When the farm was started in 1974, this area was considered a village in the back of beyond. Far from the city and with paddy fields, mango orchards and coconut plantations spread out on either side of the single lane road that wound its way down through the villages.
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There was one public transport bus that ran this route those days.
Bus number 119.
'Noothi Pathombodu'
in Tamil.
It started at Parrys Corner in the north of Chennai and went up to Kalpakkam, beyond us. Everyone in the area used this bus and the bus driver & conductor probably knew everyone so much so that if a package had to come in from the city, it would be loaded on the bus & the conductor would be asked to drop it off at Mattu Pannai ('Dairy Farm' in Tamil). The bus would chug along & the package would be dropped off at the gate.
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Only on bus number Noothi Pathombodu.
Literally translated, that would be
ONE HUNDRED TEN & NINE.
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Two points of interest here:
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Tamil Language has specific characters for 10 and the power of 10s.
10 to the power of 2 = 100 = ௱ = Nūṟu
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A reproductive prefix is added to all numbers between 1 and 9. This prefix works to join the preceding or succeeding 10 to any of these numbers. The prefix for 9 is 'tom'.
So nineteen becomes Pathu + tom + onpadu = Pathompodu​
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And so 119 becomes Noothi Pathombodu !​
How to pronounce
"NOOTHI PATHOMBODU"
Roast Profile:
LIGHT - MEDIUM
THE BEAN
Location:
Greenland Estate
Valparai
Mooleh Manay
Suntikuppa village, Kodagu District
Varietals:
SLN
Geisha
Catimor
Elevation:
GEK - 3000ft to 4200ft ASL
LEY - 4200ft+ ASL
Process
GEK
Natural
-
Selective picking of ripe red cherries
-
Outer skim removed & sun-dried on raised beds for 11-14 days
LEY
Washed
-
22 hours of aerobic fermentation in tanks of water
-
8 - 10 days of drying
Four decades later, the number still stays with us; Noothi Pathombodu happens to be our pin code. Naturally then we say it & use it often enough. A unique word that is fun to use & full of discovery.
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Much like our Cold Brew blend.
Noothi Pathombodu.
