The Coffee
Estate : Riverdale Estate, Ratnagiri Estate, Baarbara Estate, MSP Coffee
Roaster : BlueTokai Coffee
Varietal : Specific to Each Pack
Process : Specific to Each Pack
The Estates
Riverdale Estate (Florals, Grape Fermentation)
Since 1920, Riverdale Estate has been a family owned business where three generations have worked to improve the quality of our coffee plants.The Farm is located in Eastern ghat mountains in yercaud – south India. Prakashan Balaraman who is a young passionate coffee farmer who challenge the tradition coffee growing practices and processing .
In the last 10 years Riverdale Estate has been transformed with new modern farming practices like state of art cupping lab, energy efficient pulping station(wet mill), drip irrigation for the plants, African style raised beds to dry all our coffee and temperature controlled storage room to store coffee beans post harvest The plantation sits at an altitude of 1450 meter above sea level where we grow Green tip Gesha, brown tip Gesha, SL9 and SL5B arabica varieties.
The Loam soil in these mountain ranges have a perfect mixture of clay, silt and sand to grow coffee and other crops like oranges, jackfruit & peppercorn. The estate has a natural water stream which flows throughout the year making it a very interesting place to cultivate coffee.(1)
Ratnagiri Estate
The Ratnagiri Estate is an environmentally abundant corner of the majestic South Indian Western Ghats near Bababudangiri, the place where coffee in India originated. Spread over 117 hectares, Ratnagiri has an impressive yield of quality specialty coffee successfully inter-cropped with fine pepper. Ratnagiri literally means Pearl Mountains, and the dense silver oaks that tower over remarkably flavourful shade grown coffee give a silvery hue to the hills illustrating the name. At Ratnagiri, generations of the Patre family have dedicated their lives since 1927, caring for a land that has rewarded their passion and perseverance. With Coffee, Pepper and Nature.
Ratnagiri Estate is a Rainforest Alliance certified farm in the South Indian Western Ghats near Bababudangiri, the place where coffee in India first originated. The Patre family has looked after the farm since 1927 and their approach to farming has always placed ecology and harmony with the environment at the forefront of their work. Ratnagiri literally means ‘Pearl Mountains’ and gets this name from the dense Silver Oaks that tower over coffee plants, lending a silver hue to the hills where the farm sits. (2)
Baarbara Estate
Baarbara Estate is run by the third generation of seasoned Chikmagalur coffee cultivators from the Indavara family that owns MG Plantations. The family has cultivated coffee for over 120 years and is deeply committed to sustainability with certifications by UTZ and the Rain Forest Alliance. Selection 795 Arabica at Baarbara Estate is shade grown on the high elevated hills of the Western Ghats.
Apart from growing coffee, the estate also produces black pepper. Baarbara Estate has organised farming methods in place to maintain the quality of soil and to ensure the balance of the ecosystem. The estate sees periodic visits from tigers, wild boars, barking deer and frequent sightings of upto 100 different species of birds! (1)
MSP Estate
Our story began in the 1920’s when the illustrious MSP family migrated to the Shevaroys from a small, dry, southern town in Tamil Nadu, India. It was then that our forefather, MSP Senthikumar Nadar, started trading in coffee, cardamom and other spices like many others at that time. These products were bought from Kerala and other hill areas, dried and sold to various companies such as Pierce Leslie, Shaw Wallace & Co, Parry & Co, T Stanes & Co. Subsequently his son, MSP Nadar, expanded the business from Tamil Nadu to include Karnataka and Kerala as well.
Their honesty, hard work and commitment to keep their word despite market fluctuations earned them the respect and appreciation of their community and business partners alike. In the course of their travels, they purchased valuable plantations from the European community who owned most of the plantations at the time.
By 1960, Mr. MSP Rajes, the elder son of MSP Nadar, successfully expanded the plantations to cover over 3000 acres in Tamilnadu, Kerala and Karnataka and established a very successful coffee curing unit called MSP Nadar Works in Salem. He also established an export company called Hill Tiller & Co which went on to become India’s largest coffee exporter for over three decades.
Today the fourth and fifth generation of the MSP family run the plantations under the astute management of Mr. Mohan Rajes, son of MSP Rajes; Navin Rajes, Ashom Rajes and Kamalesh Pandianathan (3)
Hidden Falls Estate
The estate lies at an elevation of 3600 to 3800 feet above mean sea level and is intercropped with native shola, Jackfruit, Nutmeg, Cloves and Silver Oak Trees. There’s also a separate field of Macadamia. The majority of the estate is planted with S9 Arabica and yields excellent coffee year after year. Hidden Falls is also home to a beautiful yet elusive waterfall hidden among an outcrop of huge rocks. This is how the estate got its name. (4)
The Roaster : Blue Tokai
BlueTokai, are indian specialty coffee roasters established in 2013 by Matt Chitharanjan, with cafes now across India. they have varied and lovely selection of coffees and have now also expanded to single origin easy pourover sachets. whether you drink specialty coffee or not, BlueTokai is a name that most cafe-frequents are familiar with. when I first started shifting towards specialty coffee, I was hesitant to try BT because I saw their coffee as part of the Koffee with Karan coffee hamper and assumed it would be too much for me. they had so much information on their pack – what’s with the varietals and processes and why are you sending me whole beans?! now I find comfort in that brown paper bag. it has every info I need and I can be assured of the best roast and handling of the beans. throughout this journey, my fondness for BT has grown just as much as they have. it’s not easy to firmly plant your roots and grow in a country that predominantly drinks tea or strong “kaapi”. it’s not easy to cater to Reddit-snobs while still serving coffees in their signature blue ceramics to the non-initiated. but BT has done it. BT stands strong as symbol of having understood what people need – coffee that they can enjoy, just as they want it.
Easy Pour by Blue Tokai
Our new single-serve Easy Pour sachets make brewing specialty coffee more convenient than ever before. You don’t need equipment, just a couple of minutes to make great tasting, craft coffee at your desk or home.
Each sachet contains a filter that is filled with ground coffee from our partner farms, which is nitrogen-flushed and sealed to preserve freshness.
Place the filter on your cup using the side anchors to hold it in place. Slowly fill the filter two to three times to make yourself great-tasting coffee, without any compromise on quality!
Easy Pour boxes are available in packs of 5 and packs of 10 single-serve sachets.(5)
What I Want To Remember
Easy Pour : I have used brew bags before. They are useful and easy and fun. Works in a pinch. What i loved about the Easy Pours was that it was quite fresh. Sure, your funky coffees wont taste as funky as with a V60 but it was still good enough to taste the flavours. I had everything black because i try not to do coffee with anything else even milk.
Riverdale Florals : This was light and fun. A hint of berries and what tasted like lemon tea (barely there)
Ratnagiri Red Honey : I wish i could have brewed this one on the V60 instead of a brew bag. It was tad too intense with flavours. Not light like i would have liked it.
Baarbara Estate : This was probably the lightest coffee of em all. I let this go cold because of a work call which was very bad of me. But i iced the coffee like the bad girl iam and i still enjoyed it. Tea-like and fun!
Hidden Falls – Naturals : Dark, Chocolately and the perfect morning-wake-me-up! Amazing
Rivedale : Grape Fermentation : Such a full bodied and flavourful coffee even though it was an easy pour/brew bag. Winey and pruney and all the goodness!
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Source : 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
