Ground arabica from the Araku Valley in the Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh, India. Signature is the house coffee — chocolate and spice, rounded and easy to drink every morning.
Why Araku is worth knowing about
The valley sits between 900 and 1,400 metres in the Eastern Ghats, and the coffee is grown by thousands of Adivasi smallholder families working with the Naandi Foundation since 1999. There are no middlemen: the growers own the process and the value stays in the valley. The farming is organic and biodynamic — labour-intensive, but requiring no purchased inputs, which for a smallholder is the difference between a margin and none.
The coffee stands up on its own terms too. Specialty grade begins at 80 points on the 100-point scale; Araku scores above 90, a first for Indian coffee.
Buying it ground — the honest position
Whole beans keep better. Grinding multiplies the surface area exposed to oxygen, so ground coffee loses most of its aroma within days of opening, where beans hold theirs for weeks. If you own a grinder, buy beans.
If you do not, ground coffee is a perfectly reasonable choice — and there are two things that will get you most of the difference back. Buy small quantities, enough for two or three weeks rather than two or three months. And keep it properly sealed, in an airtight container rather than a folded-over bag.
A pre-ground coffee treated well beats a bag of beans ground badly, so there is no need to feel apologetic about it.
Storage
Airtight, cool, dark, and not in the fridge — coffee absorbs food smells readily and condensation does real damage. Ground coffee suffers from both faster than beans do.
Araku Coffee
Araku Coffee
Araku Coffee
Araku Coffee
