Venkids Valley Estate: Coorg

A short, winding drive from Madikeri. Maybe a rivulet or two along the way. Then you reach Venkids Valley Estate. And there’s Pavan, with his wife Shilpa—ready with a smile, probably a cup in hand. This isn’t just land. It’s a living, breathing patch of the Western Ghats, 200 acres quietly humming under Pavan’s careful eye.

You’ll find over 40 kinds of jungle trees here: wild fig, mango, oranges, avocados, soapnut. The kind of place where the birds never really stop singing, whether they’re just passing through or calling it home.

At 3600 feet, coffee grows in the shelter of this canopy. It’s processed right on the estate, using modern machinery, but that’s only part of the picture. The heart of it all? The people. A loyal team, many of whom have lived and worked here for decades. Their homes? Solar-powered. Rainwater harvested. Clean energy, clean water, and care built into the day-to-day. Healthcare, schooling, electricity—it’s all part of how this place runs. Quietly, respectfully.

And sustainability? It’s not the slogan, it’s the soil, the systems, the way they treat runoff like a resource instead of a problem.

Pavan’s a third-generation planter, but he doesn’t rest on legacy. He’s all in. Obsessed, in the best way with flavor, with traceability, with making sure every bag of coffee has a clear path back to its roots. Because around here, every cup really does tell a story. And it starts with people who care enough to do it right.