Wayanad Robusta
A hill district in Kerala whose coffee is overwhelmingly Robusta, and a window onto the species behind much of India’s output.
Wayanad, in Kerala, is a district where coffee is a major crop. Its own district website says coffee covers 67,426 hectares, about a third of the district’s cropped area and 90 per cent of Kerala’s coffee area, and that Robusta makes up over 95 per cent of the district’s coffee output. It is often shaded and grown together with pepper. Robusta is also the larger part of Indian coffee production as a whole, reported at over 60 per cent in one source.
Accounts of the history differ in their detail. The district website says coffee has been grown in Wayanad for over 250 years, with British plantations introduced in the late eighteenth century, yet the same page describes an experimental plantation near Tellicherry around 1800 and Captain Bevan moving plants to Manantoddy, in Wayanad, in 1825. It reports that by 1869 the district had about 60,000 acres of coffee, half of South India’s roughly 120,000 acres. The historical record is less certain about the earliest years.
The district website describes the cup as soft to neutral and full-bodied, with a hint of chocolate, suited to blending with Arabica and to espresso. “Wayanad Robusta” is among the Indian coffees reported in March 2019 to have been granted a Geographical Indication tag.
- Region
- Wayanad district, Kerala
- Species
- Robusta, over 95% of district output (district website)
- Grown with
- Often shaded, intercropped with pepper
- Designation
- Wayanad Robusta, reported as GI-tagged in 2019
Editor’s Selection is an editorial choice by Sunjae Sharmah. Names and marks belong to their owners; no affiliation with, or endorsement by, the brand is implied.
Added October 2026