Our Story

Early 1800s

Coffee in the Coorg Highlands

Wild coffee bushes were first cultivated along the misty ridges of Brahmagiri and Madikeri. Grown underneath ancient forest trees, the high elevation and rich volcanic soil of Coorg gave the beans their signature smooth body and low acidity.

Claymation scene of a wild coffee shrub growing beneath a tall clay rainforest tree.

Claymation terraced hillside with rows of coffee shrubs under puffy clay rainclouds.

1834

The highlands open

By the 1830s, planters recognized that Coorg's steep, forested slopes, ideal altitude (900 to 1,500m), and high annual rainfall offered world-class conditions for growing high-grade Arabica coffee.

1854

The first commercial estate

John Fowler cleared and planted Coorg's first commercial coffee estate in Madikeri. Word travelled fast: by 1895, over a hundred family estates had taken root across the Coorg highlands.

Claymation figure planting coffee saplings with a tiny hand tool.

Claymation homestead scene with coffee cherries drying on raised beds.

1860s to 1900s

Family estates take it on

Coffee evolved from estate crops to a household tradition. Local families folded coffee into their land alongside pepper and cardamom: hand-picked, pulped at home, and dried on raised beds in the sun.

20th c.

Shade becomes the signature

Rather than clear native forests, Coorg growers planted underneath them: Arabica and Robusta growing under the dense shade of silver oak, wild rosewood, and jackfruit trees. That canopy is why Coorg coffee tastes remarkably balanced, smooth, and low in acidity.

Claymation coffee bush growing beneath a layered canopy of tall shade trees.

Claymation still-life of coffee cup, burlap sack of beans, and cherry branch.

Today

A new generation of single origin

Today, family-owned estates in Coorg are roasting and sharing their own micro-lots directly. Coorg to Cup brings these transparent, single-origin coffees straight from mountain slopes to your cup.