Bettathur Nano Lot
Origin: Geetha's Farm, Bettathur, North Coorg
Processing: Natural Slow Sundried
Roast: Medium to Dark Roast
Varietals Grown: Arabica ( Selection 12)
Flavour Notes: : SWEET FLORAL AROMA . POMELO . JUICY BODY .
This coffee has a very floral dry aroma. It is a fruity refreshing coffee with strong citrus notes.
GEETHA’S COFFEE
Stories as we know are of two kinds. One is where it heartens the listener and changes their mood for a while. The other is the kind that leaves a lasting impression that needs to be retold multiple times. This year, we were in for a little surprise as we learnt that there can also be a third type.
Geetha is a petite woman with a gentle smile. Geetha has two daughters both of them are school going girls. Geetha has a daily wage job that keeps her family going as she is the sole breadwinner of her house. Our Geetha is also a coffee planter – her pride is her two-acre estate solely managed by her.
What is more striking is that she is one amongst the many vanishing tribes in Coorg. Her tribe is called the Kudiyas. The name loosely translates to forest and valley dwellers. Geetha’s childhood was one that takes you back to the free spirit that Mowgli had in the Jungle Book. She knew not how to hold a pen and a book but could catch snakes and source the most delicious wild fruits. Her feet knew her land like a memory foam, tree climbing was her everyday sport.
Today, Geetha is shy and timid, a result of the morph she had to undergo to fit into the fast-paced material world. She works as a help in the neighbouring homes near our coffee store in Madikeri. Geetha is the one we call out to when we need the aid of strong hands to lift coffee sacks. Geetha readily comes when there’s a lot of coffee cleaning and grading to be done. Looking at what we do she mustered the courage to ask “why are you selling coffee here and not at the curing works?”
That was the start of one of the many conversations we had about single origin coffee, the legacy of Coorg coffee and the way forward for specialty coffee. In a few months, we transitioned into collaborators. Her estate perched on top of the Brahmagiri hills, has a breathtaking view of the Western Ghats haloed with mist and verdant greenery spreading until it meets the crimson hued horizon. The coffee plants have been tended to like a mother by Geetha. It was all planted, managed and harvested by a single woman from the start.
This year, we have sourced two bags of Geetha’s SL 12 Arabica varietal. The post harvesting process was done at our yard. And the coffee she had Handpicked came to us looking like a sack of sparkling ruby red berries. “Akkayya, you said only well ripe red ones so here they are…” We must say she took the description a little too seriously! The cherries were slow dried on raised beds with close supervision and finally roasted to yield this refreshing coffee.
The story of Geetha to us was one that started out as us being the audience, as it completed, we found ourselves playing a tiny role in her story.