The Coffee

Estate : Skia
Roaster : Naivo
Varietal : Robusta 
Process :  Red Honey

The EsTate : Skia

Nestled in the lush hills of Coorg, rheir coffee journey begins where nature meets tradition. Skia is a family-owned estate committed to growing premium Arabica and Robusta beans with care. Each coffee cherry is handpicked at peak ripeness and processed with precision. Their plantations thrive in the rich soil and cool climate of Coorg — ideal for exceptional coffee. They believe in sustainability, fair practices, and honoring the land we cultivate. From bean to brew, every step is guided by passion and craftsmanship. They roast in small batches to bring out unique flavors and aromas in every cup. (1)

The Roaster : Naivo

Naivo was born in 2016, a labor of love co-founded by the dynamic duo of V E Ovian, a seasoned coffee trader, and his wife Jessie Ovian, a certified Q-Grader and coffee quality expert. Mr. Ovian’s experience extends back into the eighties when he began his career in coffee trading for the Government of India through the State Trading Corporation of India. Their shared commitment to exceptional coffee experiences laid the groundwork for Naivo’s commitment to delivering nothing short of excellence to our customers.  
Joining the family legacy in 2019, their son Akash Ovian brings a fresh perspective to our operations, seamlessly blending marketing savvy, production expertise, and operational excellence.  (2)

The Bean : CXR

The roots of Cof­fea canepho­ra, com­mon­ly called robus­ta, trace back hun­dreds of thou­sands of years to the humid, under­sto­ry ever­green forests in trop­i­cal areas of cen­tral and west­ern sub-Saha­ran Africa — a region with expan­sive geo­graph­ic dis­tri­b­u­tion from Guinea to Ugan­da to Ango­la (Dussert et al., 1999). It is one of the two species in the Cof­fea genus (which com­pris­es a total of 131 species; Davis & Rako­tona­so­lo, 2021) that are com­mer­cial­ly cul­ti­vat­ed on a glob­al scale, and it is visu­al­ly rec­og­niz­able by its unique­ly large blos­soms and wide, spread­ing canopy.
Robus­ta has its wild ori­gins in cen­tral and west­ern sub-Saha­ran Africa, main­ly in the humid under­sto­ry of low-ele­va­tion ever­green forests (50 – 1500 m), but some­times in sea­son­al­ly dry humid forests or gallery forests (Davis et al., 2006). (3)

CXR : SLN 3R = Congensis x Robusta

My thoughts

this coffee stumped me. this probably the first red honey that did not taste winey/fruit like iam used to with arabica. this has a full bodied earthiness characteristic of cxr but also has a slight sharp, toasty, nutty flavour to it.

Tags: Naivo, red honey, robusta, Skia