Let us introduce you to the Pearl Mountain
Have you tried our Ratnagiri Estate coffee yet? Each cup of this award-winning coffee is delicate, with a slightly nutty, toffee flavour that is well-balanced with green apple, raspberry and milk chocolate. This coffee has a medium-high body and acidity that comes across perfectly smooth and mellow. There’s a first time for everything, so if you haven’t tried this coffee before, now is the time while we tell you about the farm that this coffee comes from!
This coffee is from the Ratnagiri estate, meaning “Pearl Mountain” when translated, in India. The name comes from the dense silver oak which towers over the 285 acre estate and provides a natural shade canopy for the coffee. Ratnagiri has been in operation under the Patre Family since 1920. The operations have been passed down from grandfather, to father, to son. Although Ashok has continued with the traditional farming practices, he has also spent many years travelling to origin countries visiting other well-known coffee farms, learning from their best practices and incorporating some of them into Ratnagiri Estate!
Ratnagiri Estate is an organic, biodynamic farm that upholds its Rainforest Alliance Certification. The estate is a lush environment with plenty of shaded areas. It’s home to a number of bird populations, monkeys, leopards, wild boar, tigers, mongoose, and sometimes even elephants! The rich biodiversity of Ratnagiri Estate means that Ashok and his family must have an approach to coffee farming that focuses on the environment.
At Velo, we have a special relationship with Ratnagiri Estate. Ratnagiri Estate has been with Velo from the start! With the demand for sustainable coffee, Velo Coffee Roasters owner, Rob, wanted to source the perfect green beans! So, Rob found and built a close-knit partnership with the Patre family at Ratnagiri Estate. The partnership is stronger than ever as Velo now has four different coffees from Ratnagiri Estate, three of which are micro-lot coffees (you can read more about micro-lots here!)
Ratnagiri Estate is truly one of the leading coffee farms in India, and a great example of Olam and the coffee farmer working together in excellence.