The best India has to offer by Subko Coffee Roasters

Picture credit: Subko

I’ll be honest. I am having a tough time writing after taking a short break for Ramadan. But not writing about this would probably drive me mad. I had a unique opportunity to get some coffee from India, and it was a no-brainer that I had to order from Subko Specialty Coffee Roasters & Bakehouse.

I was first introduced to Subko in this Sprudge article. They were also nominated for the Best New Cafe Sprudgie Award and awarded second place as honoree. I got to meet Rahul Reddy, co-founder of Subko, at the World of Coffee Dubai earlier this year. Joining him and his team were a distinctive selection of coffee he got along with him from India.

This is coffee from the subcontinent, for all. Daniel Trulson, the other co-founder who heads the Bakehouse, did not attend the event but I wish he did because I wouldn’t have spared his viennoiserie creations which have a unique twist.

You might think I am excited because I am from India, that might partly be true, but I am also excited about every other coffee I buy to brew at home. I tried the Project Sankalp Rare at the World of Coffee Dubai. The notes are unreal, you have rose, papaya and pineapple. Add milk, and it turns into strawberry cream.

Coming back to the point of why I am excited is because of their commitment to sustainability and their drive to source locally available high quality ingredients. Their Arabica is sourced from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, from farms that are committed to preservation of biodiversity and wildlife ecosystem.

Before I start talking about how the coffee tastes, I want to talk about the packaging. Subko doesn’t hide the fact that the roastery is based in India, the design pays homage to the country’s design language.

I got my hands on the Sankalp Reserve and Sankalp Rare, the former scoring an 88 and the latter 90 points. Subko teams up with Waribok_Daribok to bring something wonderful to the table, quite frankly unlike anything I have had from this origin.

Not only is the coffee grown at high elevation, special care is taken while harvesting the cherries, sorting and processing. Passionfruit notes are prevalent in the Reserve as soon as you unroll the bag, this primary note is prominent as you take the first sip, lip smacking from start to finish.

The Sankalp Rare is a completely different story altogether. The flavor notes are so unusual, that I was a bit startled at first. It’s hit you at first, followed by a range of sweet and salty notes, heavier body than the Reserve, you can’t help but savor the experience slowly. Even the inexperienced will know that this is something special.

I’m planning to interview Rahul, and the post will go live on FLTR very soon. Stay tuned. Meanwhile, you can read more about hid journey into the world of specialty coffee and the inception of Subko in the 25th edition of Standart Magazine. It’s a good read.