Ratnagiri Estate

Catuai is a hybrid between Mundo Novo and Caturra developed in Brazil. It inherits Caturra’s compact growth and Mundo Novo’s hardiness, resulting in a high-yield, manageable plant. Flavor-wise, it is clean and balanced, though not as distinctive as Typica or Bourbon. It’s a workhorse varietal widely grown in Brazil and Latin America.

Cauvery (also known as Catimor selection in India) is a high-yielding, rust-tolerant Indian selection developed by the Central Coffee Research Institute from a Caturra x Hybrido de Timor cross. Compact and productive, it is widely planted on shade-grown estates in Karnataka.

SLN 9 (Selection 9) is an Indian Arabica selection from the Central Coffee Research Institute, bred from a Tafarikela x Hybrido de Timor cross. It combines leaf-rust resistance with good cup quality and is grown across the Western Ghats.

The natural process involves drying whole coffee cherries under the sun, allowing the beans to absorb flavors from the fruit as they dry. This results in a coffee with a heavy body, fruity sweetness, and complex flavors. It’s commonly practiced in Ethiopia and Brazil, where the climate is conducive to sun-drying.

The ROEST P3000 is a compact powerhouse that redefines what’s possible in small-batch production roasting. With the ability to roast 1–3 kg batches in under 7 minutes and crank out over 25 kg per hour, it delivers serious output without demanding a full-time operator. Automation handles everything from preheating to cooldown, with between-batch protocols ensuring consistent conditions roast after roast. Its slim footprint and lightweight build make it perfect for roasteries where space is tight but precision and efficiency are non-negotiable.

What truly sets the P3000 apart is its unmatched control and data richness. It features more than 18 sensors—bean, exhaust, drum, humidity, pressure, and even a first-crack microphone—paired with PID-controlled airflow, drum speed, and temperature. A built-in bean camera offers live visual feedback, eliminating the need for a trier and paving the way for future AI enhancements. Whether you’re dialing in new coffees or replicating profiles at scale, the P3000 brings the lab-level accuracy of the ROEST sample roaster into full production—effortlessly and repeatably.

India | Ratnagiri Estate | Ashok Patre | Catuai, Cauvery & SLN 9 Natural - When is peak flavour?

Ratnagiri Estate was founded in 1927 by Patre K. Shivappaiya and harvested its first crop in 1934. Third-generation owner Ashok Patre took over in 1989 and turned the farm into one of India's leading specialty estates, introducing five to six rounds of selective picking, intensive sorting and an on-site processing lab that now runs more than a dozen distinct fermentation and drying protocols.

The estate is Rainforest Alliance certified and farmed with an ecology-first approach: a three-tier shade canopy of silver oak, intercropped pepper, biological pest control and an eco-pulper that cuts water use dramatically. 'Ratnagiri' means 'Pearl Mountains' - a nod to the silver hue the oaks give the hillsides.

The estate sits in the Bababudangiri hills of Chikmagalur, Karnataka - the birthplace of Indian coffee - in the Western Ghats at roughly 1,200-1,500 metres, bordering a tiger reserve with remarkable biodiversity. Cool nights, heavy monsoon rains and deep forest soils give slow cherry maturation and dense, sweet beans.

For this natural microlot, ripe cherries are dried whole on raised beds in ventilated greenhouses, letting the fruit's sugars soak into the seed. Cofi-Com cupped it at 86 - the highest score in this shipment - with bittersweet chocolate, blueberry, plum, prune, dates and grapefruit.

Ratnagiri is planted mainly to Catuai along with Indian-bred selections such as Cauvery and SLN 9. These compact, high-yielding varieties suit the estate's dense shade-grown system, and in careful natural processing they deliver jammy dark fruit over a chocolate base - which is exactly what we taste here. We roast it for filter to keep the blueberry front and centre.