In India’s coffee country, temples, waterfalls, and dosas washed down with a cup or two on a guided tour from our colonial bungalow homestay
- Home to the first coffee plantation in India, Chikmagalur in Karnataka is surrounded by the rainforests and waterfalls of the Western Ghat hills
- Family-run plantations offer luxury homestays, and guided tours show the coffee picking process, ancient Hindu temples, and a nature reserve
Black, or with milk and sugar, coffee and its rich aroma are omnipresent in southern India. The drink is especially popular in the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, where, at small shacks, frothy coffee is poured into tumblers standing on dabaras (saucers) and Western-style cafes sell exotic brews.
Serving thick coffee, made in a stainless steel filter and mixed with frothy hot milk, is a tradition in many South Indian households.
The drink was initially reserved for the British colonial elite in India. Today, coffee plantations that date from the colonial era – from Wayanad, in Kerala, to Coorg, in Karnataka, and Yercaud, in Tamil Nadu – not only produce coffee beans, but also offer immersive homestay experiences.
Chikmagalur was the site of India’s first recorded coffee plantation. In the foothills of Karnataka’s Western Ghats, the town is surrounded by the rainforests and waterfalls of the Mullayanagiri peaks.
Sufi Muslim saint Baba Budan supposedly brought seven coffee seeds, tucked into his robes, to Chikmagalur from Yemen in the Arabian peninsula in the 17th century, when he was returning from the haj pilgrimage. He planted his fragrant Arabica seeds, which thrived at this high altitude, and the coffee bushes spread to Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
