After All

SLN9 is a selection developed for Indian growing conditions — structured, consistent, built to carry process without losing character. Catimor brings density and body that holds its shape under extended fermentation. Together, suited for exactly this work: high altitude, sealed fermentation, a profile that earns its complexity. At 4600ft, both varietals ripen slowly and evenly. The body Catimor is known for becomes an asset here — substantial enough to carry 72 hours of anaerobic fermentation without collapsing. The process has something real to work with.

Selectively handpicked at Brix 24 — only fruit at peak sugar content makes the cut. Under-ripe, overripe, and insect-damaged cherries sorted and removed. Floaters and underweight fruit pulled in the floater tank. The lot washed in fresh stream water before anything else. From there, the cherries are de-pulped in a precision pulper, keeping maximum mucilage on the bean. The beans move into an anaerobic fermentation tank — oxygen out, temperature held below 21°C, time in. 72 hours, pH monitored throughout. When the tank opens and pH is confirmed, the beans soak in fresh stream water for a further 24 hours. Then raised beds — 75% shade, raked every 15 minutes, dried slowly over 21 days to 12% moisture. Rested 60 days before any further processing. The amla brightness, the orange on the mid-palate, the quiet sugarcane sweetness on the finish — not added. Earned.

The Shevaroy Hills are where this lot comes from — Eastern Ghats, Tamil Nadu, one of India's oldest growing regions. PKC Kudiraipanjan has been farmed continuously since 1878, now in its third generation under the Kandasamy family. The estate sits at 4000–4600ft, receiving 65–80 inches of annual rainfall. Cool temperatures, misty mornings, fertile mountain soils worked organically for generations. Coffee grows within a maintained agroforest intercropped with pepper, orange, jackfruit, avocado, mango, and banana. A canopy of Silver Oak, Indian Blackberry, and native forest species slows cherry maturation and deepens flavour development. Indian Gaur, Wild Boar, and the Small Indian Civet move through the same land. The biodiversity is not incidental — it is the condition the coffee grows in. An estate farming the same land since 1878. A family that works it like they intend to hold it another hundred and fifty years.