Here's the second of two new coffees we are proud to feature from Kerehaklu, a beautiful, biodiverse coffee plantation in the Western Ghats region of India owned by the Thipaiah family. We've already sold out of the first, naturally-processed lot, but this washed lot is delighting us with crisp acidic notes of green apple, pecan, and lemon.
Kerehaklu is spread across 250 acres and has been chemical-free since 2016. The biodiversity there is incredible, with macaques, parrots, snakes, deer, civets, and boars regularly roaming, and even some occasional tigers. It has been run by the Thipaiah family for five generations. Today, father and son team Ajoy and Pranoy Thipaiah are at the helm, with Ajoy mainly responsible for the growing and agronomy side and Pranoy mainly processing. After a biology master's degree in Sydney, Pranoy's involvement in the family business has led to many strides in innovation, both in how they process coffee and how they market their business.
This lot is an anoxic washed, meaning the coffee underwent a stage of fermentation in an oxygen-reduced environment prior to washing. Pranoy generally prefers the use of local yeasts that are the result of the natural microbiome rather than commercial yeasts (although he has also experimented with commercial yeasts). One way that he kick-starts fermentation in anoxic coffees is by adding liquid from another active fermentation. This process is often referred to as Mossto or Mosto, a term taken from the wine industry that literally translates to grape juice. At Kerehaklu, Pranoy has been experimenting with this technique since 2023, although it is only now becoming more common.
On their estate they primarily grow arabica coffee, but also grow two other species, canephora and liberica. Some plants on the estate are over a hundred years old, so the land and plant matter are well naturalised and suited to one another. Most of the varietals are Indian cultivars called 'Selection' — these are hybridised from other varieties to grow well in their environment. The Thipaiahs keep a plant nursery where they look after young plants from seed, including various 'Selection' arabicas, Obata, and SL28. They also have lots of avocados and pepper vines, both of which they produce to a very high standard and sell, the avocados purely in the domestic market but the peppercorns also internationally.
The estate is home to many beautiful cluster fig trees (some estimated to be 400 years old) that grow around other trees slowly and eventually engulf them. The cluster figs aren't particularly tasty to humans, but they are much beloved by the many birds that live there, and the birds' guano is an excellent fertiliser for the coffee. These fig trees are the secondary canopy, with the highest canopy coming primarily from citrus trees. The ample shade means the coffee can grow and mature slowly. As a result, the output on an estate like this is much, much lower than more intensive "monocrop" coffee farms, but if you take a wider look at the total sum of outputs from all the crops, they are incredibly productive. This coffee is a real investment in the environment.
Our colleague Will visited Kerehaklu in 2023 and learned loads from the Thipaiahs about growing and processing coffee as well as about the Indian coffee market in general, and will be visiting again soon.
Elevation: 1200 Meters above Sea Level
Varietal: Selection 5b.
Cup score: 86
Price paid per kg: £12.70
Process: Washed
