Indian Coffees

[indiancoffees]

Am curious to find out why there is little or no talk about Indian Coffees in America. India grows wonderful high grown, 100% sustainable coffees and yet there is ZERO notice from roasters.

Is it that the coffees just don't meet the taste-profile that the roasters are looking for? Is it that there isn't much Indian Coffee (except for the Monsooned Malabar and the Mysore Nuggets) in the US market? or is it that Indian Coffees just have not been marketted correctly.

I am currently working for a group of growers who grow high quality indian coffee and finding a market is just damn tough!.

Any advise would be much appreciated.

Than you,
indiancoffees

 

[javahill]

We once had Mysore Nuggest Extra Bold and it was a flop. We didn't sell any.

There are a few classic marketing blunders. The Chevy Nova in Spanish speaking countries ("no va" means "doesn't go"). Mysore Nuggets is not going to take the gold medal, but it is a contender.

My Sore Nuggets conjures up images of a painful condition of the groin following impact with a soccer ball, tae kwon do snap kick or some such thing.

The shiitke mushroom used to be spelled shitake. Perhaps a different phonetic spelling of Mysore will not so much look like 2 English words.

 

[javahill]

If you are looking for some good examples of new countries breaking into US markets, look to the wine market. At one point, few people knew that wine was grown in Chile, Australia or South America to name a few.

It could be a great market research trip to see how wine growers and exporters from those markets broke into the US scene.

One difference with wine, though, is the need of a roaster partner. There might be a roaster with Indian heritage. Roast some coffees, win some awards, get some good reviews by Ken Davids. Start your PR machine.

 

[indiancoffees]

Thank you so much for your prompt reply. Yes I do agree with you that marketing has a lot to do with projecting the coffee in the right light. The unfortunate fact is that Indian Coffees often get equated to Monsooned Malabar (which is definitely an acquired taste) and Mysore Nuggets, when we do grow "normal" coffees like Washed Arabica A and AA and washed Robusta.

I agree with you yet again that you need someone on your side! (so to speak) and let me see how well we can this program up and running so our growers get a good value for their coffee. Please keep advise flowing...always willing to learn something new.

Best Regards.

 

[ElPugDiablo]

Other than Monsooned Malabar, Mysore Nuggets, and Indian robustas, I don't see importers/distributors carry other Indian coffees. For small, maybe even mid size roasters, who get their beans primarily from green bean suppliers, if they see it on the offering list, they won't know to ask for it.

I have Mysore Nuggets Extra Bold in my shop. When I first brewed it as coffee of the day, people made fun of the name all the time, but they love the coffee, and actually request I brew it more often. Sometime I'll brew it as coffee of the day, and I'll make honeybush as tea of the day just for laughs.

 

[indiancoffees]

Dear ElPugDiablo,
Thanks for your input. This is exactly what a lot of small roasters are saying--access to Indian coffee is limited! And sometimes the big brokers carry only the big/famous "brands" like the monsooned and the malabar! Those coffees amount to a miniscule percentage of indian coffees.

That means small grower-importer associations like ours have to do the footwork and bring about the awareness of our coffees which is a challenging and yet enormously rewarding task!

We went the extra mile and contacted our local roasters and offered to let them try our coffees for free!!!! WE OFFERED THEM A 60kg BAG FOR FREE......A few jumped on and took the offer and are liking it but crazy as it may sound, not many were too enthused by that idea ...WHAT WAS SO WRONG ABOUT THE IDEA????

Anyways, if there is anybody who wants to try some coffee for free, play around with and familiarise yourselves with it, contact me and I will be more than happy to send you some.

Any suggestions/advise always welcome

Best Regards

 

[GCS]

If you are giving away free coffee, set it up so that you can give away sample sizes to online customers. Ship the samples to a big online coffee manufacturer (search gourmet coffee on Google for a big one), then have the company send the 2oz sample (or however big) with all of their orders.

The company wins since their customers get something extra with little extra work and they will probably add your product to their page (advertising it as one of their new hot prodcts) You win because of the extra exposure is directly to the customers that you want to hit, coffee fanatics that will tell their friends.

My suggestion is try CoffeeAM.com

 

[indiancoffees]

Dear GCS,
will definitely contact them and see what comes of that.
Many thanks for the suggestion..

Best Regards

 

[Chris Kay]

Indian coffee has to be the most underated coffee going around.
Some sensational coffees .
I really dont know why they dont get the credit they deserve maybe because people associate India with tea??

Anyway.... ive always used them and think theyre marvelous .
Espresso. breakfast blends..
Monsoons are just amazing to use in espresso blends.
Tiger Plantation and Mysore are particular favourites.

 

[indiancoffees]

Dear Chris Kay,
YIPEEEEEEE I am so glad that you were all praises for Indian Coffee..It gives me hope that marketting this coffee is not impossible.
Our growers have been saying just that---that our coffees are underrated!!!

Indian Coffees are quite well known in Europe mainly because they use espresso and also because they are not that averse to the use of Robustas. As you know, Indian Robustas are damn good---high grown, shade grown, hand picked and so on and so forth. The Italians and Belgians pick up most of our TOP grade Robusta and use it in their espresso's @ 20-30%. The Monsooned does not appeal to them as much. I've heard that Monsooned is like Scotch ---you either love it or hate it...

Have you tried any of the Indian Robusta AA? You should! and now you know where to get some!

Best Regards,

 

[Chris Kay]

Believe it or not ive actually never used a robusta.
Im looking into them now...

I know that Indian robusta is 'high grade robusta' and the rubbery taste is not as pronounced.

Monsooned coffees are a bit weird for alot of people. Theyre abit different so theyre hard for some peopleto get their heads around them.

Id be comparing them to aged Indonesians to the unitiated.
They are very thick and syrupy and very low in acidity.. they taste kind of musty/funky... but at around 20% theyre not offensive but they do enhance an espresso acting as a thickening agent and adds crema.

If you roast heavy / dark you might want to roast the Malabar seperately because it doesnt take too kindly to a heavy roast. It has little density and therefore prefers the lighter to medium roasts.

Mysore is a sensational coffee. Very spicy and the same grain as the Yemen. It helps gives an espresso the much sought after red crema .
Beautiful as a stand alone too.