The Subcontinent

Karnataka

The shaded hills of Coorg, where coffee and cardamom grow under a forest canopy and estates pass quietly from one generation to the next.

What lives here

Coffee grown in shade

In the hills of Kodagu, coffee has grown for nearly two centuries under a canopy of native trees, never out in the open sun. The estates pass from parent to child, and with them a way of farming that keeps the forest standing. Cardamom, pepper, and other spices share the same shade.

To learn it is to walk the rows at the right hour, to read ripeness by hand, to follow the bean through pulping and drying. The knowledge lives in the season and the soil.

Primary Tradition

Coffee, cardamom & spice

Best Season

Harvest, September to December

Character

Shaded hill estates

A note

The Western Ghats hold the rain and the green

Where to stand

The hills worth the journey

Misty hills of the Western Ghats - Karnataka · The Subcontinent

Kodagu, known as Coorg, is the heartland of the estates, deep in the Western Ghats. Chikmagalur to the north grows some of the oldest coffee in the country. The forested ridges keep their birds and their morning mist, and Hampi lies further out, a ruined city of stone scattered among the boulders.

Coffee grown in shade keeps the forest as its neighbour, and tastes of the patience that takes.

If Karnataka stays with you, a conversation can begin here.

An Introduction →