Coffee from India |
|
|
Coffee from India |
India |
|
|
India is in ninth place for coffee
production, with a 3.41 per cent of the total world output. Arabica
coffee has grown here since Baba Budan smuggled it from Mecca in
1600, although it took the British in the mid-nineteenth century
properly to organize a plantation system. Robusta was introduced
around 1900 from Indonesia and now accounts for about half of the
total crop. The Arabica varieties grown have been several, but the
hardy Kent variety is now widely grown, and probably accounts for
the "neutral in the cup" description sometimes given to Indian
Arabicas, especially those which are unwashed, or cherry arabicas.
The nationalized Coffee Board categorizes both Arabica and Robusta
beans as "washed" or "cherry" (unwashed) and gives them a
"plantation A", "B", "C" and so on, grading, "A" being the highest
quality. There are several regions of coffee cultivation, but the most prolific and probably best area is the state of Karataka, (old Mysore, which gave its name to Indian coffees in general). These are heavy-boiled, low-acid coffees, "soft" and not sharp; they do not suit everyone's taste, but they are mellow and distinctive. They are often blended with Mocha coffee from Yemen, or its namesake Harar from Ethiopia, as one of the most felicitous combinations of world coffee: both the Mocha and the Mysore are roasted slightly dark and enjoyed as a mellow, relaxing evening coffee. Malabar, from the state of Kerala, is the name of another unusual India coffee: these coffees were weathered by monsoon conditions in the old days of transport by sailing ships. Today the bags are deliberately exposed to the humid winds of the monsoon season until the coffee's color changes to a distinctive golden yellow. There is great demand by specialist shops in the USA and Europe for this coffee, which has its own export season. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
[Top] [Back
to Coffee Around the World]
|
