Because India's climate is highly hospitable to coffee plant diseases, it has a long history of investment in coffee plant research and plant breeding initiatives, making it home to a variety of hybrid cultivars, such as the Obata cultivar featured in this lot. In complement, producers in India, like Pranoy Thipaiah of Kerehaklu Estate, are quickly becoming recognized for their efforts to use highly intentional processing methods to push quality beyond the bounds inherent to India's distinct climate and plant genetics.
The history of the Obata hybrid variety begins in Brazil, where it was selected by the Agricultural Institute of Campinas (IAC) in São Paulo in the early 2000s from crosses made between two distinct varieties: Villa Sarchi and another hybrid known as Timor Hybrid. On its own, the Villa Sarchi variety exhibits a notably small or 'dwarf' like plant stature due to a single gene mutation from its original parent variety, Bourbon, while Timor Hybrid appeared as a spontaneous cross between two distinct species, Arabica and Robusta, on the island of East Timor in the 1920's. Combining these two sets of plant genetics created a compact and rust-resistant plant whose qualities were desirable enough to be selected and spread to many corners of the coffee-growing world. Obata is one of a number of hybrids belonging to what is sometimes referred to as the 'Sarchimor' category, reflective of a variety of cultivars that gain specific phenotypic advantages from the crossing of Villa Sarchi and Timor Hybrid genetics. The intentional hybridization of these two plants is an excellent example of how plant breeders attempt to gain advantageous qualities from distinct varieties (and in some cases distinct species) to address challenges that farmers face related to yield, pests, coffee plant diseases, and more.
As is true of most of the coffees produced at Kerehaklu, this lot was processed with a highly intentional and idiosyncratic approach designed to elevate overall quality and flavor in the cup. This 'semi-washed' process begins by allowing ripe harvested cherries to ferment in whole cherry overnight before pulping. Once pulped, the seeds are left to ferment a second time, this time submerged in a special starter culture selected to supplement the fermentation process. Finally, the lot is carefully hand-washed to remove any remaining mucilage and impurities before drying.
In comparison to other low-elevation Sarchimor lots we've tasted before, we find an exceptional level of sweetness, flavor nuance, and clarity in this Kerehaklu lot that implies notable benefits attributable to Pranoy's stalwart investment in careful cherry selection and innovative processing. With 2025 marking the beginning of our Bhadra Foundational Partnership in India, we are hopeful that there will be many more opportunities in the years to come to taste the results of the inspirational and pioneering work being pursued by Pranoy and his peers in Chikmagalur.
