B.R. Hills Arabica, Washed
B.R. Hills Arabica, Washed is a Chandragiri varietal grown at 1,100 metres in the moist deciduous forests of B.R. Hills, Karnataka, where coffee is cultivated under native forest canopy within one of South India’s most biodiverse growing regions. Hand-pulped and washed to keep each bean intact, this medium roast lot delivers a clean, balanced cup with notes of dark chocolate and brown sugar.
This coffee is sourced through our partnership with Black Baza Coffee, a direct trade company working with smallholder growers across the Western Ghats and Nilgiris. India Coffee Company brings this B.R. Hills lot to North American specialty roasters.
Origin
B.R .Hills, Chamarajanagar, Karnataka
Process
Washed
Variety
Arabica (Chandragiri)
Elevation
1,000 - 1,200 MASL
Cup Profile
Dark Chocolate, Brown Sugar
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Flavor Journey
Medium roast is how this lot is roasted, chosen to balance the Chandragiri varietal’s natural sweetness against a clean, structured acidity. At this roast level, the dark chocolate and brown sugar notes develop fully without tipping into bitterness, while the washed process keeps the cup bright rather than heavy. Hand-pulping produces beans consistent in size and moisture content going into the roaster, giving this lot an even, predictable development curve batch to batch.
Because the cup performs well across both light-medium and medium roast profiles, this lot gives roasters flexibility depending on house style. Pushed slightly lighter, the acidity and brightness come forward more; taken to a fuller medium, the dark chocolate and brown sugar deepen and the body rounds out. Either direction avoids the flat, muted cup that under- or over-roasting a washed Arabica this clean tends to produce.
For brewing, this coffee performs consistently across manual methods. A pour-over at a 1:16 ratio highlights the acidity and clarity; a French press brings out more body and sweetness. Espresso is workable but not this lot’s strongest format, the clean, structured profile comes through best in filter methods.
Why Roasters Choose This Coffee
B.R. Hills, Arabica, Washed comes from Karnataka’s B.R. Hills, grown between 1,000 and 1,200 metres within a landscape that forms part of the wider Western Ghats biodiversity corridor. This washed Arabica of the Chandragiri varietal is hand-pulped to keep each bean intact, producing a clean, bright cup with well balanced acidity.
Roasters value this lot for its reliability and versatility as much as for where it comes from. Dark chocolate and brown sugar notes give it a familiar, approachable profile that performs equally well black or with milk, making it a strong candidate for everyday drinking programs rather than a single-occasion coffee. The medium roast keeps that balance intact, letting the coffee’s natural sweetness come through without tipping into bitterness.
This lot is sourced through a direct trade relationship with named smallholder growers rather than commodity trading channels, keeping the coffee traceable back to a specific farm and grower. Full detail on the current sourcing partner and pricing model is below.
Why Roasters Choose B.R. Hills, Arabica, Washed:
- A clean, structured cup suited to everyday drinking programs
- Grown under native forest canopy in one of India’s most biodiverse coffee regions
- Sourced through a direct relationship with named smallholder growers
- Versatile across brew methods and serving styles
- Fully traceable back to a specific farm and grower
Behind the Cup
Wanderoo is the name Black Baza Coffee Co. gives to this lot in their own catalog, one of several coffees they’ve named after species native to the forests their growers farm alongside. Founded in 2016 by Arshiya Bose, Black Baza Coffee Co is a Bangalore-based direct trade company that works with smallholder producers across four regions of the Western Ghats and Nilgiris: B.R. Hills, Palani Hills, the Nilgiris, and Wayanad.
This lot is grown within the BRT Wildlife Sanctuary, a biodiversity hotspot and home to the Soliga tribe, an indigenous community with centuries of ecological knowledge, where coffee grows under native forest canopy and wildlife moves freely among the plants, undisturbed by the farm itself. The lot is pictured with Kethamma, one of the growers Black Baza works with in B.R. Hills. In 2026, Black Baza paid her 1,000 rupees per kilo, 2.4 times the Fair Trade minimum set by Black Baza’s own pricing structure, which pays on quality and biodiversity practice rather than commodity market rates.
