Kochi :

Some of the coffee tasted bland, others were a bit over-the-board bitter. The 33-year-old Arshiya Bose, social entrepreneur and owner of Black Baza Coffee who was in Kochi recently to hold a coffee-tasting session, says that there is no short cut to making a good cuppa of coffee.

So, Arshiya takes her students on a trip on the perfect ways of making coffee. At the end of the session, she introduces them to the Black Baza Coffee, which is warm and has the lure of a refreshing evening drink. What’s unique with this coffee is not only the way it is processed, but that the beans are grown in the most fertile of soils in India – right next to the Kodagu and B R Hills in Karnataka, where the river Cauvery flows in all its glory.

Karnataka-based Arshiya Bose is currently on a mission to promote this coffee, which is grown under large tree canopies, right next to the river beds. According to her, Indians have forgotten the taste of original and eco-friendly coffee, and has hence taken it upon herself to bring back the lost glory.

“Indians drank one of the most unique coffees in the world. In the past, the coffee beans, especially in Karnataka, were grown under forest covers and under shades of trees.

However, constant deforestisation forced our farmers to grow coffee directly under the sunlight,” she said. According to her, this method was detrimental to the environment (as it encouraged deforestisation), and also led to early maturation of the coffee beans, which supposedly also lead to a compromise in quality and taste.

For this, Arshiya got in touch with farmers who were growing coffee beans in Karnataka.

“ This is how we zoomed in on Kodagu and B R Hills. We said we would buy their produce and sell it across the country, if they were willing to heed to the eco-friendly norms. They agreed. So, they started growing coffee under available trees and were given the responsibiltiy to look after it too,” says Arshiya.

Right now, Arshiya’s Black Baza Coffee, named after the small bird of prey found in heavenly dense forests of South and South East Asia, is sold across the country. In Kochi, it is available at Pepper House Cafe.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Kochi / by Princy Alexander / Express News Service / February 05th, 2017