Guide
Coorg coffee, from the inside.
A working guide to the region we grow in — what is planted here, when it is picked, and what the hillside does to the cup.
Draft. Anything marked Verifylike this is a general claim about the region that has not been checked against a source. Everything about MistRoot itself comes from our own records.
The region
Where Coorg is
Coorg — Kodagu, officially — is a district in the Western Ghats of Karnataka, in southern India. Our own estate sits in the Brahmagiri Range, Kodagu (Coorg), at 800–1,200 m.
VerifyCoffee is grown across the district rather than in one valley, on hillsides that run from the plains up into the Ghats.
What grows
Arabica and Robusta
Both species grow here. We sell four lots: MistRoot Highland Reserve (Arabica AAA), MistRoot Highland Arabica (Arabica AA), MistRoot Forest Reserve (Robusta AAA), MistRoot Estate Robusta (Robusta AA) — all naturally processed and medium roasted, in 250 g bags.
VerifyRobusta accounts for the larger share of what Coorg produces, with Arabica planted at the higher and shadier elevations.
VerifyThe AA and AAA in a lot name refer to screen size — how large the graded bean is — rather than to cup score.
The calendar
When it is picked
On our estate the harvest runs in December and January. The tasting room is open Thursday – Sunday, 08:00 to 17:00, and closes through the heavy monsoon in June and July.
VerifyAcross the district, Arabica is generally picked before Robusta, and the season shifts year to year with the rain.
The difference
Why it tastes the way it does
VerifyCoffee here grows under a canopy rather than in open rows — rosewood, jackfruit, silver oak and wild fig, with pepper climbing the trunks.
VerifyThe south-west monsoon arrives in June and does not really let go until October, which decides the flowering, the ripening and often the harvest calendar.
VerifyShade and altitude together slow the cherry down, and slower ripening is generally held to build sweetness and body.
Taste it
Four lots off this hillside.
The quickest way to understand a region is to drink it. Ours are listed with what they are, what they cost and how we brew them.