Caffe Baba - A blend of three Indian Coffees

Drury looks to India for its latest espresso coffee

18th April 2007, 1:17pm

The Drury Tea & Coffee Company has launched a new espresso coffee, Caffè Baba, blended using exclusively original coffees from India.

Caffè Baba is named in honour of Baba Budan, the Indian pilgrim who is credited with introducing coffee to India 400 years ago. The new coffee was developed especially by master roaster, Mike Lindie, in conjunction with Drury's barista trainer, Fabrizio Liverani, for him to use at the 2007 London heat of the UK Barista Championships.

Caffè Baba is a blend of three Indian coffees, Monsooned Malabar, Mysore Plantation A and Cherry Robusta:

Monsooned Malabar AA is produced by recreating the "monsooned effect" in special warehouses. Monsooning was an accidental side effect created centuries ago by English ships transporting coffee beans to Europe. On the long voyage home the monsoon winds and high humidity aged the coffee and caused a change of colour and characteristic in the beans, which acquired a special mellow, but intense flavour with very low acidity

Mysore Plantation A is characterised by a smooth, mellow and slightly heavy taste that produces an ideal "framework" for the blend.

Cherry Robusta is beautifully clean, rich and silky, and adds depth and body to the blend.

The resulting blend of these fine originals, Caffè Baba, is a medium roast espresso coffee. It is full-bodied, round and smooth with nutty, earthy undertones and a long, sweet tail. It is perfectly suited to all speciality coffees.

The addition of Caffè Baba to the Drury coffee portfolio brings the number of different espresso blends it produces for commercial use to 16, which the Company believes is the most extensive range offered by any UK roaster.

Caffè Baba has a list price of £8.60 per kilo, packed in 10 x 1Kg cases.