Indian Coffee stands on the Smuggling of 7 beans

The Ethiopian Legend says that the Coffee was rooted in their country by a Goat herder, Kaldi in Kaffa Region. Then Arab’s originated it, European Baptized it, and Americans made it their drink. Coffee ironically has established its influences on everyone who tasted it. Even the story of Indian Coffee stands on the smuggling of 7 beans by Sufi Saint Baba Budan from Yemen.  

• Thanks to those Dancing Goats who tasted coffee before humans, the real Inventor.

To know the journey of a coffee bean from its Source to Many Doors in the world read spend some time reading the interesting articles “where does Coffee originate from” and “when did coffee come to America“.

A remarkable Journey: Indian Coffee stands on the Smuggling of 7 Beans

Coffee came to India well before the British East India Company. Indian Sufi saint Baba Budan first brought coffee seeds to India more than 350 years ago. Thus, India’s coffee connection has ancient routes.

After its invention in Ethiopia, the Coffee reached Yemen, the land of Arabs around the 15^th century. Arabs then were extremely protective of their coffee industry.  For the longest period, since its invention, the Arabians had put restrictions to carry coffee plant seeds out of the Arabian Peninsula. The only bean that was allowed to be taken out were roasted and hence sterile i.e., they couldn’t be germinated and used to grow the coffee plant. This was to ensure that the Middle East retained its monopoly over coffee production. The whole world and even the Mughals initially bought coffee from here.

It took a wandering Sufi mystic to change all that at the end of the 16^th century in India. Sufi saint Baba Budan was from Chikmaglur, in present-day Karnataka and he was living in a cave on the hill in the range of the Western Ghats. The Baba was revered by both communities, Hindus, and Muslims.  He went on a pilgrimage tour to Mecca, for the Hajj. He made his legendry journey from Mocha, the port city of Yemen, which was then the world’s trading hub for coffee beans. Baba Budan tasted coffee in the form of a dark and sweet liquid called Qahwa on the way. He found the drink refreshing and secretly smuggled seven coffee beans from Mocha in 1670 by strapping them to his chest.

Back home, he planted those seeds on the slopes of the Chandragiri hills, near his caves. Coffee from these plants was served as a drink to the local people. Today, coffee is still grown in these hills and the area is known as “Baba Budangiri”, which also houses the saint’s tomb. Since then, coffee plantations have become established in the region and extended south to Kodagu also known as Coorg.

The first actual mention of coffee being consumed comes from the work of Reverend Edward Terry, in the court of Emperor Jehangir, in 1616. Rev Terry was the chaplain to Sir Thomas Row, ambassador of the King of England at Jehangir’s Court what is today Gujarat and Bihar in India.

Rev Terry in his expanded version of the manuscript “A Voyage to East-India” published in 1625 wrote:

“Many of the people there (in India), who are strict in their religion, drink no wine at all; but they use a liquor more wholesome than pleasant, they call coffee; made by a black seed boiled in water, which turns it almost into the same color, but doth very little alter the taste of the water: notwithstanding it is very good to help digestion, to quicken the spirits, and to cleanse the blood.”

By the 17^th century, coffee became a popular drink among high society in India. Its influence was seen in the daily life of the people around Mughal cities. There were several Coffee Houses known as “Qahwah Khanas” in Shahjahanabad, around Delhi’s Red Fort, especially in the famed Chandni Chowk area. These Qahwah Khanas became a hub of social and intellectual activities. Poets, Readers, Writers, and Intellectuals would assemble here to listen to each other’s verses. Scholars and laymen would debate public issues. Unfortunately, with the rise of the British in India, who were primarily Tea drinkers, the prominence coffee culture of the Mughals in India collapsed. But it did manage to make its way back over the next 200 years.

Ironically, it was the British only who established the Coffea Arabica plantations across the mountains of Southern India. The British East India Company made coffee popular in England and return to India, although the journey of commercial cultivation in India began around 200 years later of Rev Terry’s mention of Coffee-drinking in 1625, i.e., around the 19^th century.

