For our first coffee sourcing trip as Coffee Wallas, we spent 10 incredible days exploring the coffee world of Karnataka, India. This trip was full of surprises and plenty of “wow” moments, from age-old traditions to mind-blowing innovation, we saw it all. While everything we learned is hard to sum up, we did our best to highlight 12 things we learned about specialty coffee in India.

1. Robusta is not as resilient as everyone thinks.

Robusta is thought to be the coffee plant of the future. But, they’re still susceptible to disease, reduced yields, and their roots don’t grow too deep into the ground. Climate change means rising temperatures and irregular rainfall, causing shifts in which geographic regions Robusta will thrive in (the plant can only tolerate so much). Of course, caffeine matters as it reduces pests that attack the plant, but it’s not what’s going to be the main saviour. Think about it this way: Liberica and Excelsa thrive in tough conditions, yet have lower caffeine than Robusta and Arabica…! Robusta and Arabica are perhaps more similar than we thought. And hey, maybe we’ll see some Stenophylla in the near future.

2. People are stealing coffee trees and branches!

A lot of coffee is connected to the commodity market (C-Market), and it has been volatile for the last 6 months due to multiple factors. Arabica coffee has more than doubled in the last year, rising from $1.85/lb in February 2024 to an all-time high of $4.39/lb in February 2025. Because local pickers are seeing higher prices being paid for picked cherry, some pickers are not only stealing cherry, but chopping off entire coffee branches with ripe cherry, to sell to the local market. We hear of theft of parchment coffee or exportable green coffee, but this is truly next level! 

3. A darkroom is best for drying coffee?

The drying process can sometimes be overlooked. We still haven’t wrapped our head around this fully, but we learned that drying coffee in a red light darkroom that is humidity and temperature controlled, can increase cup score by at least one to two points. Ashok Patre, owner of Ratnagiri Estate, showed us his darkroom, and shared that a red light darkroom is best for drying. Red light cuts out other rays on the spectrum that can affect the drying process. The darkroom was cool and slightly windy inside, and felt slightly humid 😮

4. Excelsa trees are MASSIVE.

We knew there were differences between the Robusta and Arabica plant, but we had no idea Excelsa trees would look so different (see the difference in sizing here.) They have a large trunk, bigger and rounder leaves, and are super tall. We saw some Excelsa plants that were around 15 ft tall—imagine picking those cherries, eh? We learned that they make bamboo ladders to pick cherries from Excelsa trees, as well as pepper vines that grow higher up!

5. Peppercorn crops diversify farm revenue.

Monocultures are bad for a multitude of reasons: It can be a risk for specific pests. But another problem? Your entire income is tied to one crop, and that’s risky. 

In India, most coffee farmers are also producing and selling pepper (that is, if the hedgehogs don’t eat the tasty pepper roots first!). Some other crops that coffee farmers are growing: cardamom, jackfruit, avocadoes, and silver oak trees for wood.

6. Indian specialty coffees are on the rise at local cafes.

India has a 100% tariff on non-Indian coffees that are brought in (both green and roasted.) The specialty coffee scene has been on the rise for the last few years, with beautifully designed specialty cafes popping up. About 98% of these cafes are serving Indian coffees, grown, sourced, and roasted locally. Pretty cool to see cafe go-ers have a ton of coffee knowledge, and know about processing and specific coffee growing regions. 

7. High cup score varietals aren't always best for a producer.

Even if a varietal is scoring higher by a point or two, it doesn’t mean a producer will keep planting it. It all comes down to math. To get the higher scoring coffee, what extra work do they have to do to maintain that varietal? Can that extra point or two justify the costs of the extra work in the form of a higher price? 

SL9, for example, is a varietal that produces a great cup and decent yield—it even has Ethiopian and Excelsa genetics. But, the cherries ripen too early in the season compared to other varietals, which means the coffees would have to be picked right in the middle of monsoon season. Drying of coffee also happens after picking, and… well, it’s not really ideal to dry coffee in the middle of a monsoon, is it? Also, it requires pruning three times a year. Will all that extra labour to produce the varietals result in a higher price? Not necessarily. Worth it or not, when compared to a similarly tasty varietal SL6 that doesn’t require all that extra work, It seems like an easy decision to make. 

8. Stress is good for coffee plants?

If you make life too easy for your plants, they won’t know how to fend for themselves. An example? If you set up an irrigation system for them, their roots will expect water to be coming from above the ground (and therefore, won’t go any deeper). Deeper roots provide more structural support which comes in handy during monsoon season (or when wild boars or bison are rushing through your farm).

9. Among coffee farm visitors are tigers and leopards…

Tigers and leopards can sometimes visit, but they’re rare and they’re silent. So, if you hear rustling, don’t worry; it’s not a tiger or a leopard). Pro tip: look in the trees for the leopards. And… for Tigers? All you can really do is cross your fingers and hope for the best.

10. It's a struggle to find seasonal coffee pickers.

This is not such a new fact, but we definitely heard every single producer say it was difficult to hire pickers. Because coffee is a seasonal crop, and requires intensive hours, it’s difficult to train and keep the same labourers crop after crop. One way producers have adapted is investing in an optical sorter, where pickers are now “strip picking”, meaning they are picking all cherries whether it is green or red. It may sound counterintuitive, but for some producers it’s the only way that makes sense with limited labour, and cherries that have to be picked.

11. Knowing your farm is everything.

Reading a book will only get you so far—you need to know your farm like the back of your hand if you want to give yourself the best chance for consistently good results. A book won’t tell you why specific birds are flocking to an area, or why a specific plot of coffee plants are performing well. Farms are always changing, and the best producers are always observant, constantly monitoring, and taking meticulous notes.

12. Elephants are pests.

You know it’s jackfruit season when elephants stomp through your farm to eat them! But that’s okay, because everyone loves elephants, right? Well, not always. Elephants can trample and tear through your farm, and they definitely don’t care about the years of work and meticulous care you’ve put into planting your trees—if there’s a tasty fruit nearby, they’re going to go for it. What’s more mindblowing is that they have excellent night vision; they navigate the steep slopes in pitch darkness, just to have their snack. On the plus side, you’ll at least get to know when your jackfruit is ripe.

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