Riverdale, Espresso - India

Since 1920, Riverdale Estate has been a family business where three generations have worked to improve the quality of their coffee plants. The farm is located in the Eastern Ghats Mountains in Southern India. Prakashan Balaraman, a passionate young coffee farmer, is questioning traditional practices of growing and processing coffee.

Over the past ten years, Riverdale Estate has been transformed with new, modern farming practices, such as a state-of-the-art tasting lab, an energy-efficient pulping station (wet mill), a drip irrigation system for the plants, African-style raised beds for drying coffee, and a temperature-controlled warehouse for storing coffee beans after harvest. 

The loamy soil of these mountain ranges offers a perfect blend of clay, silt, and sand for growing coffee and other crops like oranges, jackfruit, and pepper. The estate has a natural stream that flows all year round, making it a very interesting place for coffee cultivation.

SLN 9 is a remarkable coffee variety, resulting from a hybrid between the Ethiopian Tafarikela and the Hybrido-de-Timor. Developed by the Central Coffee Research Institute in India in 1970, this plant has increased resistance to leaf rust and high resistance to drought. With its ability to adapt to harsh environmental conditions and attractive cup profile, SLN 9 has become a prized coffee variety in the Indian coffee industry.

Only ripe cherries are hand-picked before being dried in full sun for 4 to 6 days, with the cherries spread out in thin layers to ensure even drying and a good seal of the outer layer. Then, the cherries are transferred to half-shade drying beds, where the drying is slowed down for 20 to 25 days, depending on the process. Once the beans reach a moisture content of between 10 and 13%, they are stored in a specially designed storage space. This space is equipped with monitoring systems that monitor humidity and temperature daily. Each processed batch is stored separately and labelled with detailed information such as harvest date, drying conditions, batch size, and processing details. This meticulous approach ensures traceability and consistently high quality coffee.

• Region: Southern India
• Country: India
• Elevation: 1, 450 masl
• Variety: SLN-9
• Process: Washed