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  Patio-drying at the Bibi Plantation, where the "Elephant" mark monsooned coffees are grown and prepared.
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Indian coffees are under-represented in the coffee market: they are good balanced, mild coffees. You will find the pronounced body, low acidity and subtle spicy notes pleasing, and the Mysore coffees work well under a wide range of roasts. Sometimes you find hints of earthiness, similar to Indonesian origins like Sulawesi and Sumatra. They are also nice in espresso. India produces wet-processed and dry-processed coffees: dry-processed coffees are called "Cherry" and wet-processed arabica is called "Plantation Arabica" whereas wet-processed robusta is called "Parchment Robusta." The Monsooned coffee is a different story altogether! Potent, pungent and wild, these are great for those who like strong, deep musty flavors. The reviews below will give you an idea of what to expect... If you want reviews of Premium Indian Robusta for use in espresso blends, follow this link. Coffee was introduced into India through the Chikkamagaluru (Chikmagalur) district when the first coffee crop was grown in the Baba Budan Giri Hills during 1670 AD. According to the article Origins of Coffee, the saint Baba Budan on his pilgrimage to Mecca travelled through the seaport of Mocha, Yemen where he discovered coffee. To introduce its taste to India, he wrapped seven coffee beans around his belly and got them out of Arabia. On his return home, he planted the beans in the hills of Chikkamagaluru, which are now named Baba Budan Hills in his honour.
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Our Indian Offerings: Please refer to our Reference Page for definitions of terms and cupping numbers used below.
| India Anohki Coffee (Liberica) | |||||||
| Country: | India | Grade: | MNEB | Region: | Magundi, Chikmagalur, Karnataka State | Mark: | Anohki Liberica Forest Coffee |
| Processing: | Pulped-Natural Processed | Crop: | September 2007 Arrival | Appearance: | .4 d/300gr, 18+ Screen | Varietal: | Coffea Liberica |
| Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3 | Notes: "Anohki" means "unique, and you will know it is indeed unique as soon as you grind this; an expolsive dry fragrance is released, loaded with fruit, and some distinctive notes that push the line between pain and pleasure. Think of exotic cheeses, beers made with wild yeast strains, over-the-top Syrahs. One thing for sure, you know when you taste this you are tasting a different species here! These liberica trees are huge, more than 20 feet tall with massive trunks (unlike the shrubby form of most arabica cultivars). Because tall ladders are used for harvest, the local custom is to only allow men to harvest this coffee. It is estate grown, and was basically reserved for local consumption, partly due to the very small amount of the total harvest. Perhaps we have a coffee-equivalent o f those other edgy, challenging, over-the-top foods and wines here, not for any particular reason but for the general fact that it challanges orthodox thinking of what a "good cup" is. Okay, what I mean to say is that, along with rustic blueberry I smell barnyard cowpies here. Seriously ... I don't know how else to describe it. I think of aged cheeses when I smell the dry aroma but I am not sure specifically why, perhaps simply as an analogy than any particular sensory reason. There's something naughty about the wet aromatic, one one hand so Harar-like, even a rough sweetness along with the fruitiness. But there's that difficult cowpie note, with suggestions of robusta smell. Of course, it's not robusta at all, and as distinct from robusta as it is from arabica. If your friends and loved ones haven't sought refuge in another room yet, it's time to invite them to the tasting. And this is where you might stop regretting that you bought a pricey coffee that stinks ... if your nose has adjusted to these smells then your palate will find the transition quite easy. And still, the cup is so different from anything else I have experienced; it really hits you like a ton of bricks. My prefered roast is far and away the City to City + range, where the fruit qualities, rustic blueberry, sweet tobacco, herbs and chocolate, are at their best. As I roast toward FC+, and a tad into 2nd crack, the coffee has a thick, opaque quality, overpowering, has lost some of the fruited qualities, and has a somewhat medicinal roast taste. There's a kind of tightness, and astringency here, that I don't like so much, whereas in the light roasts it comes off as a tea-like quality. There is certainly an unusual chocolate here, which reminds me a bit of Ibarra Mexican Chocolate. If there was such thing as Belgian Blueberry Stout, perhaps that would be the beer-world equivalent. After a long rest (like 5+days) the fruited notes become very licorice/anise-laced, and the overall impression is quite sweet! In all, I don't know if you will love this coffee or hate it. It's a challenging coffee to evaluate, to score (it's too funky and off-kilter to gain high numercial scores but I feel justified to add +5 cupper's correction for pure intrigue and uniqueness). I feel compelled to offer Anohki, because unlike Kopi Luwak (aka poop coffee) and other heavily hyped lots, Kopi Luwak is just a boring and bad cup, period. Anohki Liberica is an intense flavor experience. Here is a rare coffee available only in small amounts, and a totally unique experience (not a subtle one at that), and you won't forget this coffee. | |||||
| Wet Aroma (1-5) | 3 | ||||||
| Brightness - Acidity (1-10) | 7 | ||||||
| Flavor - Depth (1-10) | 8.4 | ||||||
| Body - Mouthfeel (1-5) | 3.7 | ||||||
| Finish - Aftertaste (1-10) | 8.4 | ||||||
| Cupper's Correction (1-5) | 5 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Very Bold Intensity / Low-acidity, extreme and unusual cup flavors, difficult to rate, undoubtedly unique! |  |
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| add 50 | 50 | Roast: City to City+ is preferable in my opinion (see review), and a longer roast time helps moderate medicinal tones in the darker roasts. Note that the green coffee has a varied color appearance but roasts to a fairly even color despite this. | |||||
| Score (Max. 100) | 88.5 | Compare to: If you combined a low acid, blueberry-laden harar with a natural robusta of high quality, you might approach this cup character, but it's really quite a unique (and challenging) cupping experience. Here are some pictures of the liberica coffee seed shape, and huge leaves! | |||||
| India Anohki Coffee (Liberica) • |
$17.40 |
$33.06 |
Micro-lot: 2 Lb Limit |
$5.00 |
$9.50 |
$21.75  |
5 Lb Limit |
Tom's Sample Cupping Log | Moisture Content Readings This page is authored
by Thompson Owen and Sweet Maria's Coffee, Inc. and is not to be
copied or reproduced without permission
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