UMAMI

Part of our Future category, Umami balances savoury marmite depth with candyfloss-like sweetness, a medium-high body, and a rounded finish.

It stands out not only for how it tastes today, but for what it represents for the future of coffee. Its unique profile earned it a place on the competition stage at the 2025 UK Barista Championship Finals.

Carefully grown at an altitude of 1000m and naturally processed with an 84-hour yeast-inoculated fermentation, it showcases Excelsa’s expressive fruit character while remaining balanced and approachable. With its naturally low caffeine content and climate resilience, this coffee reflects the kind of thoughtful experimentation and long-term thinking we’re excited to support.

Built for curious brewers, it shines in both filter and espresso, where its clarity and fruit expression really stand out. This is a coffee for those looking to step beyond the familiar, while still enjoying a cup that feels intentional, considered, and well structured.

Producer

This coffee was produced at Mooleh Manay Estate in collaboration with South India Coffee Company and SICC Labs - leaders in traceable, future-focused Indian coffees - Umami reflects a shared commitment to research, sustainability, and quality. If you’re ready to explore a rare coffee species with expressive flavour and a story grounded in innovation, this one is well worth your attention.

Mooleh Manay is located near the backwaters of the Harangi Reservoir in Nakoor Village, Coorg, Karnataka, and is managed by Komal and Akshay Dashrath. The farm was taken over from fourth-generation coffee planter Ms. G.G. Padmashree, and continues a long tradition of coffee cultivation in the region, now guided by a data-driven and quality-focused approach.

The estate spans 75 acres at an altitude of 1000m., with clayey loam soils and an annual rainfall of approximately 65 inches, creating ideal conditions for coffee production. Mooleh Manay cultivates multiple coffee species, including Arabica, Robusta, and Excelsa, placing particular emphasis on meticulous harvesting and processing to express each coffee’s full potential.

This coffee was sourced through the South India Coffee Company, a specialty green coffee trade house working with over 30 producers across India and prioritising transparency and traceability. In collaboration with SICC Labs, the company is actively researching low-intervention and climate-resilient coffee species like Excelsa, helping to document, refine, and share coffees that may play a crucial role in the future of coffee production.

About Excelsa

Excelsa offers a rare combination of distinctive flavour, naturally low caffeine, and climate resilience. As a species, it holds real potential in a changing climate, making it an important focus for future-facing coffee research and production.

Traditionally, Excelsa trees were planted along the borders of Indian coffee farms, serving as natural boundaries and an additional source of income. Over time, many farms removed Excelsa due to the challenges of harvesting tall trees and its susceptibility to berry borer when fruit was left unpicked.

At South India Coffee Company, Excelsa is viewed differently. While global attention has long centred on Arabica and Robusta, Excelsa - one of more than 130 Coffea species - offers a distinct opportunity to explore new flavour profiles. The beans are smaller and rounder than more common varieties and are often grouped locally with Liberica under the name “Mara Kaapi” or “Tree Coffee,” though the two are genetically and sensorially distinct.

Excelsa has long been recognised locally for its vibrant fruit character, retaining clarity and sweetness even in washed preparations and milk-based drinks.

One defining feature of Excelsa is its harvest method: the trees grow tall, requiring farmers to climb ladders to selectively pick ripe fruit. With limited global research available on Excelsa and Liberica, continued documentation is essential. South India Coffee Company and SICC Labs are actively engaged in this work to better understand Excelsa’s role in the future of coffee.