Another special coffee from father and son duo, Ajoy and Pranoy Thipaiah and their plantation and Eco-resort Kerehaklu in the Western Ghats. We connected with Pranoy in early 2023 through a mutual friend Lucia Solis. He then visited the UK for the London Coffee Festival and came down to Exeter and we held a public cupping of some of his Arabicas and a Robusta. They were all a step up from any Indian coffees we'd tasted before and at that moment we hoped one day we would be able to represent some of his coffees here in the UK. His family estate, Kerehaklu, has been growing coffee for decades and his father, Ajoy, is still in charge of the farm, but in 2020 Pranoy took over the post-harvest processing and started experimenting and using recent advancements in fermentation techniques using his science background.
On meeting Pranoy there's an energy and passion that fills the room, a reflection of his strong connection to the earth and the importance placed on the natural surroundings and biodiversity he was raised in. Coffee is clearly important and he's driven to put Indian specialty coffee firmly on the map as a key player.
Pranoy's approach is to use the native biodiversity evident at Kerehaklu to create fermentation starter cultures and mostos to influence the the final cup characteristics. In the case of this Anoxic JJ lot, Pranoy created a starter culture using leaves from coffee trees on the farm and added this to the fermentation tank along with the cherries in an anoxic environment for 81hrs. Then pulping and drying on the african beds.
Kerehaklu is located in dense jungle, teeming with biodiversity. Tall coffea liberica and coffea excelsa trees tower amongst the hedgerows, while bison and elephants are regular visitors. Ajoy uses his 35+ years of experience and an encyclopaedic knowledge of agronomy to manage the coffee trees in a sustainable yet adaptive way that works in harmony with the local wildlife. Since taking over management of the processing five seasons ago, Pranoy has put his background in biology to good use by introducing carefully managed and meticulously controlled experiments to help push the boundaries and produce coffees that highlight his father’s work and the farm’s growing conditions - but have an added layer of complexity that traditionally processed Indian coffees simply can’t match. We visited this incredibly place back in 2025 and for a full trip report just click here.
