Badra Coffee wins Flavour of India Fine Cup Award

Bengaluru-headquartered Badra Coffee has won the Flavour of India Fine Cup Award for Best Robusta Naturals from the Coffee Board of India. There were seven categories in Flavour of India and the company won the award in the Robusta Naturals category. The company also secured second place in the Robusta Washed category. 

 

The award categories saw participation from different planters from all over the country who had submitted their coffee samples. These samples were tasted by Q graders and coffee professionals. The award was received by Jacob Mammen, managing director of Badra Estates.

 

Badra Coffee mainly sells to niche coffee roasters in Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Germany, Italy, the UK, Norway, Greece and the US and has launched four blends for the retail market. Three of them, Temple Mountain (Arabica), Misty Heights (single estate) and Kaapi Nirvana (filter), are pure coffees, while Dakshin Fusion is a filter coffee with chicory.

 

Badra Coffee has estates in Chikkamagaluru Karnataka. Mammen’s great-grandfather bought the estate from Brooke Bond Ltd. Three generations of the family have run Badra Estates and Industries Ltd, which was formed in 1943.  

 

Mammen, a true believer in developing speciality coffee, has worked with reputable international buyers to improve the quality of Badra Coffee. “We call it relationship coffees,” he had told THE WEEK. “We interact with our buyers to understand their requirements of different flavour profiles, and then work on developing coffees that specifically suit them,” Mammen added. 

 

Special attention is also given to manufacturing, which involves washed, semi-washed, and unwashed processes. The company has done different trials in fermentation and has been working with a German buyer who collaborates with the German government. 

 

During the harvest, scientists from Germany visit the farm. They collect samples after many trials. The samples are then taken to their labs in Berlin where they isolate the beneficial microbes prevalent on different estates. These microbes are then used to tweak fermentation and produce a basket of flavours.

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