Our principal source

Salawara Estate.

A string of blessings, in the Western Ghats.

Belur, Hassan district, Karnataka. Most of the coffee we pour in Rohru begins here.

Salawara means “a string of blessings.” The estate was established in the late 1880s in the foothills of the Western Ghats, near Sakleshpur, and has been cared for by the same family for three generations.

The coffee grows under shade, intercropped with pepper, areca nut, oranges and silver oak. Five man-made lakes ring the estate and water it through the dry months. Arabica and Robusta are both grown here, with Arabica varieties including Chandragiri and S795.

In 2018, Salawara received a Best Quality Bean award from Ernesto Illy. Since then, the estate has gone further into speciality coffee, working with washed, honey and experimental lots. That range is why we can pour two very different Salawara coffees on the same bar.

Dark roast

Salawara.

Single-estate Arabica

One estate. A distinctive dark roast. Washed S795 Arabica from Salawara Estate, our principal source in Karnataka.

Process.

Washed

Variety.

S795

Light roast

Salawara Red Honey.

Malt. Tangerine. Raisin.

A rounded, sweet cup with dried-fruit depth. Served as a hot or iced pour-over.

Process.

Red honey

Variety.

Chandragiri

Elevation.

1,143 MASL

Does red honey mean added honey? No. Red honey describes a processing method where some of the coffee fruit’s sticky layer remains around the seed as it dries.