The plantation employs ethical, holistic, regenerative, and sustainable practices to ensure responsible land stewardship. Maintaining harmony between soil, microorganisms, plants, animals, and humans allows a biotope where diverse species, including birds, butterflies, and insects thrive. Most of the area is covered by lush forest, where the coffee bushes are part of a greater assemblage of trees and plants typical of a sub-tropical rainforest.

Sustainability practices like vermi-composting, cattle manure composting, and agroforestry improve soil health and productivity. The plantation also addresses global challenges through operations that promote a healthy environment for future generations, working in harmony with nature and its stakeholders.

The plantation's calendar is marked by a series of salient coffee-related tasks and operations throughout the year such as pruning, de-suckering, shade-loping, manuring and weeding.

Heavy monsoons typically occur from mid-June to mid-September. The seasonal harvest takes place from November through the end of March. Arabica and Robusta floral blossoms appear in the second or third week of April, lasting just a day. Year-round, the estate is swathed in the ethereal beauty of a lush, verdant, tropical rainforest, but these two days of floral blossoms are arguably the most beautiful of the year.

SEASONS - PLANTER'S DIARY

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WINTER

Whispers of the Veil

[October - February]

This ethereal curtain, soft and gray, wraps our gardens in its mysterious cloak, and whispers secrets only it can provoke. As morning breaks and night’s embrace is shed, birdsongs break as the Golden Orioles gather at the fountains.

SPRING

SUMMER

MONSOON

From ‘Sleeping in the Forest’

I thought the earth remembered me, she took me back so tenderly, arranging her dark skirts, her pockets full of lichens and seeds. I slept as never before, a stone on the riverbed, nothing between me and the white fire of the stars but my thoughts, and they floated light as moths among the branches of the perfect trees. All night I heard the small kingdoms breathing around me, the insects, and the birds who do their work in the darkness. All night I rose and fell, as if in water, grappling with a luminous doom. By morning I had vanished at least a dozen times into something better.

- Mary Oliver

PROCESS

Age-old agricultural techniques, blending science, art, and tradition, are employed in coffee cultivation. Soil fertility is replenished through the application of compost and cattle manure. The estate takes pride in its sustainable and socially responsible farming practices, which are in harmony with nature and contribute to the local community's well-being.

There is a strict zero-tolerance policy for harmful chemicals, pesticides, weed killers, child labour, and plastic. The estate is also in the process of obtaining Rainforest Alliance certification. It harnesses sustainable energy by usings solar panels to power operations. Skilled labourers, well-versed in the nuances of local cultural practices, meticulously prune the coffee plants and regularly shade-lop trees, ensuring optimal plant growth and development conditions. Hiregudda Estate focuses on sustainable, eco-friendly cultivation, including soil and water conservation practices. Eight per cent of the land is left wild, fostering a balanced agroforestry ecosystem.

Rainforest Alliance

Planting: The tender saplings are carefully nurtured in the estate's nurseries before being planted. They are attentively cultivated and cared for throughout their life cycle at every stage. Over time, the coffee bushes develop into a robust collection of high-quality plants, each with unique characteristics that consistently deliver desirable yields season after season.

SEASON

Arabica and Robusta saplings are planted during the first rains of June. The region experiences heavy rainfall from June through August, during which essential activities such as pruning, weeding, and plant care are carried out in tandem.

SEEDS AND VARIETALS

Quality heirloom seeds are sourced from accredited nurseries through a rigorous selection process. Only plants that are high-yielding and free from diseases such as leaf rust and stem borer are chosen for seed procurement. In the estate's nurseries, seedlings are cultivated from a variety of Arabica varietals, including Chandragiri (Sarchimor), Selection 9, HDT Catuai, BBTC, and 5B. For the Robusta varietals, quality seeds are sourced from CxR Robusta, Old Robusta, and 274 Robusta.

Harvesting: A combination of the plant’s varietal, its soil, its microclimate makeup and the processing involved determines the flavour profile in the final cupping. At APD, we aim to provide the best quality and the best service and will diligently strive to constantly improve everything we do for a superlative farm-to-cup experience.

SEASON

The typical harvest season is from mid-November to the end of January for Arabica and from the beginning of January to mid-March for Robusta.

Picking

Great attention is devoted to the harvesting and drying processes, which begin with the selective hand-picking of crimson-red, fully ripened berries, leaving the unripened ones for subsequent rounds. Typically, three...

