Mr. Ashok has at times been referred to as a ‘processing wizard.’ Put another way, Mr. Ashok has been passionately developing processing techniques and controlled fermentation infrastructure at Ratnagiri that are unlike those seen almost anywhere in the coffee producing world. His goal, like other progressive producers we’ve met in India, is to use processing to push the bounds of what India’s unique plant genetics and terroir can bring to the cup. In his own words, Mr. Ashok considers Ratnagiri to be a place where “Science Meets Specialty."
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The three honey processed lots we recently released as part of our Education Lot menu, each stand as an excellent example of the impact of Mr. Ashok Patre’s peerless approach. In fact, to simply call these lot’s honey-processed, would not do justice to his level of investment and painstaking attention to detail. Mr. Ashok refers to processing for this lot as a ‘hybrid’ approach, where whole cherries first undergo a temperature controlled fermentation before being pulped and dried with their remaining mucilage in a dark room dehydrator.
The single variety featured in this lot, known as ‘selection 9,’ is a cross between an ethiopian landrace variety called tafarikela and the rust resistant timor hybrid variety, and is one of a handful of different numbered hybrids known as ‘selections’ that are ubiquitous throughout coffee production in India. In 2002, selection 9 entries into the ‘Flavour of India Cupping Competition’, held by the Coffee Board of India took top honors, and the variety has remained popular among arabica producers in India since.
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