Most Indians wake up to a strong cup of filter coffee in the South, or a milky, aromatic brew up North.
Whether it’s the bold kick of a Coorg Arabica or the punchy bitterness of Robusta blended into a South Indian beverage, coffee in India is all about depth and that familiar morning jolt.
Enter Coffea Eugenioides, a coffee so different, so rare, and so expensive that it is rewriting what the beverage can even be.
WHAT IS EUGENIOIDES COFFEE?
Coffea Eugenioides, along with Coffea canephora, also known as Robusta, is one of the two parent species whose natural union created the Arabica coffee we know and love today.
Think of it as the grandparent of your daily cup. It’s older, wilder, and far more elusive.
Native to the highlands of East Africa, particularly the forests of Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the plant grows at elevations between 1,500-2,000 metres.
Today, it is most commonly cultivated in western Colombia.
But what makes Eugenioides truly stand apart is its taste.
Eugenioides is said to be inherently sweet, often described with unusual tasting notes like toasted marshmallows, lemon drops, and cereal milk. And unlike the strong, bitter brews most Indians are used to, Eugenioides has high sweetness, low acidity and bitterness, with a smooth, silky finish.
On top of all this, it contains approximately one-third the caffeine of Arabica, naturally, with no chemical decaffeination involved.
HOW EXPENSIVE IS EUGENIOIDES?
A Brazilian farmer recently aimed to sell bags of Eugenioides at up to 50 times the price of standard Arabica beans, with individual bags fetching around $20,000 each or Rs 18. I 8 lakh per bag, according to news agency Reuters.
The reason comes down to an acute scarcity.
Each Eugenioides plant yields as little as 150 grams of green coffee, which is less than half the average yield of an Arabica species.
The cherries are also highly sensitive to touch. The lightest of rain, winds, or a gentle brush from an arm is enough to knock them off the branch.
This means trees cannot be densely planted, farms are tiny, and harvests are painstakingly slow.
Demand for Eugenioides is now far higher than supply, and the few roasters who have managed to source it have quickly sold out. For Indian coffee lovers used to paying rupees 500 to rupees 800 for a premium bag of Arabica, this is a different universe entirely.
The coffee world has a new darling, and it tastes absolutely nothing like what’s in your cup right now.
