After Karnataka — Coffee Finds New Homes

                                                         Chapter 8

From the Southern Slopes to the Eastern Hills: How Indian Coffee Kept Spreading

After securing its roots deep in the shaded hills of Karnataka, coffee didn’t stay still. The crop, once a secret treasure of Baba Budan’s journey, began to branch out. With the growing demand for Indian coffee—both within the country and beyond—the need for more land, more microclimates, and more hands to grow it became undeniable. And so, coffee migrated. From Karnataka, it spilled over into the rest of southern India, and eventually touched the far corners of the subcontinent.

              Tamil Nadu – Where Tea and Coffee Coexist

The lush Nilgiri Hills of Tamil Nadu, long known for their world-famous tea estates, opened their arms to Arabica coffee. Here, in places like Coonoor and Kotagiri, smallholders and estate farmers began cultivating beans that thrived in the cool, misty air. While tea still dominates the region’s identity, coffee planted its place as a quiet but steady companion. The Nilgiris’ dual beverage culture now stands as a symbol of how South Indian plantations blend heritage with flexibility.

               Andhra Pradesh – Araku’s Organic Renaissance

Meanwhile, in the Eastern Ghats, the scenic Araku Valley of Andhra Pradesh was undergoing a different kind of transformation. Inhabited largely by Adivasi communities, Araku was not just planting coffee—it was redefining it. With the help of NGOs and international buyers, the valley embraced organic, biodynamic farming.

What started as a local livelihood program turned into award-winning, export-quality Arabica, giving the valley global recognition. More than just beans, Araku exports stories—of empowerment, environment, and excellence.

                              Telangana – Coffee in Quiet Hills

In Telangana, coffee is still an underdog, but not an invisible one. The forested tracts in the Adilabad region, and some parts bordering Chhattisgarh, quietly host shade-grown coffee amidst mixed cropping systems. While not as commercially dominant, these areas reflect the hidden potential of low-profile but high-quality farming. Here, coffee shares space with tribal farming wisdom, pepper vines, and tamarind trees.

               The North-East – India’s New Coffee Frontier

As the southern coffee culture matured, India’s North East began writing its own coffee story. Places like Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Manipur, with their high altitudes, acidic soils, and cloud-kissed forests, began experimenting with Arabica plantations.

For long, these regions were associated only with tea, but coffee is slowly carving out a future—especially in Meghalaya’s Ri-Bhoi district and the slopes of Nagaland’s Mon and Tuensang regions. These states, often underrepresented in mainstream agriculture, are now becoming the quiet revolutionaries of India’s specialty coffee scene.

🔸 And Then, We Look West Again...

As coffee spread across India, one place—tucked between the misty forests of Kerala—emerged as something extraordinary. 

Not just for its yield, but for the deep connection between coffee and ecology.

This was Wayanad, a district where coffee lives not as a monoculture, but as part of a larger forest ecosystem, blending with pepper, cardamom, jackfruit, and towering silver oaks.

🌿 And so, in Chapter 9, we journey into Wayanad—where coffee doesn’t just grow...

It breathes with the forest.

Thanks for reading
krishna chandana-Coffee Duo