Attikan Estate is situated in the Biligiri Rangan Hills of Karnataka, where one of India’s best Arabica coffees is grown. The Biligiri Rangan Hills are also called “white hills”, as they are covered with mist almost throughout the year. The estate is 120 years old and was founded by a Scottish man, Randolf Morris who is believed to have ridden on horseback from Coonoor in the Nilgiri Mountains to Biligiri Rangan Hills in 1888. The Scottish founder ended up in India when at the age of 18 he ran away from home and worked on a ship that sailed to the country. Shade cultivation is a widely used cultivation method in India. It protects plants from excessive sun and heavy rainfall. It also significantly influences the taste, because the longer the ripening period, the richer in natural sugars the beans are. In addition, animals such as elephants, tigers, leopards, deer and black bears can be seen on the property as they coexist with rich and wild fauna.
The owner of the estate, Ms. Hamsini Appadurai, is an extremely passionate coffee professional. She personally manages all harvesting and processing operations to ensure the quality of the coffee they offer is always improving. She also takes personal interest in social welfare initiatives at the estate, wherein employees are provided with free homes and medical care. Children of employees are provided with free education and the estate also started a crèche for all employees on the plantation.
The coffee is intercropped among diverse plants such as areca, coconut, pepper, and cardamom, and is nourished by an abundance of natural spring water. The coffee from the estate is known for its sweet, fruity but smooth flavour with delicate overtones of butterscotch and vanilla . In this estate the wild fig trees play an important role in influencing the flavour of the coffee.