The name Wanderoo comes from an ancient Sinhalese word meaning forest dweller, chosen by Black Baza to honor the Lion-tailed Macaque, an endangered primate endemic to the Western Ghats, with only 3,000 to 3,500 remaining in the wild. Naming each coffee after the species it protects reflects Black Baza’s broader approach to sourcing: connecting a cup to a specific ecosystem rather than a generic origin label.
Black Baza Coffee Co received the SCA 2025 Sustainability Award, recognition of its work across the value chain.
India Coffee Company sources this coffee through our partnership with Black Baza, making this B.R. Hills lot known to Black Baza Coffee Co as Wanderoo, available to North American specialty roasters.
Key facts:
- Sourcing partner: Black Baza Coffee Co, founded 2016, Bangalore
- Grower: Kethamma, Soliga community, B.R. Hills
- Price paid (2026): ₹1,000/kg, 2.4x Fair Trade minimum
- Recognition: SCA 2025 Sustainability Award
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About BR Hills Arabica, Washed Coffee Lot
B.R. Hills sits at the meeting point of the Western and Eastern Ghats, a landscape of moist deciduous forest that supports one of South India’s most biodiverse coffee growing regions. Coffee here grows under native forest cover, sharing the landscape with wildlife rather than displacing it, a growing model that depends on farmers maintaining forest structure rather than clearing it for higher yields. Elevations in this part of B.R. Hills sit between 1,000 and 1,200 metres, cool enough to slow cherry maturation and build the density and structure found in this lot’s cup.
Hand-pulping, the processing method used for this lot, involves removing the cherry’s skin and pulp by hand shortly after harvest, before the parchment coffee is washed and dried on raised beds. This careful handling reduces the risk of damage to individual beans, which supports the clean, consistent cup this washed process is known for. Drying typically takes place over several days, with growers turning the parchment regularly to ensure even moisture loss and prevent mould or uneven fermentation.
The Chandragiri varietal grown here is valued for its balance of yield and cup quality, performing well under the shaded, lower-input conditions typical of B.R. Hills smallholdings. Unlike varietals bred primarily for productivity, Chandragiri tends to hold structured acidity and a clean sweetness through processing, both of which come through in this lot’s cup.
Coffee in B.R. Hills is grown almost entirely as an understorey crop, planted beneath multiple canopy layers of native trees rather than in open sun. This shade structure moderates temperature swings, slows cherry ripening, and adds leaf litter that builds organic matter in the soil over time, all factors that contribute to the density and structure found in this lot’s cup. It also means very little of the land is cleared for coffee growing, keeping B.R. Hills among the more forest-intact coffee growing regions in South India.
Agronomy and growing conditions:
- Forest type: Moist deciduous
- Elevation: 1,000–1,200 MASL
- Region: B.R. Hills, Karnataka
This coffee is part of India Coffee Company's Black Baza Coffee sourcing programme, which also includes:
B.R. Hills Arabica, Honey Process
- Arabica (SLN9)
- Honey Process, Pulp Sun-dried
- 1,000 - 1,200 MASL
- B.R. Hills, Karnataka
- Jaggery, Dried Cherry
Wayanad Robusta, Natural
- Robusta
- Natural, Sun-dried
- 700 - 900 MASL
- Wayanad, Kerala
- Dark Chocolate, Tobacco, Spice
Palani Hills Arabica, Washed
- Arabica (Mixed )
- Washed
- 1,100 - 1,300 MASL
- Palani Hills, Tamil Nadu
- Burnt Caramel, Toasted Nuts, Cocoa
B.R. Hills Arabica, Peaberry, Washed
- Arabica (SLN-9)
- Washed - Peaberry
- 1,000 - 1,200 MASL
- B.R. Hills, Karnataka
- Cherry, Milk Chocolate, Fruits & Nuts
