MELKODIGE ESTATE

Melkodige sits in Chikmagalur's Kudremukh range at 3,800–4,200 feet — a 250-acre estate that's been in the Rodrigues family for three generations since the 1940s. Aveen and Yogitha Rodrigues, both trained horticulturists, run it today with a mix of inherited knowledge and scientific precision.

The estate lies within one of the world's top twenty biodiversity hotspots, home to the rare Shola forests found nowhere else on Earth. It's heavily wooded, home to thousands of plant species alongside roughly 500 bird species and 139 animal species, all growing under a distinctive three-tier shade canopy unique to India. About 75% of the coffee grows on steep 45–50 degree west-facing slopes, where warm daytime sun and cool coastal air at night create sharp temperature swings — slowing sugar development in the cherries and building depth into the cup. With up to 120 inches of rainfall a year and humus-rich soil, conditions here are near-ideal for high-altitude Arabica.

Melkodige also runs its own processing infrastructure, considered a benchmark in the region. Washed lots are pulped in a wet mill, surface-dried under shade on raised trays, then moved to brick patios to finish sun-drying — all on the estate, giving us full traceability from seed to cup.

This is the estate behind our Melkodige – Indian Geisha microlot: Selection 9 Geisha, Kenyan-style washed with sequential anoxic fermentation, giving a cup that's intensely floral - lychee, honey, orange blossom.