably managed by Arun and team who have been upping their game year on year, be it plant care, building better infrastructure for coffee drying and processing or keeping very detailed logs of what goes on during the season. To think they only started this back in 2022 is quite surprising! Guess it helps to have a seasoned professional like @baristaonbike on board as a consultant! Apart from coffee, there is pepper(a bunch of it dries in the polyhouse) and a lot of high quality Virupakshi banana(it's GI tagged stuff!). @chitravainika was also delighted to find a fair amount of native shade trees growing in Ram estate; including a 200 year old Indian red cedar (Toona ciliata) , a smattering of ficuses and an even older jackfruit tree being strangled by 3 different species of ficus(ficus Tsjahela, Ficus talbotii, Ficus drupacea). We hope to work more closely with Ram estate in future and are really excited for the lots they have harvested and processed for the coming season! #pulneyhills #kodaikanal #ramestate #shadegrowncoffee #birdfriendlycoffee #kapikottai #smallbusiness #ficus #arabicanatural #origintrip #kents #farmlife

The Sirangalli Community Project is a sustainable coffee farming initiative by the South India Coffee Company (@sicc.coffee ) that works with small coffee farmers in the Pushpagiri Range of Karnataka, India. The project provides farmers with a variety of support services, including: Creating new markets for their coffee Training farmers on farming practices Training farmers on post-processing Providing infrastructure help Helping with manpower during harvest Soil testing and providing free fertilizers based on soil reports The project started with 5 farms in the Pushpagiri Range, which produce Arabica and Robusta coffee. Over the years, the project has increased the number of farms it works with. The area where the coffees are sourced is known as Sirangalli. The farms range from 1 to 10 acres. Most of the farmers are working on the farm along with their families. The coffee is shade grown under some of the most floristically diverse canopies that we have ever seen outside of reserve forests. This includes keystone species like: Myristica dactyloides(wild nutmeg) Elaeocarpus tuberculatus (bhadraksha) Elaeocarpus variabilis (rudraksha family) Palaquium ellipticum Canarium strictum and many others. The farmers also grow cardamom , pepper and fruits along with the coffee. Paddy is also grown in the area . Kudos to @sicc.coffee for starting this wonderful initiative. We hope the project grows from strength to strength in the coming years and we look forward to featuring more of these wonderful coffees in the coming season! #sirangalli #smallholderfarmers #highelevation #shadegrowncoffee #birdfriendlycoffee #arabicanatural #arabicawashed #smallbusiness #kapikottai #mountaincoffee #southindiacoffeecompany

Anuswaram in Carnatic parlance means a note between notes and denotes complex melodic movements that rāga-s tend to employ. We sometimes receive small lots of coffee that really captivate us with their complexity or innovative processing. We feel that Anuswaram is a fitting name for featuring these intriguing lots. For the third of this series, we have three very special arabica lots which come from small growers in Sirangalli , a biodiverse village high up in the Pushpagiris(Coorg). A washed , a honey and a natural. All three lots have been carefully processed in collaboration with the good folks of @sicc.coffee and two of them have been processed at Mooleh manay estate. For the washed lot, ripe cherries were harvested and sent to the community washing center at origin. Floats were removed after which the coffee was pulped and then washed. The resulting cup is very sweet, very balanced and sparkles with a lemon-candy like acidity. For the honey, ripe cherries were harvested and brought back to Mooleh Manay’s processing unit, then floated and fermented in cherry form. The coffee cherries are then pulped using a waterless eco pulper , keeping most of the mucilage intact. The coffee is then sent to the patios to dry , raking at regular intervals. All this care results in a bright cup that brims with oodles of fruitiness; reminding us of peaches and green apples. For the natural , ripe cherries were harvested and brought back to Mooleh Manay’s processing unit, then floated and fermented in bags to keep the environment anoxic. The cherries are then dried on raised beds inside a poly tunnel for a fortnight and raked regularly. The resulting cup has tons of texture and an acidity that reminds us of plums. We wanted you guys to experience all of the haul from Sirangalli village and the best way to do this is a sampler set. Anuswaram # 3 is a delight across all manual brews and covers a wide gamut of flavour experiences, from clean and crisp to fruity and punchy. Kudos to @sicc.coffee for having initiated this project and giving smallholder farms , a much needed entry into the speciality coffee scene. #smallholderfarmers #kapikottai