Mudigere · Chikmagalur · Karnataka
A coffee estatein Chikmagalur,since 1900.
Nandipura & Indravally are two estates on the same ground in Mudigere taluk, farmed by one family for five generations. Coffee grows here at 3,400 feet under indigenous shade — not in cleared rows — alongside pepper, wild honey, lemons and avocados.
The estate, from the road in
The road up
Nandipura sits in Mudigere taluk, Chikmagalur district, an hour or so off the Chikmagalur road and well past the last of the resorts. There is no gate and no front desk.
Under the canopy
Coffee here grows beneath jackfruit, ficus, fig and Malabar plum — indigenous trees that were already standing, thirty to forty of them to the acre. Silver oak, the standard shade tree elsewhere, is scarce on this estate.
The blocks, at 3,400 feet
Two estates, Nandipura and Indravally, farmed by the same family since 1900. Arabica and Robusta ripen slowly at this altitude, which is what makes hand-picking worth the labour.
Eight ponds
1991-92 gave the estate one of the lowest crops it had picked, and settled the question of irrigation. From 1996 the money went into water. There are now eight ponds on the estate, feeding sprinklers rather than drip — gaur and elephants ended the drip experiment.
The drying yard
Cherry is pulped the day it is picked, washed slowly, and sun-dried on the estate. Nothing waits overnight, so nothing ferments before we decide it should.
What else lives here
Pepper climbs the same shade trees. Bees are kept for pollination first and honey second. Lemons and avocados grow under the same canopy, and the estate is unfenced to wildlife.
What leaves
Green coffee, not roasted — Arabica micro-lots, Robusta parchment and cherry bulk, each lot still tied to the ground it came from. The Robusta parchment already goes to Europe.
What grows here,and how.
The canopy is jackfruit, ficus, fig, malabar plum — trees that were already here. They hold the soil, feed it, absorb the monsoon and keep the temperature down, which is what lets the cherry ripen slowly enough to be worth picking by hand.
Only ripe cherry leaves the tree. Pickers go through the same block several times across a season rather than stripping it once. Cherry is pulped the day it is picked, washed slowly, and sun-dried on the estate. Each lot stays tied to the ground it came from.
The estate is a K.P.A. member and Rainforest Alliance certified, and holds a Certificate of Merit for Robusta Parchment Bulk — the line that already ships to Europe.
Arabica Micro-Lots
Washed · Micro-lot · 3,400 ft
Robusta Parchment
Washed · Bulk · Certificate of Merit
Cherry Bulk
Natural · Bulk · Annual
Cupped blind
86
Both estate coffees scored 86 and placed third and fourth of 15 Indian coffees cupped blind by CoffeeReview.com.
What the tasters actually wrotePeople who came
5.0
Every one of 20 Google reviews of the estate is five stars, as of August 2026 — almost all of them written by people who visited.
Visiting the estateWho farms it
One family,five generations,same ground.
Nandipura and Indravally have never changed hands. The estates have been worked by the Jayaram family since 1900, and are farmed today by:
N.M. Jayaram
Shricharan Jayaram
Enquiries are answered by the estate directly, not by an agent or a trading desk.
Questions
Where is Nandipura Estate?
At Nandipura, in Mudigere taluk, Chikmagalur district, Karnataka 577132, in the Western Ghats. The estate sits at 3,400 feet above mean sea level.
Can you visit the coffee estate?
Yes, by request. There is no gate, no front desk and no charge — visits are arranged directly with the estate rather than booked on a schedule. Visitors are shown the blocks, the drying yard and the shade canopy.
Is there a homestay at Nandipura Estate?
Not yet. A homestay is being planned, but it is not open and nothing can be booked. You can ask to be told when it opens.
What does the estate grow besides coffee?
Black pepper on vines climbing the shade trees, wild honey from bees kept for pollination first, and lemons and avocados grown under the same canopy. There are also cows and dogs on the plantation, and the estate is unfenced to wildlife.
Does the estate grow Arabica or Robusta?
Both, but Nandipura was a complete Arabica zone until the 1980s. The current owner's father planted one of the first Robusta blocks in the area after two low Arabica crops. Robusta plantings on the estate today range from two years old to thirty-five and forty years old.
How is the coffee irrigated?
By sprinkler, fed from eight ponds built on the estate from 1996 onwards. Spot-jet drip was tried on one block and abandoned, because gaur and elephants damaged the lines — the estate is unfenced to wildlife, and the irrigation had to be built around that.
How much coffee can the estate pulp in a day?
Twenty-five tonnes of cherry a day — 25,000 kilos — at six to seven tonnes an hour. The line was sized ahead of the current crop deliberately, so that nothing sits waiting on a heavy picking day.
Does Nandipura sell roasted coffee?
No. Nandipura is a producer rather than a roaster, and sells green coffee to roasters, importers and traders. Robusta parchment from the estate already goes to Europe.
Is the estate certified?
Yes. It holds Rainforest Alliance certification under the Sustainable Agriculture Standard 2020 v1.2 and AtSource+, through a group certificate held by Olam Food Ingredients India — Coffee Planters Association. It is also a Karnataka Planters' Association member estate.