The Cupping Desk
Contour map of Nilgiris, drawn from Copernicus elevation data

Lat 11.4326° NLon 76.6900° E

Sheet 49.8 × 28 km

Nilgiris.

Tamil Nadu, India

Elevation on this sheet: 302–2,602 m

0510 km

Contours 50 m · index 250 m

At a glance

The Nilgiri hills of Tamil Nadu. Robusta and arabica grow here in similar measure, and the arabica includes the Kents selection.1

Coffee grows at
900–1,400 m1
Rainfall
1,600–2,600 mm1
Arabica
3,600 ha1,400 t a year1
Robusta
4,000 ha2,800 t a year1
GI tag
None

How it grows

  • All Indian coffee grows under shade, here under evergreen leguminous trees, in the biodiversity hotspots of the Ghats.12

Arabica varieties1

  • S.795
  • Kents
  • Cauvery

Robusta varieties1

  • Peridenia
  • S.274
  • CxR

Grown alongside1

  • Pepper
  • Orange
  • Banana
  • Ginger
  • Vegetables

Climate and harvest

Blossom and harvest months
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Arabicaharvest–blossomblossom––––––harvestharvest
Robustaharvestblossomblossom––––––––harvest

Blossom showers1 Picking (hatched)3

  • 1,600–2,600 mm of rain a year.1
  • Robusta flowers earlier, after blossom showers in February–March, with backing showers in March–April.1
  • Arabica flowers after the blossom showers of March–April (25–40 mm), followed by backing showers in April–May.1
  • Arabica is picked from November to January.3
  • Robusta is picked from December to February.3

Processing

[TBC] Not yet sourced for this region.

History

[TBC] Not yet sourced for this region.

Sources

  1. Coffee Board of India: Coffee regions of India
  2. Coffee Board of India: Coffees of India
  3. StoneX: USDA attaché on India's 2023/24 coffee crop
  4. Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (elevation data for the map). Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data, processed by ESA; © DLR e.V. 2010–2014 and © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH 2014–2018, provided under COPERNICUS by the European Union and ESA.
  5. Town positions: Gudalur, Ooty, Coonoor, Kotagiri (Wikipedia).
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