India's coffee, mapped.

The map covers peninsular India. Each of the eighteen districts the ISRO and NRSC plantation atlas records coffee in is shaded by the area under it, 444,696 hectares as of September 2024. The North East sits in a separate inset on its own scale, where the Coffee Board counts 6,092 hectares planted across seven states. The two figures measure different things: the atlas maps only 674 hectares of canopy up there, and registered planted area includes stock not yet bearing. The page says as much.

The concentration is what stands out. Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru and Hassan hold 67.5 percent of the mapped area between them. Kodagu alone is 30.5 percent, nearly a third of India's coffee land in a single district. The shading has to be log-scaled: the range runs from 153 hectares in Shivamogga to 135,796 in Kodagu, a factor of 888.

Araku is the counterweight. One Andhra district, Alluri Sitharama Raju, carries 35,423 hectares by itself, more than all of Tamil Nadu. The map sits directly above the region index, so the geography and the catalogue finally line up in one place.

What's New on ICB.

Two roasters joined, both on the same day. Bare Bean Roastery is a Surat micro-roastery working nano-lots from Chikmagalur, the Pulney Hills, Koraput and Araku Valley, roasting to order on an Aillio Bullet R2. Mindful Coffee Roaster runs out of Gurugram under a licensed Q Grader and SCA-certified roaster, aiming at everyday balance rather than trend profiles. They brought 18 coffees between them, 13 and 5.

Bare Bean Roastery Surat, Gujarat · 13 coffees View profile →

Mindful Coffee Roaster Gurugram, Haryana · 5 coffees View profile →

Coffee Spotlight.

Sicc Community Excelsa CM Naturals Rossette Coffee · New Delhi · SCA 87+ Excelsa Carbonic maceration Light roast The species is what makes this one worth a look. Excelsa barely registers in Indian specialty: 15 active listings across the directory, against 1,039 arabica. This one arrives carbonic-macerated, roasted light, and scored above 87. Rossette, working out of New Delhi, added it alongside a liberica in the same score band the same fortnight, which is two of the six non-arabica arrivals from a single roaster. It is newly listed, so nobody has rated it yet. See it and rate it →

Roaster Spotlight.

Bare Bean Roastery Surat, Gujarat · 13 coffees listed Bare Bean joined with 13 coffees, which is a lot for a micro-roastery. It works nano-lots and single origins from Chikmagalur, the Pulney Hills, Koraput and Araku Valley, roasting to order on an Aillio Bullet R2 out of Surat. Every lot is listed with its origin, altitude, varietal and process. The roastery puts this down to direct relationships with growers rather than scale, which is what makes a thirteen-coffee catalogue from one Bullet possible. All four sourcing regions are districts on the new map: a Surat roastery, well outside the growing belt, buying from four separate hill belts. It is also the sixth Surat roaster on the directory, in a state now at nine. Explore their coffees →

From the Community.

Worth Reading.

The regions, in depth.

Origins & Estates

Coffee Regions of India: A Complete Guide

The written companion to the map. India grows coffee across three geographic zones: the Western Ghats, the Eastern Ghats and the northeastern hills. Each produces recognisably different cups.

Also published since the last issue: AeroPress Variables for Indian Washed vs Natural Coffees. Grind, temperature, time and ratio adjusted for Indian washed against Indian natural.

Share the Coffee Love.

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The field guide, one card at a time.

68 carousels published so far: how to read a roast date on an Indian bag, what estate labels actually tell you, why refrigerating beans works against you, and what chicory ratios mean on a filter coffee pack.

Brewing something you found through the directory? Post it and tag us. We share the good ones, and the bad cups are usually more instructive anyway.