Where to keep your coffee at home
Bag, tin, jar or fridge: what air, light, heat and moisture do to roasted coffee, and how to store it well.
Arabica, robusta and chicory: reading a filter coffee blend
What each part of a South Indian filter blend does, and why the percentages on the bag matter.
Most filter coffee sold in Tamil Nadu is a blend, and the label usually gives two numbers, such as 80:20. The first is coffee and the second is chicory. Within the coffee there is often a mix of arabica and robusta too. Each part changes the cup.
Arabica grows at higher altitudes, in Chikmagalur, Baba Budan and parts of the Nilgiris, and gives sweetness, acidity and aroma: notes like chocolate, citrus or jaggery. Robusta grows lower down and in hotter places such as Wayanad and parts of Coorg. It has almost twice the caffeine, a heavier body, more bitterness, and a thick crema in espresso. In filter coffee, a little robusta gives the strong, dark decoction that stands up to milk and sugar.
Chicory is the roasted root of a plant, not coffee at all. It adds body, colour and a slight bitterness, and it makes decoction drip more slowly, which many people like. It contains no caffeine. Blends run from 90:10, light on chicory, to 60:40, which is very thick and dark. Our house filter blend is 80:20, with the coffee part mostly arabica and about 30% robusta.
If you drink filter coffee black or with little milk, try a pure coffee blend with no chicory. If you like it strong, milky and sweet, a 70:30 or 80:20 blend gives the familiar taste. We grind our house blend fresh for brass and steel filters, and we can mix a custom ratio for regulars.
