India is not often thought of as a coffee producing nation mostly because of poor advertising. But in truth some of the world’s finest gourmet coffees are produced here.

If you know anything about coffee then you have probably guessed that the coffee plant is not native to India. And how it came to be there is one of my favorite stories. You see there was this holy man named Baba Budan…

The year was 1670 and Mecca was experiencing the usual flood of pilgrims for its annual Ramadan celebrations. Muslims traveled from all parts of the world to worship at the very heart of their faith. Among the throng was a man from the Mysore region of India. (For those not familiar with Mysore it is now called the Karnataka region, located near the southern tip of the country.) The very pinnacle of a Muslim’s life is to visit and worship at Mecca. So our man, one Baba Budan, scrimped and saved until he could afford passage to Yemen and then travel by foot to the holy land.

Having completed his pilgrimage Baba traveled back the way he had come. He spent several days in Yemen awaiting the ship that would return him to India. It was here that he made a great discovery. For the first time in his life Baba Budan was served coffee. You see the Arabians had been roasting and brewing coffee for nearly six-hundred years. Suffice it to say, they were pretty good at it, in fact it had been the peninsula’s most favored drink since the early 13^th century. Our man Baba was enchanted. But most of all he was determined. He had to bring this wonderful brew back to his home in India.

However he ran into a few difficulties. You see the Yemen people knew what they had, which was what we would call a ‘cornered’ market. The exporting of coffee beans was a big business back in those days and they wanted to keep their secrets. To do this they lightly roasted or par-boiled the exported beans so that they would be infertile. Believe me many a man had tried to smuggle ‘fertile’ coffee beans and even coffee plants out of the country, but in the 1670 Baba Budan succeeded by placing seven beans in the sash of his robe and boarding a ship for home.

It is not recorded as to how Baba got the beans or even if he knew whether or not they were fertile. But history tells us that he took the beans and planted them on a hillside by his home, and discovered that they were indeed fertile. The oldest coffee plants in India still reside on the hills named Budan after the holy man turned smuggler.

Today coffee is a major agricultural export product of the Karnataka region. And the industry is expanding. Many old and new plantation owners are taking advantage of India’s 11^th Five Year Plan. Local universities now offer courses on coffee growing and production (something unheard of ten years ago). But the sudden boom is not all related to India’s economic plan. The coffee itself gets most of the credit.

There are two different types of coffee most often shipped from the Karnataka region. The most well known is Mysore or sometimes Mysore AA. These beans are similar to their Sumatran cousins in their appearance, possessing the same odd blue-green hue. These exotic Arabica beans have a full body and brew up thick and velvety. It is worth looking for the AA rating which means that the beans are hand picked and sorted according to size. A more consistent bean size equals a more even roast, which yields a smoother cup. And the best part about Mysore AA? It is probably one of the most reasonably priced of the gourmet styled coffees.

So grab a cup today and raise it high in salute of Baba Budan, your taste buds will thank you.

Coming soon: Monsoon Washed Malabar.

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