Traceable Coffee from the Western Ghats of India: Poobalan Estate Uma Kataria

As the story goes, this history of coffee in India begins in the late seventeenth century, when Baba Budan, on a pilgrim to Mecca, smuggled seven beans back to India from Yemen. The seeds were planted in the Chandragiri Hills of Karnataka, and Dutch colonists (who also smuggled coffee into Indonesia from Yemen), helped spread the cultivation of coffee throughout the country. Under British colonial rule, coffee plantations flourished and exports grew in the mid 19th century. Today, India is most often recognized for producing monsooned malabar, mysore nuggets (large coffee beans), and robusta—coffees with a homogenous flavor profile that’s mild in acidity but strong in earthy, spicy, and often smoky notes. Coffees from farm small and large are often mixed to create general regional blends.

We’ve long been interested in sourcing an Indian coffee, but had a hard time finding a coffee that met both our standards for traceability and flavor. This is where Kamal comes in.

Kamal, whose full name Kamalanathan Ramamoorthy, comes from Tiruchirappali, Tamil Nadu–an area more popularly known for the lush Western Ghats Mountain range than it is for producing coffee. Only a few years ago, Kamal was scouting potential farms he could purchase for his retired father, who would manage the farm for several years, and kamal would join him in managing it years down the road. 

Kamal collected several samples from places he had visited, and sought advice from Royal coffee importers. At best, the samples he gathered were mediocre: only one coffee could be classified as speciality. Kamal knew that if he wanted his father and other farmers in the area to be successful in selling their coffees abroad, there was a lot of work to be done. He was able to convince his father and other coffee growers to sort and separate their beans for the next harvest. Kamal procured size-graded and quality vetted samples from over a dozen smallholder and medium estates in Kodaikanal, on the edge of the Western Ghats Mountains. 

A clear pathway in the Poobalan Kodaikanal Estate. Here, coffee trees are lined up to the right along the pathway.

Almost a year within their initial meeting, Kamal returned to Royal Coffee to present these new samples–and they were tasty! His father’s coffee was also one of the top scoring-lots. Royal was determined to work with Kamal, and he went back to work: he had the coffees milled and prepared pre-shipment samples for the Royal team to approve so that the coffees could be loaded onto a ship. Although Royal suggested that the coffees leave from Mangalore, Kamal did his own research and found that embarkation from Thoothukudi was a better alternative. Wth the help of the Royal team, the coffees arrived at port within a normal time frame. Despite his inexperience in global logistics, Kamal did the work, figured his way around and exported coffee for the first time!

Out of all the coffees that Kamal brought to the US, our favorite comes from the multigenerational farm Poobalan Kodaikanal Estate. Uma Kataria inherited the estate from her father, ​​where neat rows of coffee trees grow under canopies of shade across 106 acres of cultivated land. Trees that are used for shade serve as support for peppercorn vines, and oranges are also grown alongside coffee trees. The Poobalan estate has its own mill where coffee cherries are sorted, depulped, fermented, washed, and dried on patios.

a cluster of ripe, red coffee cherries just about ready to be picked!

Kamal’s determination to work with farmers near his hometown and his efforts to promote single farms and estates is inspiring, and we’re looking forward to seeing how coffees from this region develop and improve in the coming years. We’re excited to support a woman-run farm, and even more excited by what Uma’s coffee has to offer. It brings forward a gentle but elegant sweetness and acidity, while paying homage to its roots by carrying hints of the rustic flavor profile that Indian coffees are known for. We taste apple, jaggery, and spice cake. Served black, sweet and spice flavors are pronounced, but it also makes a lovely pairing with cream and even sugar. And, to no surprise, it pairs really nicely with chai!