International Coffee Day: Excelsa, The Climate-Resilient Brew Poised to Redefine Your Cup

International Coffee Day | If you were asked the question, 'What are the variants of coffee?,' your probable answer would be 'Arabica and Robusta.' But wait, there is more. There are at least 129 coffee varieties in the world, and one variant that is slowly but surely gaining attention is Excelsa Coffee.

Understanding The Variant

My first introduction to Excelsa Coffee was at the sprawling 55-acre Riverside Estate founded in 1898 by Chendanda Karumbayya. Now being managed by the fifth generation, this estate grows and retails Excelsa. Rishwin Devaya, Riverside Estates & Coffee, Coorg, explains, "This is a variant that grows like a tree and was often used along the fence of an estate. At Riverside, we grow, process and roast our own 100 per cent Excelsa and introduce it through the café and tastings at the estate. That gives us an important advantage: a guest does not encounter it simply as an unfamiliar or ‘rare’ coffee. They can see where it grows, understand how it has been processed and then taste what those decisions produce in the cup.” During the late 19th century, coffee growers in South India faced severe problems of coffee leaf rust and climate issues and started looking for alternate species of coffee to cultivate on their farms. It was then that they found the Excelsa species, which was planted more as a windbreaker and to demarcate one coffee farm from another.

The Answer To Climate Change

With the present climate change affecting coffee farmers around the globe, Excelsa has an edge, as it can grow at low altitudes, withstand high temperatures, and withstand low rainfall. “Another very interesting aspect of Excelsa is that this species can grow amidst any plants, as they don't compete for soil nutrition, considering that their roots go down to deep layers of the soil,” explains Asia's first female professional coffee taster, Sunalini Menon, President, Coffeelab Limited, Bengaluru. Nadikeriyanda M Appaiah, the third-generation coffee grower from Kardigod Estate, Coorg, has several Excelsa plants on his estate and vouches for their versatility. “It just takes a few years to establish, but its sustenance and survival are a lot better. It does not need any additional operations; what you do for Robusta is just enough for it.” To interplant wild trees, silver oak was extremely rampant and common in Coorg in the past. “But in the last few years we've realised silver oak is terrible for the environment. There is no benefit from it apart from timber, which takes 25 years to get. The excelsa could be a real alternate option to silver oak, and I think that's a solid point,” adds Appaiah.

The Coffee With An Edge

Apart from varietals of the species, terroir, processing, roasting and brewing play a role in influencing the flavour profile of a species. The Excelsa species has a high sugar content, higher than Arabica or Robusta, and has a lower caffeine content than Arabica and Robusta. “During the processing step of fermentation, the high sugar content breaks down due to yeast and microorganisms in the environment, and the taste profile becomes bright, tart-like and juicy, with fruit notes of berries, jackfruit and light wood nuances, with soft sweetness. In recent years many farmers are looking at innovative processing methods, such as anaerobic fermentation, double fermentation, and carbonic maceration, besides the preparation of washed and honey coffees,” adds Menon. Farmers also carry out yeast inoculation during fermentation, and many companies are manufacturing yeasts that are specific for coffee.

These changes and innovations in processing have resulted in a positive change in the flavour profile of the Excelsa too. Rishabh Sanghvi and Gaurav Sethi, co-founders of Siolim Speciality Coffee Roasters Indore, say, “Excelsa sits apart with an expressive fruit character, rounded body and comparatively lower caffeine. The Mooleh Manay Excelsa used by Siolim has a reported caffeine content of approximately 0.9-0.98 per cent. Its flavour is strongly influenced by the farm, processing and roast. Depending on the expression of the lot, it may show lychee, jackfruit, ripe banana, blackberry, black currant, dark cherry, fig, prune, cola and molasses.” Excelsa also has considerable brewing potential. It works well as a pour-over, French press or espresso, and can retain its fruit character even in milk-based drinks.

Enjoy It, Right?

For someone trying Excelsa for the first time, begin with a light-to-medium roast served black. Pour-over or another manual brew gives the clearest understanding of its fruit, acidity and body. “A flash-chilled pour-over can also work very well on a café menu because it keeps the coffee bright and expressive. Espresso is possible, but it needs to be dialled specifically for that lot rather than treated like a conventional Arabica espresso. Cold brew makes it smoother and easier to approach, although it can soften some of the character that makes Excelsa interesting,” says Devaya. It can be unfamiliar at first, but that distinctiveness is what makes it memorable. Mithilesh Wazalwar, Founder of Corridor Seven Coffee Roasters, Mumbai, adds, “Excelsa can become woody, bitter or overly funky when pushed a little too hard. It can certainly be annoying to work with. Slightly lower temperatures, moderate agitation and avoiding very fine grinds generally help. I would showcase it first as a pour-over, followed by flash brew and a long espresso. Our plan at the café is to highlight it on our manual brew bar.

Looking Ahead

Indian speciality coffee roasters and cafes are experimenting with Excelsa, but it is still a small and emerging movement rather than a mainstream trend. Ashish D'abreo, Q-grader, coffee roaster and co-founder, Maverick & Farmer Coffee, says, “One of the biggest challenges for farmers is the height of the plant. Excelsa trees can grow very tall, making harvesting, pruning and regular maintenance more difficult. They also require more space, while the yield per plant is considerably lower than Arabica or Robusta. It also takes longer to mature. Excelsa can take around nine to eleven months to mature, compared to roughly six to nine months for Arabica. Another unusual characteristic is that Excelsa can produce cherries almost throughout the year. This creates a significant labour challenge, as harvesting would need to happen continuously.”

Speciality roasters are beginning to explore Excelsa because of its unusual flavour profile, limited availability and potential relevance to climate-resilient coffee farming. Excelsa is now being recognised as a species by itself, as Coffea dweverei. And while Excelsa may be an outlier, it has the potential to make a mark in the coffee industry in more ways than one. Watch out for this one; it will change how you drink coffee in the coming years.