India Gundikhan Washed

For the second year running, we’re stoked to roast two coffees from Gundikhan Estate in India! Saif Ulla's natural was the coffee that really convinced us to leap into Indian coffees a few years back, and last year was our first time roasting his washed coffee, too! This year’s Gundikhan washed is sweet, creamy, and delicious!

Coffees from India are still a relative rarity on US specialty roasters' menus, but coffee in India has a storied history, tracing back further than any country besides Ethiopia and Yemen. Indian coffee dates to the late 1600s when, according to legend, a Sufi pilgrim named Baba Budan smuggled coffee seeds from the Arabian Peninsula, planting them in the Western Ghat mountain range.

Despite the long history, we haven't always associated Indian coffees with the qualities we seek out at Huck, and for a long time, we steered clear of coffees from mainland Asia. But producers in India, China, and Myanmar, to name a few countries, have raised the bar on the continent, and thanks to some lovely coffees and persistent ear-bending by our friend David at Osito Coffee, we've had to reconsider those preconceived notions. Insert trite reference...traveling to the far east...opening one's mind...in this case about coffee.

Saif Ulla's farm, Gundikhan Estate, sits in the same mountains where Baba Budan planted India's first coffee seeds centuries ago, and he's equally passionate about preserving the area's biodiversity as he is its coffee heritage. Saif is a founding member of KaadKaapi Collective, a group of environmentally-conscious farmers aiming to preserve habitats and migration corridors for native animal species. Extremely dense shade cover and the occasional downed tree - courtesy roaming elephants and Gaur (Indian Bison) - make for significantly lower productivity and higher costs, offset by pursuing quality and earning higher prices. 

We highly recommend giving both Gundhikans a spin side-by-side. And while the natural is definitely a fruitbomb, Saif’s washed process is a much calmer, approachable affair. Go ahead, add milk if you want. But also, no need. We’re tasting creamy butter cookie and macadamia, plus soft citrus, fig and golden raisin to round out a very comforting cup of coffee.

 *** for roasting schedule, shipping, receiving & additional information, please visit out Frequently Asked Questions . And, for a primer on coffee processing, check out our Processing Basics Guide. *** 

Pictured: Saif Ulla and Gundhikan Estate, courtesy Osito Coffee.

Sourced from the Western Ghat mountain range in India, this lot is produced by Saif Ulla and roasted by Huckleberry Roasters. The coffee undergoes a washed process, a technique often utilized to highlight the inherent clarity and acidity of the bean; you can learn more about how this impacts the cup in our processing methods explainer.

In the cup, this selection presents a distinct profile characterized by notes of creamy butter cookie, macadamia, soft citrus, fig, and golden raisin. While washed coffees are frequently celebrated for their clean, bright profiles, the specific terroir of the Western Ghats contributes to the unique complexity found here. To better understand how these specific descriptors fit into the broader spectrum of coffee tasting, we recommend consulting our flavor wheel. This offering serves as a compelling example of the nuanced, balanced profiles emerging from India’s high-elevation coffee-growing regions.