Here’s How Chikmagalur’s Famous Coffee Reaches Your Cup

Many of us cannot start our morning without a cup of coffee. It is most active when it is fresh. All coffee lovers have their own preferences, from espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino to filter coffee. When we talk about filtered coffee, all we think of are the lush green mountains in the southern part of India where the majority of coffee in India is grown.

Coffee is traditionally grown in the Western Ghats, spread across Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, and its production is also expanding rapidly in the non-traditional regions of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. When we talk about freshly filtered coffee, we think of Karnataka gem Chikmagalur, nestled in the lush green hills of the Western Ghats.

The city is known for its coffee plantations, which produce some of the best coffee beans in the country. Chikmagalur is also considered the birthplace of coffee in India. The first coffee plantation was established here in the 17th century by Sophie St. Papa Bodin.

Let us take you through the process of making filter coffee from fruit to bean.

The coffee bloom season is between February and March when the flowers on the green bush open into white blossoms resembling jasmine. Then the flowers turn into a ripe red cherry. After the red cherries are harvested by the farmers, they are dried either in the sun or with the help of machinery known as the washing process. A machine known as the paste, which removes the outer husk, followed by washing the grains to remove the gum that covers them.

After being dried, they are roasted with the help of machines and set aside to cool before being put back into the machines to crush the coffee beans into powder and pack them into packages for sale.

Vijayendra Shenai, who makes the coffee powder, shared that it is best to use the filter coffee powder once it has been packaged within a month. If possible, it is still a good idea to finish the coffee powder within 15 days of opening the package so that the aroma, taste, and flavor of the coffee remain intact until the end. He also gave a great advice that one should buy small packs so that it is consumed faster.