Specialty robusta has become a core component of the DRWakefield offer. At World of Coffee in Copenhagen this year, we hosted a cupping to showcase some of the incredible robusta partners we are working with in Vietnam, Brazil, Guatemala and India. Roasters, buyers and producers were impressed by the diversity of profiles on offer. Slowly, people’s perceptions of what robusta is, and what robusta can be, are changing. Critical to this shift are the producers that push boundaries in the search of quality.
Our friends at Harley Estate are a great example of just this. We have been working with them for over a decade, sourcing specialty robusta for an exclusive relationship in the UK. However, in 2017, Harley purchased their second farm, Raxidi Estate. Historically, this heritage robusta estate focused on a commercial offer of conventional coffees. But Harley had a new vision: to combine the history and beauty of Raxidi Estate with their expertise in specialty robusta production. We caught up with Tapaswini Purnesh, the Marketing Director, to hear about the changes they have made.
Canopy cover at Raxidi Estate
Infrastructure Development
Raxidi Estate is nestled in the picturesque region of Manjarabad, Southern India. The farm has a remarkable coffee history stretching back 180 years. The 81-hectares of land are populated almost exclusively by Old Peridinia robusta trees and many of the coffee trees are over 100 years old. The canopy of native fauna sits imposingly above the coffee crop, home to a diverse array of wildlife.
We have seen a rise in demand for specialty Robusta both in the Indian and global market in the last 3 years. Good Indian robustas have great inherent flavours, but sometimes have a bad reputation in the market as being a coffee of a lower quality. We wanted to change that perspective and bring out notes that you perhaps wouldn’t associate with a robusta.
Sorting cherry post harvest
Tapa explains that infrastructure has been key to making the transition from commercial to specialty robustas. There is now an onsite Q grader at Raxidi that is constantly cupping different sections of the farm to monitor quality progression. This has happened in conjunction with a new on farm processing unit to give the quality department more control over post-harvest processing. The farm can produce up to 2,000 bags/annum in a good year, so efficient and detailed QC is imperative to monitor quality development.
In collaboration with the SCAI (speciality coffee association of India), Raxidi have also introduced a small coffee research institute attached to the estate. The coffee community in India has collectively been working very hard over the last couple of years with organisations like SCAI and the Coffee board of India to ensure that coffee cultivation is of the highest global standards.
Replanting & Harvesting
Cultivating Old Peridinia
To compliment the vast array of Old Peridinia on the estate, Raxidi has recently introduced younger trees to the farm in what they call ‘Kadri’ sections. These younger trees, defined as being less than 10 years old, now make up 5% of the estate. The plan is to continue introducing seedlings to increase this diversity and enable a more structured approach to crop management available in the future.
Old Peridinia will remain the dominant variety at Raxidi Estate and the story of this variety is a fascinating one, named after the Royal Botanical Gardens of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka. To find out more, Jamie Treby has written a fascinating aticle about the history of leaf rust, the birth of Robusta and the legacy of Ceylon (The history of Rust, the birth of Robusta, and the legacy of Ceylon – DRWakefield).
As well as planting, there has been a major shift in harvest proceeses at Raxidi Estate. Historically, the farm was harvested in one sweep with most of the crop processed as naturals. Today, the harvest runs from January – March, with pickers passing through the crop over the course of 3 months to ensure only ripe cherries are chosen for harvest. Post harvest, 80% of the farm is processed as washed coffee, mostly Kaapi Royale quality. The remaining 20% is processed as a combination of natural and experimental methods conducted on site.
Turning cherry on the patios
Processing
We are the first planters in India to work on experimental processing for the Robusta at both our estates Harley & Raxidi. Freeze dried yeasts for inoculation and anaerobic fermentations have so far bought the best results. This started as an experiment a few years back in incredibly small lots. However, we homed in on the flavours and techniques that worked and have done it on a larger scale. This is now the second harvest at Raxidi. All the experimental processes begin by selectively picking ripe red cherries with a high Brix.
Ripe cherry entering fermentation tanks
Given the terroir and varietal is similar across the range of Raxidi coffees, there is real nuance between the processes. The four processes below are the ones that stood out on the cupping table here at DRWakefield when we tasted the coffees at the beginning of this year.
Robusta T4
The best fruits are pulped and slow fermented with a freeze-dried in-house yeast & lactic acid bacterium. By varying the fermentation time and the % lactic acid to yeast ratio, we can control the balance of citrus & fruit notes with the dark chocolate & spices.
Robusta Barrel 14
The best fruits are pulped and slow fermented with freeze-dried in-house yeast. The yeast used & the slow drying brings out a lot of fruitiness in the coffee.
Robusta Yeast Maceration
Whole cherries are washed with clean water and then stored in airtight tanks for fermentation. A freeze-dried in-house yeast is added for the 56 hours maceration. This increases the winey and red fruit notes in the coffee.
Robusta Wet Plum
Whole cherries are washed with clean water and then stored in airtight tanks for fermentation. A freeze-dried in-house yeast is added to the fermentation for 83 hours which increases the sweetness and fruit notes in the final cup.
If you are intrigued by these coffees, feel free to reach out to the trade team and give them a try. A massive thank you for Tapaswini for her time. As you can probably tell, we are extremely excited to be working with Raxidi this year and in the years to come.
Turning washed coffee on raised beds