By the middle of the 19^th century, coffee was being served at many upscale clubs that popped up across India, the first being the Bengal Club in Calcutta in 1827, followed by the Madras Club in 1832 and the Bangalore Club in 1863. With hill stations being set up in the northern and southern regions, and the British administration extending mofussil areas, coffee drinking also spread. The Royals and Higher-ups in the society preferred to have their dinner finished with coffee, a practice still followed in many regions of India.

Coffee Growing regions in India

Today India is the sixth largest producer of coffee in the world and is home to 16 unique varieties. India is divided into three main coffee regions, out of which two are in the south and one in the northeast. The vast majority of coffee is grown in the Western Ghats, all the way from Goa to the southern tip of India. In this region, most of the production happens in the states of Karnataka (71%), Kerala (21%), and Tamil Nadu (5%).

Around 1898, the British introduced Coffee in the Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh in the Pamuleru Valley, Eastern Godavari district. Subsequently, soon it spread over to the famous Araku Valley in Andhra Pradesh also known as the “Ooty of Andhra”. Around the 1950s, coffee expanded on a larger scale to more northern parts of the Eastern Ghats as well, into the states of Andhra Pradesh (today also Telangana) and Odisha. Here, efforts are being made by the Government to cultivate coffee by the tribal farmers in a cooperative way.

From the records available we find that the British tried Coffee cultivation on an experimental basis in the hilly districts of Assam around the 1850s. Subsequently, efforts are being made by the government after independence to promote Coffee cultivation in the Seven Sister States of North East Regions of India. The primary objective is to wean away the North Eastern people from the hazard of Jhum cultivation and to also provide an alternative source for generating additional income for their economic upliftment.  Coffee grown in this region under agro-forestry is quality products and coupled with the traditional system of cultivation pans chemical inputs in the soil, the coffee can be categorized as ‘Default organic coffee’. The development here has been extremely slow, but its potential is very high.

Shade-Grown-Coffee: Agroforestry

However, in every region, coffee is grown in India by small growers. These small growers keep a close eye on quality produce. Indian coffees are considered top quality by many experts. Its uniqueness is that unlike anywhere in the world the coffee is grown in the forests of India under a heavy shade that is believed to contribute to the flavor profile of the coffee to the coffee, along with other influences such as the monsoons, spices that grow around coffee, and the various fauna that thrive alongside it. To understand better, in shade-grown coffee the forest understory is replaced with coffee trees, retaining the taller canopy. India takes pride in cultivating 100% of its coffee in fully shaded plantations.

In forests, Coffee plantations have three canopies. The lowest ones are the coffee trees themselves. The taller plants like areca palm, banana tree, or silver oak plants form the middle canopy. Various useful plants are utilized such as the areca palm, banana tree, or silver oak. The top canopy comprises indigenous local tree species, mostly jackfruit and various fig trees. The oak not only serves as a shade tree but also supports pepper vines, which are indigenous to the Western Ghats and a great source of additional revenue for the farmers. As the coffee beans mature more slowly in the shade, natural sugars increase and enhance the flavor of the coffee.

This combination of vegetation creates very friendly conditions for the nesting of birds, insects, spiders, lesser and greater reptiles, and mammals. Under this vegetation the vast majority of coffee in India is cultivated under thick canopies in the Western Ghats — a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the world’s most important biodiversity hotspots of the World. Scientists from the Centre for Wildlife Studies and collaborators have found that the coffee, rubber, and areca agroforests in the Western Ghats of Karnataka support 204 bird species, of which 13 are endemic to the Western Ghats.  This highlights the supporting role of agroforests in conserving wildlife. The results further show that coffee agroforests support higher diversity and abundance of birds when compared to areca and rubber. These birds are most important in seed dispersal and maintenance of forest trees in the region.  

Widely Cultivated Coffee Species Globally

There are 1000s of varieties of Coffee available in Ethiopia both in the wild and cultivated by the people. Out of these only a few dozen have moved to other countries. Many of those are hybrids of the ones out of the few varieties that traveled the world. The two well-known species of coffee grown in India are the Coffea Arabica and Robusta. Coffea Arabica is a species of coffee that is also known as the “coffee shrub of Arabia”, “mountain coffee” or “arabica coffee”. Today, India is the fifth-largest producer of Arabica coffee in the world, behind Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Ethiopia.

