Farm Tour: Celebrating 10 years of Blue Tokai

As we complete 10 years of Blue Tokai — we’re marking this special occasion, by bringing you something very special, something that is very close to our hearts. We’re taking a very limited group of people on a farm tour to one of our partner estates, in the misty high peaks of Yercaud, Tamil Nadu, where you’ll get up and close with coffee harvesting at farms. In this tour, you’ll learn everything there is to know about coffee cultivation and processing — through real time interactive and educational experiences like picking of cherries, sorting, post-harvest cleaning, processing and at the very end, cupping the delicious coffee at the farm itself!

The tour starts and ends at our cafe in Koramangala. You’ll be taken around through an AC traveller. Tour price is exclusive of flight tickets and anything not mentioned in the itinerary.

Limited spots are available. Do not miss out on this special estate tour!

DAY WISE ITINERARY

DAY 1 | January 26 | Thursday

8:00 am: Meet at Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters, Koramangala
8:00 am onwards: Breakfast at the cafe
9:00 am: Leave for The Last Shola by MSP (estimated travel time: 4.30 hours)
1:30 pm: Arrive at the farm
1:30 pm onwards: Check-in and introduction with Ashok, Kamlesh and Navin
2:30 pm: Lunch at the farm
4:00 pm onwards: Introduction, a walkthrough on the farm and a talk on the coffee history in India, evening tea, followed by campfire

Day 2 | January 27 | Friday

8:30 am: Breakfast at The Last Shola
9:30 am - 10:30 am: Nursery
11:00 am - 12:00 pm: A walkthrough of the selective picking/fly picking process
12:00 pm - 12:30 pm: Introduction to different plant varieties available on the farm
12:30 pm - 01:00 pm: Explaining the importance of picking the ripe cherries (You’ll get to pick the ripe cherries!)
1:00 pm - 1:30 pm: Meet the coffee pickers who’ll share their experiences
1:30 pm - 2:30 pm: Lunch 
2:30 pm - 3:00 pm: Rest 
3:00 pm - 6:00 pm: Witness different coffee harvesting steps:

• Visit post-harvesting units
• Sorting of coffee cherries in the drying yard (You’ll get a chance to sort cherries)
• Processing methods: Pulping process, fermentation tanks, and washing process
• Water processing units
• Preparing manure using the coffee skins
• Process of preparing cascara (depending on availability)

Day 3 | January 28 | Saturday

Sunrise at Heaven’s Ledge (Optional)
10:00 am - 12:00 pm: Cupping session at the farm (Mognad Estate)
12:30 pm - 01:30 pm: Lunch 
2:00 pm: Return to Bangalore
8:00 pm: Drop-off at Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters, Koramangala
8:00 pm onwards: Dinner at the cafe

Price: INR 15,000 (includes travel to the farm & back to the cafe, all meals, stay and coffee farm experiences)

Dates: 26-28 January 2023 (2N, 3D)

Location: The Last Shola by MSP Coffee, Koramangala