Bababudan hills: origin of coffee in India

Sibashish Dash.

Indian coffee has a good reputation in Europe for its less acidic and sweetness of character and thus widely used in Espresso Coffee. Commercial coffee production flourished under the British but how did coffee come to India in the first place ? Who brought the Arab monopoly on the coffee trade to an end?
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Popular Indian lore says that on a pilgrimage to Mecca in the 16th century Baba Budan, a revered Sufi saint from Karnataka state, discovered the wonders of coffee. Eager to grow coffee at home, he smuggled seven coffee beans from the Yemeni port of Mocha in his garments. Returning home, he planted the beans on the slopes of the Chandragiri Hills. Arabs had exercised strict control over its export to other countries by not permitting coffee beans to be exported in any form other than as in a roasted or boiled form to prevent germination.
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South Indian filter coffee is a coffee drink made by mixing frothed and boiled milk with the infusion obtained by percolation brewing of finely ground coffee powder in a traditional Indian filter.