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Sorting and Pulping

After picking, the coffee undergoes a thorough two-round sorting process, followed by pulping using the estate's in-house, eco-friendly pulper - a model of sustainable innovation. The estate is equipped with...

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Fermentation

Depending on the temperature, Arabica ferments for 8 to 24 hours, while Robusta ferments for up to 48 hours. Underwater soaking lasts 2 to 12 hours, and natural spring water...

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Washing

After natural fermentation, the coffee undergoes de-mucilaging and washing.

Drying

The beans are sun-dried on raised drying trays/beds and also on the barbecued bricks of our drying yards for 5-8 days, depending on the prevailing temperature. The sun-powered beans are...

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Packing

Once naturally sun-dried, the green beans are packed in our sustainable jute bags and sent to the dry mill for hulling and sorting.

OUR PROMISE

The Estate is committed to innovation that meets consumers' needs while respecting and preserving the estate's ecosystem. This commitment extends to conducting calculated experiments that combine traditional processing methods, such as the aforementioned sun-drying, with contemporary techniques. These include barrel ageing and honey sun-drying.

Coffee is grown in harmony with nature and the stars. This intense spiritual union among land, plant life, wild animals, birds, and people has given birth to permaculture, a unique philosophy of working with nature. Permaculture is the development of sustainable, self-sufficient agricultural ecosystems. It emphasises utilising land, resources, people, and the environment in a manner that produces no waste and encourages closed-loop systems, mirroring nature. Key concepts include earth care, people care, and fair share.

The terroir is considered sacred, and the estate consciously practices protecting and regenerating natural ecosystems. The land is managed to enhance soil health, conserve water, and foster biodiversity. The estate is committed to the surrounding communities such that they have access to essential resources in ways that promote well-being and social equity.

The crimson-throated Coppersmith Barbet, ubiquitous on the plantation.

Furthermore, it strives to maintain a sustainable balance in the use of natural resources, ensuring the prosperity of both people and ecosystems. Surplus resources are shared for the common good, reflecting a commitment to holistic sustainability and social responsibility.

Shola Forests, Tropical

Hiregudda Estate, with its 130-year history of diligent nurturing and spiritual communion, is blessed with a unique biotope encompassing an incomparable diversity of revered flora and fauna. Our coffee cultivation co-exists with a variety of fruits, native trees, wildflowers, butterflies, spiders, woods, and wildlife.

Red, Lateritic soil

The iron-rich laterite soil measures above-average levels of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium, an indicator for facilitating good plant health.

Tropical Biodiversity

The fruit-bearing and native shade trees, medicinal plants and fresh spring water bodies are home to many rare species of birds, wild mammals, butterflies, insects, worms, bees, spiders and reptiles. Leopards, tigers, Malabar flying squirrels, barking deer, wild boar, mouse deer, Indian Gaur, and Sambhar are a few of the visitors around the estate grounds.

Notable Avifauna

Hiregudda Estate, with its 130-year history of diligent nurturing and spiritual communion, is blessed with a unique biotope encompassing an incomparable diversity of revered flora and fauna. Our coffee cultivation co-exists with a variety of fruits, native trees, wildflowers, butterflies, spiders, woods, and wildlife. See full list of birds [ + ]

fig [I]: bird 1

PLANTATION ( - )

PLANTATION

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WINTER

Whispers of the Veil

This ethereal curtain, soft and gray, wraps our gardens in its mysterious cloak, and whispers secrets only it can provoke. As morning breaks and night’s embrace is shed, birdsongs break as the Golden Orioles gather at the fountains.

SPRING

In Full Bloom

As the seasons unfold, the estate transforms on cue. The skies are clear and dry from October to April, turning the estate into an avian sanctuary. Migratory birds, including the Malabar Trogon, flock to our waterholes.

SUMMER

Golden Harvest

The harvest concludes by mid-March. Each stage is an act of care and respect for the land that nurtures us. The beans dry slowly in the sun, soaking in the warmth and energy of the earth, creating a flavour that reflects the soul of the terroir.

MONSOON

Symphony of Showers

When the first rains touch the earth in June, we plant our Arabica and Robusta saplings, setting the stage for a season of growth. The monsoon months bring lushness and a sense of renewal to the estate.