Almost Home

SLN9 brings structure and consistency — developed for Indian growing conditions, it holds its character across processes that would unravel a less stable varietal. Catimor adds density and a natural resistance that suits high-altitude, long-fermentation work. Together they give this lot the body to carry 192 hours of sugarcane maceration without losing definition. At 4600ft in the Shevaroy Hills, the cherries ripen slowly. The altitude compounds what the process starts — deepening the fruit, concentrating the sugars, giving the raspberry and red wine notes somewhere real to come from.

Selectively handpicked at Brix 24. Under-ripe, overripe, and insect-damaged fruit sorted and removed. Floaters pulled in the floater tank. The lot washed in fresh stream water. From there, the whole cherries move into a sealed anaerobic fermentation tank — sugarcane juice added at a 1:10 ratio, temperature held below 21°C, pH monitored throughout. Eight days. The longest fermentation on the Seekers lineup. When the tank opens and pH is confirmed, the cherries go directly to raised beds. Dried under 50% shade, raked every 15 minutes, over 23 days to 12% moisture. Rested 60 days. A natural process — the fruit intact through the entire fermentation and drying stage, every sugar and every note absorbed into the bean over time. The raspberry. The red wine. The cape gooseberry finish. Not constructed. Just what happens when you give a cherry enough time.

The same estate as After All — and a different lot entirely. Lot 32/25, same altitude, same agroforest, same hands. PKC Kudiraipanjan has been farmed continuously since 1878, now in its third generation under the Kandasamy family. 65–80 inches of annual rainfall. Cool temperatures and misty mornings that slow maturation and deepen the fruit. Coffee grows alongside pepper, orange, jackfruit, avocado, mango, and banana. Silver Oak, Indian Blackberry, and native forest species form the canopy. Indian Gaur, Wild Boar, and the Small Indian Civet share the same land. The biodiversity isn't background detail — it's what the coffee grows inside of. An estate that has held this land since 1878. Two different lots, two entirely different cups. Same care behind both.