Our coffee processing journey!
Location
The high altitude mountain valleys and lush coffee estates, a place with a legendary coffee background, Panduranga Coffee was born in India’s “Coffee Cradle” – CHIKMAGALUR.
According to mythological history, a Sufi saint Bababudan on his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1600 AD visited Yemen. Here he discovered coffee being used as a sweetish drink by the Arabs, which he fell in love with instantly and bought seven coffee seeds hidden in his robes. Later he planted those on the mountain slopes of Chikmagalur, to what now is famously known as the Bababudan Hills. Chikmagalur takes all pride as one of the largest coffee-producing regions in India.
Selection
Chikmagalur is well known worldwide for its fine coffee grown at sky-kissing high altitudes. Coffee grown in higher altitudes is considered truly flavoursome coffee. Cooler temperatures at higher altitudes delay the growth cycle allowing the beans to go through a longer maturation process. Thus creating a much fuller, richer and more flavoursome coffee.
Coffee grown at very high altitudes (1,500 metres, or 5,000 feet above sea level) is associated with the most notable flavours: florals, stone fruits, high acidity, and even spiciness.
Only the finest quality and carefully cultivated clean coffees make their way into our roastery. The best quality beans from selective coffee plantations in Chikmagalur are used to extract their goodness to create delicate flavours in each stage of processing.
Cupping
Cupping is the key to examining the quality of coffee, because finally “Coffee is all about the taste and Taste is everything”. Cupping is a technique and systematic evaluation of flavour, aroma, body, aftertaste, and acidity in coffee samples.
The flavour of coffee comes from a combination of soil, micro-climate, altitude, and species of bean. Coffee from different origins has different tastes.
Roasting
Our processing plant is located in Chikmagalur and equipped with the best German Hi-Tech Roasters. Here you see one of our finest Probat Roasters which can roast 240 kilos in a batch!
Our Roasting Methodology: Nature’s not in a hurry. A coffee plant takes 3 years to mature and then yields only a pound of coffee each year. With so much at stake, we use a slow roasting method to coax the best from every bean.
Under the guidance of expert coffee roasters, exceptional coffee beans are roasted to bring optimum aroma, flavour and complexity each year.
Furthermore, a roasting process involves drying, roasting, and cooling. Each of these techniques is handled delicately to bring out a culinary masterpiece.
Granulating
Coffee roasting generates aromatic flavour oils which need to be preserved. In conventional grinders because of heat generated while grinding, these volatile flavour oil gets evaporated thus reducing cup quality.
Panduranga Coffee is equipped with Probat Grinders from Germany which guarantee better aroma retention through a unique chilling process. This grinder delicately cuts coffee to equal sizes rather than crushing it, which leads to better speed and filtration.
Chicory
Panduranga Coffee is the only coffee industry in India roasting and granulating both coffee and chicory in German roasters and grinders.
The Chicory roots are sourced from Jamnagar, Gujrat. The sourced roots are roasted using a Tornado roaster at our Coffee Manufacturing Plant in Chikmagalur. Tumbling over and over the watchful eye of the roastmaster, the roots are transformed by fire and air. At the exact moment of perfection, roots are discharged from the roaster into a cooling zone where they are immediately blasted by rapidly flowing cold air and fixed at their ideal flavour, colour and development.
It is the roots of the chicory plant that are ground and made into a powder to blend and mix with coffee. It is often used as a caffeine-free beverage on its own or as a mixture with ground-roasted coffee because it enhances the taste, and aroma and makes coffee strong.
Coffee & Chicory are mixed and blended to get an accurate blend of coffee.
Packaging
Our secret for sustaining freshness in coffee is in our coffee packaging methodology.
Drinking fresh coffee is the only way of enjoying the beverage. Coffee has a smaller shelf life and its aroma vanishes slowly as days go by, so delivering fresh coffee is essential.
For most of our top blends like “Grand Aroma”, "Made in Chikmagalur", "Mysore Nuggets" and more, an original reclosable zip-pack with aroma freshness one-way value packaging is used to secure the coffee. The one-way valve allows easy opening and closing of the bag protects the coffee’s aroma and can be stored in the original packing itself.
At Panduranga Coffee, we have form, fill and seal machines that use computers directly to monitor the packaging process. The on-sight packaging locks in the fresh rich flavour right at the plant. We also use a semi-automated packaging system to pack our coffee bags.