Coffea arabica is believed to be the first species of coffee to be cultivated, being grown in southwest Arabia for well over 1,000 years. It is considered to produce better coffee than the other major commercially grown coffee species, Robusta Coffee (Coffea Canephora). The caffeine content in Robusta is more than in Arabica. Robusta is a cheaper species of coffee that has its origins in western Africa. It is grown mostly in Africa and Brazil, where it is often called Conilon.

It is also grown in Southeast Asia where French colonists introduced it in the late 19th century. In recent years Vietnam, the number one producer of robusta, has surpassed Brazil, India, and Indonesia to become the world’s single largest exporter. Two popular varieties of Robusta coffee are “S.274”, and “CxR”. Approximately one-third of the coffee produced in the world is Robusta. Around 60% of the World’s Coffee is made out of Arabica beans. Sufi saint Baba Budan Giri introduced these beans in India in the Chikmagalur ranges of Karnataka and comes in several varieties of both aroma and taste such as “Kent”, “Cauvery”, “Sln.9”, and “S.795” here. In World, it has many other varieties namely Bourbon, Blue Mountain, Typica, Catura, etc.  

Monsoon Coffee from India

One of the most fascinating coffee harvesting processes is known as Monsoon Malabar. This unique process is found exclusively on the Malabar coast of India which results in a distinctive flavor, and adds interesting notes to a blend and a rich crema to espresso, appealing to a group of ardent fans. In this process, the harvested beans are exposed to the region’s seasonal monsoon weather.

How was Monsoon Coffee invented?

The anecdote of how Monsoon Malabar came to be is most likely apocryphal. In the late 19^th century, a shipment of coffee beans was shipped to Europe from India in wooden sailing vessels. During the journey, the ship was waylaid by the monsoon season which took four to six months to sail around the Cape of Good Hope ultimately to reach its destination. During this delay while on the journey, the beans were exposed to the increased seawater humidity and as a result underwent a transformation and turned from fresh green to a more aged pale-yellow color and swelled in size. Despite its off-putting transformed appearance, the recipients in Europe decided to consume it anyway and found an entirely new interesting cup profile. This led to the birth of Monsoon Malabar coffee. This process known as the “Monsooning Process” was later systematically replicated on the southern coast of India, to provide European customers with the newly evolved interesting cup profile of their liking.

The Monsooning Process

Monsoon Malabar coffee is an Indian variety of naturally processed coffee beans. This process is carried out on the West Coast of India, making use of the winds from the Arabian Sea during the southwest Monsoon months of June through September.

The coffee cherries on their maturity are harvested and then sundried (dry method) until the flesh has dehydrated and the beans can be easily removed from it. The beans are then sorted into grades and stored until the monsoon season. During the monsoon season, June through September, the beans are stored in 4- to 6-inch-thick piles, in well-ventilated brick or concrete-floored warehouses where they are left exposed for 3 to 4 months to the violent Arabian Sea moisture-laden winds of the monsoons. The exposure to the high salty sea winds causes the beans to swell as they absorb moisture and turned from green to pale gold. Finally, the beans are re-graded, packaged, and shipped off to buyers, whereupon they are roasted.

The taste profile of Monsoon Malabar Coffee

The Monsoon Malabar Coffee has a taste akin to its own culture. It is intensely flavorful and extremely full-bodied. The Coffee is weakly acidic and has an average pH value between 4.85 to 5.10. However, due to the exposure of beans in monsoon and its aging process, the pH value in Monsoon Malabar Coffee is balanced and becomes unique, thereby removing its acidity. With a balanced pH level, the texture becomes thicker and fuller-grained, losing its color and turning golden. More specifically the consumers consider it as richly earthen that possesses aromatic smoky and spicy flavors with a touch of malt sweetening. Some also found its taste as heavy and pungent, considering it along the lines of a musky, nutty, chocolaty profiled coffee culture.

Due to its lack of acidic brightness, Monsoon Malabar coffee is not preferred as an iced coffee and should be drunk hot. Ideally, it should be used in espresso-based beverages, where the milk and sugar balance its intense flavor.

India produces around 5% of the total production in the world. Out of which almost 80% is exported.