Guwahati: A cup of Assam or Darjeeling tea has already won hearts all over, but coffee from Nagaland is no pushover.

At the exclusive Nagaland Coffee shop in Dimapur from Monday to Saturday (10 am to 7 pm), there is a crowd of around 150-200 people drinking different varieties of Single Origin Estate coffee from Zunhebeto to Mon, Khar, and Wokha, to name a few.

"It's slowly catching up... people are finally getting the taste of specialty coffee rather than instant coffee," says Vivito Yeptho, Co-Founder & Managing Director of Nagaland Coffee Pvt. Ltd.

Naga Coffee Pvt Ltd is the only private company in Nagaland which is selling coffee in the state and outside, and believes that the coffee grown in Nagaland has a much better flavour and aroma than that produced in the South.

Coffee was reintroduced to Nagaland in 2015 when Mr. T R Zeliang, the then chief minister, asked the director, Mr. Hoto Yeptho, of the Department of Land Resources to be the nodal department due to its success in planting millions of rubber trees in Nagaland.

Naga Coffee Pvt Ltd is a business venture between Dr. Pieter Vermeulen from Cape Town, South Africa, Vivito Yeptho from Nagaland, and Kajilho Archiiko based in New Delhi.

"We aim to produce high-end quality coffee known as Specialty Coffee, where we work very hard with the farmers to help achieve an economy as well as to produce coffee that not only looks great but tastes distinctly delicious once it hits your palate," Vivito says, who is a certified barista from Himalayan Java, a recognized member of SCA (Specialty Coffee Association).

"Currently we have farms from different districts such as Zunheboto, Mon, Wokha & Mokokchung. "Each farm has its own unique tasting notes that bring a huge diversity in flavours to our customers and meet their demands," he adds.

Its coffee has won accolades. The Mon Single Origin Green Coffee from Mon has won the Fine Cup Award at the Flavour of India. The Coffee Shop has also been awarded the Vocational Excellence Award by the Rotary Club of Dimapur. Its Tribal Blend Roasted Coffee has also won the Silver Award at the Aurora International Taste Challenge.

Its customers across the world are highly impressed. Juan De Graaff Jacobs says it is the best specialty grade coffee and is a perfect balance of aroma, flavor, body, and acidity, Leigh Anne Van Wyk says it's a real treat when my daughter buys the capsules for me. Congrats, guys on a super product. Mariam Hassen says it is a distinctive coffee worth hunting down while Etienne Jansen van Vuuren says he most definitely recommends Nagaland Coffee.

"India is mostly known for its tea and most of the coffee produced in India goes to the instant coffee market. We in Nagaland are working very hard to put Indian coffee on the specialty map. In our opinion the coffee grown in Nagaland has a much better flavor and aroma than that produced in the south" says Pieter Vermeulen chairman of Naga Coffee Pvt Ltd.

Coffee fruit is made up of several layers: the outer skin (pulp); the mucilage, a silky, sticky layer that’s responsible for much of the coffee’s sweetness; a papery layer called parchment; and the silver skin, a membrane that covers the two seeds. The first step is called "coffee processing"—the removal of these layers of fruit. There are several ways to do it, all with a different impact on the flavor of the coffee. After many years in the industry, we have learned that each area and coffee tree variety has an optimal processing method to ensure the best quality of that specific area's coffee.

After processing the coffee is then taken to our mill where it undergoes 12 more steps and gradings before being categorized as green coffee. We have built one of the best mills in India by combining Brazilian expertise and Indian manufacturing. The green coffee is then sampled and roasted and “cupped”. The cupping is to grade the coffee. In this grading, the coffee gets a mark for, flavor, aroma, acidity, body, sweetness, and aftertaste. Once this is done, samples are then sent to the potential buyers.

Nagaland Coffee exports green beans to South Africa, Bahrain, UAE, Italy, Netherlands, Germany, London, and South East Asia. Its roasted beans are sold in Nagaland and different parts of India, with our regulars being in major cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai & Kolkata.

"It's difficult to convert tea drinkers to coffee as it’s an acquired taste," says a tea taster.