Riverside Estate
A five generation coffee estate on the banks of the River Cauvery in Siddapur, Coorg, growing Arabica, Robusta, and Excelsa for more than 125 years.
Riverside takes its name from its location on the river Kaveri (anglicized as Cauvery), one of South India’s most significant rivers, rising in the hills of Kodagu (Coorg) and flowing more than 800 kilometres to the Bay of Bengal. The river’s basin is millions of years old, formed during the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous breakup of Gondwanaland.
Location
Siddapura, Kodagu, Karnataka
Crop
Arabica, Robusta, Excelsa
Farming Model
Riverbank Estate, Integrated Shade Farming
Heritage
Five Generation Family Estate, Founded 1898
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About Riverside Estate
Riverside Estate sits on the banks of the River Cauvery in Siddapura, Kodagu (Coorg), owned by Rishwin Devaya and Chummi Poovaiah. The estate has remained in the same family for five generations since 1898, more than 125 years of continuous cultivation on the same land.
The estate spans 55 acres, growing Arabica, Robusta, and Excelsa (Liberica), a less common species increasingly recognised in specialty coffee for its climate resilience and adaptability. Coffee grows alongside jackfruit, fig, rosewood, mahogany, and red cedar, a mixed planting structure that provides shade and supports biodiversity across the property. Among the estate’s Robusta plantings is old Peridinia, a heritage variety with roots tracing back to Sri Lanka’s Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya, introduced to Indian coffee growing regions during the Coffee Leaf Rust outbreak as an alternative to Arabica. Peridinia remains among the oldest documented Robusta stock still grown in Coorg today.
Riverside processes its coffee entirely on the estate, from pulping through fermenting, drying, resting, and hulling, without the coffee leaving the property at any post-harvest stage.
Key facts:
- Estate: Riverside, Siddapura, Kodagu
- Owners: Rishwin Devaya and Chummi Poovaiah
- Founded: 1898
- Size: 55 acres
- Crops: Arabica, Robusta, and Excelsa, including heritage Peridinia
- Farming history: five generations, more than 125 years
The Story of Riverside Estate
Riverside’s roots go back to 1898, when the estate was first planted on the banks of the Cauvery in Siddapura. Five generations have farmed this land since, through the same broad industry shifts that shaped Coorg’s coffee history, from the plantation era through the Coffee Board’s centralised marketing period and into today’s specialty market.
Part of what makes the estate distinctive is what still grows on it. Beyond coffee, the estate has diversified across generations to include jackfruit, fig, rosewood, mahogany, and red cedar, a mixed planting approach that has shaped the land alongside its coffee. Old Peridinia, planted generations ago, remains part of Riverside’s Robusta plantings today, a living link to a variety introduced to Indian coffee growing during a period of crisis for Arabica, when Coffee Leaf Rust was destroying plantations across South India and growers turned to hardier alternatives from Sri Lanka. Alongside this heritage Robusta, the estate has also planted Excelsa, positioning Riverside among a small group of Indian growers experimenting with this climate resilient species.
India Coffee Company sources green coffee directly from Rishwin Devaya and Chummi Poovaiah at Riverside Estate, making this Cauvery riverside, five generation Coorg producer available to North American specialty roasters.
Interested in sourcing from this estate?
Have questions first? Get in touch
Why Roasters Choose Coffee from Riverside Estate
Riverside offers roasters access to a working farm with genuine agricultural range rather than a single crop operation. Beyond its Arabica and standard Robusta, the estate’s 55 acres support jackfruit, fig, rosewood, mahogany, and red cedar alongside the coffee, a mixed planting structure that reflects generations of diversified farming rather than a recent sustainability initiative. Within this setting, the estate maintains old Peridinia, a heritage Robusta variety most of the industry has moved past in favor of newer commercial selections, and has taken an early position on Excelsa, a species still largely unfamiliar to most specialty buyers but gaining attention for its climate resilience.
This combination of heritage varietals, agricultural diversity, and full post-harvest processing done entirely on site gives roasters a source with real depth, useful for buyers looking to build a diverse, story-rich Indian coffee programme from a single, traceable estate.
Riverside Estate Processing Innovation
Riverside processes coffee entirely on its own land, an approach intended to keep full control over quality from cherry to green bean without the coffee leaving the property between harvest and export. Post-harvest work spans pulping, fermenting, drying, resting, and hulling, each stage handled on site rather than through a separate wet mill or curing works.
Much of this work centers on honey processing, a method that leaves a portion of the fruit’s mucilage on the parchment during drying rather than washing it away entirely. Retained mucilage carries natural sugars into the drying bean, building sweetness and body that a fully washed process would strip out. This full control matters most for varieties like Peridinia, where old growth character and naturally lower yield are traditionally associated with denser, more complex beans than younger commercial Robusta stock, giving the estate the ability to match its processing approach to what each variety on the farm needs.
Coffee from this estate is made available as part of India Coffee Company's Coorg sourcing programme, which also includes:
Coorg Arabica, Natural, Herb Fermented, Sandalkad Estate
- Arabica (Mixed)
- Herb Fermented, Natural
- 1,000 - 1,200 MASL
- Kodagu (Coorg), Karnataka
- Cardamom, Coconut, Passion Fruit, Lavender, Orange, Cinnamon
Coorg Robusta, Washed, Fermented, Sandalkad Estate
- CxR (Canephora x Congensis)
- Washed, Fermented
- 800 - 1,000 MASL
- Kodagu (Coorg), Karnataka
- Dark Chocolate, Warm Spice
Coorg Peridinia Robusta, Red Honey, Riverside Estate
- Old Peridinia (Robusta)
- Anaerobic Red Honey
- 800 - 1,000 MASL
- Kodagu (Coorg), Karnataka
- Stone Fruit, Peach, Dark Chocolate
Coorg Robusta, Washed AA, Pambukal Estate
- Robusta
- Washed
- 700 - 900 MASL
- Kodagu (Coorg), Karnataka
- Cola, Black Pepper, Walnut, Cedar
Coorg Peridinia Robusta, Natural, VPG Estate
- Old Peridinia (Robusta)
- Natural, Sun-dried
- 700 - 900 MASL
- Kodagu (Coorg), Karnataka
- Cocoa, Popcorn, Tobacco, Cedar
