About coffee

Coffee's earliest human use may have been as a food; a call of the crushed fruit moulded with fat was a day's ration for certain African nomads. Later, wine was made from the fermented husks and pulps. Coffee was known in 15th century Arabia; from there it spread to Egypt and Turkey, overcoming religious and political opposition to become popular among Arabs. At first proscribed by Italian churchmen as a heathen's drink, it was approved by Pope Clement VII, and by the mid-17th century coffee had reached most of Europe. Introduced in North America c. 1668, coffee became a favorite American beverage after the Boston Tea Party made tea unfashionable.

Coffee owes its popularity in part to the simulative effect of its caffeine consistent. Decaffeinated coffees were developed in the early 1900s along with instant and soluble coffees.

According to legends arabica coffee was introduced into India sometime during 1600 AD by a Muslim pilgrim, Baba Budan who settled on the hills near Chikmanglur in Karnataka. However it was not until the late 1820's that commercial plantations were opened in southindia with British enterprise & investment. In 1856 there were only 7 British planters in Karnataka. By 1869, their number had increased to over 600 planters. Indian coffee soon established itself as outstanding in quality and became a commodity second to none in the world market. Indian coffees were auctioned in London right from 1860 till the 1940 when the war started and it was stopped.

Arabica is grown in the Chikmangalur and Nilgiris mountain ranges and Robusta in the lower, more humid areas of Malabar, Salem, Coorg, etc. There is a mixture of large estates and smallholdings, the latter growing mostly Robusta. The area planted to coffee is estimated at over 250,000 hectares (almost double that registered 20 years ago) and is evenly divided between the two species. There are about 50,000 estates, half of which are 10 hectares or less. Large estates (over 60 hectares) are mainly company owned.

The Western Ghats

The Western Ghats are a chain of highlands running along the western edge of the Indian subcontinent, from Bombay south to the southern tip of the peninsula, through the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Covering an estimated area of 159,000 sq. km, the Western Ghats are an area of exceptional biological diversity and conservation interest, and are "one of the major Tropical Evergreen Forest regions in India" (Rodgers and Panwar, 1988). As the zone has already lost a large part of its original forest cover (although timber extraction from the evergreen reserve forests in Kerala and Karnataka has now been halted) it must rank as a region of great conservation concern.

Avanthy and Prashanthy Estate

400 acres of Robusta and Arabica coffee plantation, bordered by the Bhadra river, with pepper, areca, vanilla and paddy... a wide variety of spices ... if there is heaven on earth, then it is here.

Jhainkhan estate

100 Acres of coffee estate, at the foothills of the Merthi peak (second highest in Karnataka), with pepper, areca and a variety of spices grown nearby.

... a mostsought-after chill-out spot

What to Carry

Jeans, a good pair of sneakers, camera, a light pullover, shorts and swimming trunks.