Daara Supernaturals

Maharashtra, quietly

Maharashtra rarely figures in conversations about Indian specialty coffee. The canopy has historically belonged to the Western Ghats, with Koraput and Araku more recently filling out the eastern frame. Chikhaldara sits outside that map: a small coffee belt in the Satpura Range above Amravati, where the Korku community has farmed these slopes for generations. Crackmore Estate is at 1,110 metres in the Melghat highlands.

A genetic detour

The bag credits Cauvery and SLN 12, both recognisable Indian arabicas. But cuppers and growers close to this lot have noted something else in the profile: a lean toward Bourbon Pointu, the small-cherried laurina arabica that Réunion Island first gave the world. Whether by genetic kinship or by terroir nudging the cup that way, Daara seems to be quietly evolving on its own terms in this less-mapped corner of central India.

As informed by Samihan from Fluent Coffee Roasters.