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

Many of us cannot start our morning without a cup of coffee. It is more energising when it is a freshly brewed one. Every coffee lover has their preference, from espresso, latte, Americano, and Cappuccino to filter coffee. When we talk about filter coffee, all we think of is lush green mountains in the southern part of India where the majority of coffee is grown in India.

Coffee is traditionally grown in the Western Ghats, spread over Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and its production is also rapidly expanding in the nontraditional areas of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. When we talk about freshly brewed filter coffee, we think of Karnataka’s gem Chikmagalur, which is nestled in the lush green hills of the Western Ghats.

The town is famous for its coffee plantations which produce some of the finest 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 Sufi Saint Baba Budan.

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

The season for coffee blossom is between February and March when the flowers in the green shrub bloom into white flowers looking similar to jasmine. The flowers then turn into ripe red cherries. After the red cherries are harvested by the farmers they are either dried in the sun or with the help of machinery which is known as the washed process. The machine known as pulpers, removes the outer skin and is followed by washing the beans to remove the mucilage that covers them.

After drying them, they are roasted with the help of machines and set aside to cool them before putting them back in machines to crush the coffee beans into powder and pack them into packets for sale.

Vijayendra Shenai, who makes the coffee powder, shared that it is better to use the filter coffee powder once packed within a month. If possible, it is still good to finish the coffee powder within 15 days of opening the packet so that the aroma, taste and flavour of the coffee remain the same till the end. He also gave a super tip that one should buy small packets so that they consume faster.