Naga Mist is a single origin washed Arabica from the Naga highlands of Nagaland, India - one of the country’s most exciting emerging specialty regions. Grown at 1300–1500 MASL, roasted light-medium, with tasting notes of bright citrus, floral aromatics and a clean finish. SCA score: 83. Available whole bean or ground. From ₹849.

Naga Mist is a crisp, clarity-driven single origin coffee from Nagaland - built for drinkers who value brightness, fragrance and a clean, refreshing cup over heavy body or ferment-forward complexity. Light washed processing preserves the natural citrus lift and floral nuance of Arabica grown in cool mountain terrain, making it an ideal daily specialty coffee for filter and pour-over brewing.

Overview

Nagaland sits in India’s far northeast, bordering Myanmar, where the Naga hills rise steeply through dense forest into cool, mist-covered highlands. It is one of India’s least-known coffee-growing regions - production volumes are small, infrastructure is limited, and the coffees that do make it to specialty buyers are rarely seen outside the northeast. That scarcity is part of what makes Naga Mist worth paying attention to.

Coffee here is grown by smallholder farmers on plots typically under two hectares, intercropped with traditional food crops under natural forest shade. The altitude - 1,300 to 1,500 metres above sea level - creates slow cherry maturation, allowing sugars to develop fully and acids to sharpen into the bright, citrus-forward character that defines this lot. The cool, misty conditions that give the coffee its name also reduce pest pressure, meaning farmers can maintain quality without heavy chemical inputs.

Processing is washed: ripe cherries are pulped, fermented to remove the mucilage, and dried carefully to preserve the clarity and freshness that the terroir delivers. The result is a cup that is clean and vibrant - bright citrus on the front, a light floral lift through the mid-palate, and a refreshing, clean finish that invites another cup. There is no heaviness, no earthiness, no ferment-forward complexity - just a well-grown, well-processed Arabica expressing its highland terroir with honesty.

For Bean By Nation, Naga Mist sits in the Outliers range as a coffee that represents a region most Indian specialty drinkers have never encountered. It is not a competition-grade lot chasing extreme scores - it is a genuine, terroir-driven daily drinker from a part of India that deserves far more attention than it currently receives.

Producer Story

Nagaland’s coffee story is still being written. Unlike established Indian growing regions such as Coorg, Chikmagalur or Araku, the Naga hills have no large estates, no well-documented cooperative infrastructure, and no established export pipeline. Coffee here is grown by communities for whom it is one of several smallholder crops - not yet the primary income driver it has become in more developed Indian specialty regions.

What Nagaland does have is exceptional growing conditions: altitude, shade, cool temperatures, and a genetic diversity of Arabica cultivars that has never been formally catalogued. Farmers follow disciplined harvesting practices - hand-picking ripe cherry, washing carefully, and drying with attention to preserving the cup’s natural brightness. The result is a coffee that punches above its SCA score in terms of drinkability and character.

As specialty coffee infrastructure develops in the northeast, coffees like Naga Mist represent the early signal of what this region is capable of. Sourcing from here now is as much about supporting an emerging origin as it is about the cup in the bag.

Brew Guide

Naga Mist is a washed single origin Nagaland coffee built for clarity - it performs best in brew methods that let its citrus brightness and floral aromatics come forward without interference. Espresso, French Press, V60 or Kalita Wave pour-over is the ideal method. AeroPress delivers a clean, concentrated cup. It also works beautifully as a South Indian filter coffee, where its clean profile holds up well with or without milk. Best enjoyed black to appreciate the full citrus and floral character.

• V60 / Kalita Wave: 1:16 ratio · 90–92°C · medium-fine grind
• AeroPress: 1:15 ratio · 88–90°C · medium grind
• Espresso: 1:2 ratio · 90–92°C · fine grind
• Moka Pot: 1:7 ratio · off-boil · medium-fine grind
• South Indian Filter: 1:5 ratio · off-boil · fine grind
• Cold Brew: 1:8 ratio · cold water · coarse grind · 12–16 hrs steep

Specifications