Odissi Coffe

Nestled in the rolling hills of the Eastern Ghats at 900–1000 metres above sea level, Odisii Coffee is a pioneering venture bringing Odisha's rare and distinctive coffee onto the world's specialty stage. Founded in 2023 by Partha Sarathi Behura and Santosh Sabbana, the company draws its name from the classical Odissi dance form - a nod to grace, tradition, and cultural pride. The region's fertile red soil, balanced rainfall, and natural forest canopy allow the beans to mature slowly, yielding a smooth, medium-bodied cup with tropical fruit notes and a gentle earthiness that is entirely unlike coffees from more established Indian regions.

The Koraput district of Odisha, where these beans are grown, sits at a fascinating crossroads of indigenous culture and ecological richness. The landscape is dominated by sal forests, bamboo groves, and terraced slopes where tribal communities have farmed for generations using knowledge passed down without ever being written down. Coffee arrived in these hills relatively recently compared to Karnataka or Tamil Nadu, but the conditions - the altitude, the soil composition, the clean mountain air - proved immediately hospitable. It is this untouched quality that gives Odisii coffee its character: something wild, unhurried, and completely its own.

First-generation tribal farmers cultivate the plants using chemical-free, traditional methods under the guidance of the consulting firm BerryCo, which oversees sustainable agricultural practices across the network. No synthetic pesticides, no artificial fertilisers - just the land, the farmers, and the cherries ripening at their own pace. Handpicking is done selectively, with only fully ripe red cherries harvested in each round, ensuring a clean, even fermentation and consistent cup quality. The processing happens close to the farms, maintaining freshness and the integrity of the terroir through every step.

What Odisii Coffee represents is something greater than a single estate - it is the opening chapter of an entirely new Indian coffee origin. The founders envision a future in which Koraput coffee commands the same respect as Yirgacheffe or Huila, where international roasters seek out Odisha the way they seek out Ethiopia or Colombia. For El Bueno, partnering with Odisii is both a privilege and a statement: that great coffee can come from anywhere, and that the most exciting discoveries in the world of specialty coffee are still yet to be made.