What's exciting about this coffee
Indian coffee has always been seen in the specialty coffee world as filler or blender coffee, this one is an example of why it isn't. Suneal and Dustin visited Komal and Akshay of South India Coffee Company (SICC) in February 2025, and were so impressed by the coffee species work they're doing.
This coffee highlights what the Excelsa species has to offer. It has its distinct signature sweetness in the flavour notes, and has even seen the competition stage where some of the world's best baristas use it in their competition coffee blends. This species is quite new to the specialty coffee scene, and in the past few years has been even DNA-tested with Kew Gardens in London; this is where they house the most diverse collection of living plant specimens in the world.
Different from Arabica harvests, this Excelsa is harvested by hand from tall trees (which can grow up to 10 meters tall!) using ladders. After complex and intentional processing, what comes through is a coffee that expands what we think we know about coffee species.
