India Gundikhan Natural

Saif Ulla's natural was the coffee that really convinced us to leap into Indian coffees a few years back - a true game-changer for us. We’re excited to have Gundikhan back for its fourth delicious season in our roastery, and we’re roasting two coffees from the farm: a creamy and approachable washed coffee, plus this fruity, sangria-like natural!
Coffees from India are still a relative rarity on US specialty roasters' menus, but coffee in India has a storied history, tracing back further than any country besides Ethiopia and Yemen. Indian coffee dates to the late 1600s when, according to legend, a Sufi pilgrim named Baba Budan smuggled coffee seeds from the Arabian Peninsula, planting them in the Western Ghat mountain range.
Despite the long history, we haven't always associated Indian coffees with the qualities we seek out at Huck, and had always steered clear of coffees from mainland Asia. But producers in India, China, and Myanmar, to name a few countries, have raised the bar on the continent, and thanks to some lovely coffees and persistent ear-bending by our friend David at Osito Coffee, we've had to reconsider those preconceived notions. Insert trite reference...traveling to the far east...opening one's mind...in this case about coffee.
Saif Ulla's farm, Gundikhan Estate, sits in the same mountains where Baba Budan planted India's first coffee seeds centuries ago, and he's equally passionate about preserving the area's biodiversity as he is its coffee heritage. Saif is a founding member of KaadKaapi Collective, a group of environmentally-conscious farmers aiming to preserve habitats and migration corridors for native animal species. Extremely dense shade cover and the occasional downed tree - courtesy roaming elephants and Gaur (Indian Bison) - make for significantly lower productivity and higher costs, offset by pursuing quality and earning higher prices. 
We highly recommend giving both Gundhikans a spin side-by-side. Look to the washed coffee for creamy comfort, then this natural for ride. We’re tasting tropical fruit sangria and tart pomegranate, with a lingering, bittersweet chocolate finish in another delicious year of Saif’s natural!

 *** for roasting schedule, shipping, receiving & additional information, please visit out Frequently Asked Questions . And, for a primer on coffee processing, check out our Processing Basics Guide. *** 

Pictured: Saif Ulla and Gundikhan Estate, courtesy Osito Coffee.