The Ultimate Coffee Pilgrimage Across India
Discover the plantations shaping India’s coffee culture
In 1670, at a time when coffee was an Arabian monopoly, a Sufi saint named Baba Budan smuggled seven coffee beans from Yemen straight into the Indian subcontinent.
Tucking them into his robes like contraband, he snuck into the mist-cloaked hills of Chikmagalur and planted them there. From that quiet act of defiance, an empire of caffeine was born in India.
Today, India is one of the world’s largest coffee producers, and by extension, a country that loves its coffee. But we’ve come a long way from mass-market, churned-out caffeine – especially with brands like Subko and Araku now dominating the market. Here, coffee is an ecosystem, grown in tangled estates where pepper vines coil around silver oaks and monsoon rains soak the soil. It’s the only country in the world where all coffee is shade-grown, a process that slows ripening and deepens flavour, yielding beans with notes of citrus, spice, and earth. The delicate Arabicas, cultivated at high altitudes, hum with floral brightness; while the punchy Robustas, grown in humid lowlands, pack a dark chocolate kick.
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But for those who want to go beyond the morning brew—to feel the damp earth underfoot, to breathe in the scent of freshly pulped beans—there’s only one way: follow the coffee trail, straight to the plantations that have been perfecting the craft for centuries. Across the south, from the slopes of Chikmagalur to the spice-laden air of Wayanad, plantations welcome coffee lovers into their world. The beans at these family-legacy plantations are handpicked, sun-dried, and the slow-roasted with reverence for the craft.
So if you’re a coffee-obsessed maniac, these destinations offer a pilgrimage to the birthplace of Indian coffee.
Chikmagalur, Karnataka
Coffee has been growing in Chikmagalur longer than anywhere else in India. Tucked into the foothills of the Western Ghats, this region produces some of the country’s finest Arabica beans, known for their bright acidity and delicate floral notes. Unlike mass-produced coffee, these beans ripen slowly in the mountain air, developing nuanced flavours that range from honeyed sweetness to subtle spice.
Despite the coffee, Chikmagalur is beautiful to visit. At the coffee plantations, you can see towering silver oaks shade the plantations and waterfalls tumble down cliffs, while the scent of roasting beans linger in the air.
Coorg, Karnataka
Coorg is the nerve centre of India’s coffee industry, producing nearly 40 percent of the country’s total coffee output. It’s also the only place in India producing Civet Coffee (Kopi Luwak). Arabica and Robusta thrive here, growing under the shade of silver oak, jackfruit, and wild fig trees – a method that enhances their flavour complexity. Coorg’s coffee plantations are ecosystems in themselves. The region’s rain-fed estates create the perfect terroir, with monsoon-led soil adding a distinct, mellow acidity to the beans.
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The estates here are legacies. Tata Coffee’s Plantation Trails is one place where coffee has been cultivated for 100 years. Meanwhile, experiences at the Tamara Coorg, perched 3,500 feet above sea level, allows guests to handpick, roast and blend their own coffee. Coorg really offers an immersive journey into the history and the craftsmanship of coffee (and honestly, some of the best coffee you’ll ever taste).
Araku, Andhra Pradesh
Araku is truly India’s best-kept coffee secret. Coffee here has been nurtured by generations of indigenous tribes who have turned cultivation into an art from. Unlike the sprawling estates of Karnataka, Araku’s farms are small, organic, and fiercely local. This valley is the birthplace of India’s first tribal-grown organic coffee, a single-origin Arabica that has a fan following from across the world.
The altitude, mineral-rich soil, and the slow process of cultivation makes Araku coffee special. The beans here grow under the canopy of mango and silver oak trees, developing a bright acidity with hints of caramel.
But beyond the coffee, the valley here is a spectacle of rolling hills, waterfalls, and mountain air. The real magic here is in the coffee estates that put Araku on the global coffee map.
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Wayanad, Kerala
Tucked into the folds of the Western Ghats, Wayanad is all about the landscapes that have shaped it. Here, coffee thrives alongside pepper vines and areca palms, shaded by towering silver oaks. The region’s organic, high-elevation plantations here are slowly carving a niche in India’s coffee scene. Here, you’ll find coffee with character, grown in estates where vanilla orchids curl around cocoa trees, and the scent of cardamom is heavy in the air.
Daringbadi, Odisha
Dubbed as the “Kashmir of Odisha”, Daringbadi is quietly brewing a reputation far from the snow-capped peaks it’s often compared to. Here, Arabica coffee is grown in the cool, pine-scented air, turning this unlikely pocket of Eastern India into a rising star in the country’s coffee map.
But what’s makes Daringbadi’s coffee special are the people. The indigenous farmers, who have long lived in these hills, bring generations of wisdom to the cultivation process. No industrial shortcuts, no rush – just patient, time-honouring farming that is breeding soulful brews.