i couldn’t, for the life of me, imagine why the tiny district of coorg in southern india has been likened to the scotland of india. i saw no men wearing kilts; didn’t hear the haunting echo of a lonely piper against a backdrop of craggy countryside pebbled by the stones of ancient castles; nor was i regaled with myths about monsters of the loch.
most significantly, i saw no evidence of the peaty soils that yield a fine a single malt***.
thru the ages, men have embarked on a futile search for an elixir of life. women, being more practical and less delusionary, haven’t wasted their time. but since my gender necessarily requires me to be off in pursuit of such, let me assert that a fine a single malt will always complement water and coffee on my elixir list.
just over 4,000 square kilometers, the district of coorg is only seven times the size of singapore. it finds tranquility in the lush western ghats of the southwest indian state of karnataka, kissing its better known neighbor, kerala.
the rich soils, watered by the river cauvery and its veins, together with the shade of the offspring of ancient forests combine to produce one of the finest mild coffees, the world’s most traded commodity after oil.
coorg also produces exceptional pepper, cardamom and honey. here, where men are known for their martial bent and the women for their independence and beauty, success and achievement blend with a fair share of just getting by, off the generosity of the land. it is a place of magic.
being in a great coffee growing region does not alone make good coffee grow. foreplay impacts the final climax. a good planter must know the land and manage the interventions of the elements like you know your lover and his/her needs. great coffee is as much about the people who farm, manage and curate it, as it is about the complex processes of a growing cycle. it is a veritable labor of love.
i will continue my life-journey: opening with a 16 year-old lagavulin single malt; augment my entrée with a pure mineral water sourced from a spring titillated by thermal vapors; and drown in a coorg coffee, which like a woman, must be dark, hot, strong and steamy.
in age of instant gratification, there still is no such thing as instant coffee.
*** i did not tarry a moment to look closer. and there are indeed similarities between scotland and coorg: this wee piece will illustrate more.
coorg also produces exceptional pepper, cardamom and honey. here, where men are known for their martial bent and the women for their independence and beauty, success and achievement blend with a fair share of just getting by, off the generosity of the land. it is a place of magic.
being in a great coffee growing region does not alone make good coffee grow. foreplay impacts the final climax. a good planter must know the land and manage the interventions of the elements like you know your lover and his/her needs. great coffee is as much about the people who farm, manage and curate it, as it is about the complex processes of a growing cycle. it is a veritable labor of love.
i will continue my life-journey: opening with a 16 year-old lagavulin single malt; augment my entrée with a pure mineral water sourced from a spring titillated by thermal vapors; and drown in a coorg coffee, which like a woman, must be dark, hot, strong and steamy.
in age of instant gratification, there still is no such thing as instant coffee.
*** i did not tarry a moment to look closer. and there are indeed similarities between scotland and coorg: this wee piece will illustrate more.
photographs: coorg, karnataka, southern india, october 2008
No comments:
Post a Comment