Unakki Coffee Collective, Chikmagalur
The Unakki Coffee Collective is is the first coffee collective we have ever worked with, in fact coffee collectives aren't a very common thing in India. Rakhee and Kathyayini started this in the midst of the Covid 19 lockdown, switching from their previous professions of architecture and software. Unakki means "a den of snakes" which has been a part of the of the Joldal and Palya region for centuries and is worshipped by the locals there.Â
They both fell in love with speciality coffee, and when they researched how coffee was being grown in their regions they discovered huge gaps in the way the local planters were processing coffees which they felt they could help bridge. Over the last two years, they have worked with a bunch small holder farms and assisted them in picking, pulping and further processing of their coffees.
We tried their coffees first in 2021 and we really liked some of the lots they had done, but with the 2022 harvest they kicked things up a notch or two, teaming up with our friend Binny Varghese, and we along with many other roasters who tasted their samples were pretty blown away with what they had done.
Despite all the acclaims, the Unakki Coffee Collective is very young (just like us) and we really can't wait for the coffees coming our way from them over the next few harvests! More power to you girls!
Ms Rakhi and Kathyayini