Meet Mizoram's new-age entrepreneurs putting Aizawl on the coffee map

On Tuesday nights in Aizawl, Esther Khiangte, Lalrempuii, and Rokimi Khawlhring gather over spreadsheets, tasting notes and cups of coffee.

The trio, in their 30s, launched Norakkan Coffee Roasters in 2023. The name takes from the Arakan mountains, placing Mizoram at the centre of the brand story. While their speciality range spans drip bags and roasted coffee with defined flavour notes—dark chocolate, nutty, oaky, jaggery and berries—the B2B arm supplies beans to cafes and roasters in Aizawl.

Khiangte leads research and coffee roasting, Lalrempuii looks at finance, and Khawlhring, a former investment professional in the US, takes care of business strategy and operations for the brand.

For a long time, India’s coffee imagination has long been dominated by the south. The North-east appears as a quiet footnote, albeit a renaissance is in the air, and Norakkan’s cupping sessions reflect that. “Sometimes it’s our local passion fruit, often wild berries,” says Khiangte, Norakkan’s head cupper. “Sometimes even bananas the moment you open the bag!”

In the Northeast, coffee has never followed the strong arc prevalent in southern India. While regions like Meghalaya’s Garo Hills have a longer history, growth has remained sporadic. In recent years, however, brands such as 7000 Steps, Été Coffee (Nagaland), Nagaland Coffee, Eastern Brew (Manipur), Classique Beans (Assam), and Smoky Falls Tribe Coffee (Meghalaya) and many others have begun shaping a speciality coffee identity.

A crop that came late

In Mizoram, coffee arrived through the state government’s efforts in the 1980s, as part of a broader push to diversify agriculture. The Coffee Board of India introduced two primary varieties—Selection 9 and Chandragiri. The former is a taller Indian Arabica cross known for higher quality and fruity flavours, while the latter is a dwarf/semi-dwarf variety, is more disease-resistant at high altitudes and produces a balanced acidic, fruity and nutty profile.

Nature offers Mizoram a quiet advantage. The Tropic of Cancer runs through it, creating conditions suited for Arabica—warm summers, mild winters and higher elevations that enhance acidity and aroma. Distinct March-April rains aid flowering, while shade, mist and stable temperatures slow cherry maturation, deepening flavour complexity, notes Khiangte.

While it holds promise, the crop stands at a transitional phase. With nearly 60-70% of the population engaged in agriculture, the state follows a multi-layered cultivation practice, complemented by shifting cultivation, or jhum. Rice being primary, the landscape is dotted with horticulture and cash crops, including banana, pineapple, citrus, ginger, turmeric, alongside plantation crops like areca nut and rubber.

Coffee, by nature, does not suit shifting cultivation because it needs steady shade, so farmers are trained by the Coffee Board to adapt to a more stable and supportive system. As outlined by Jayanta Ghosh, deputy director (Extension) at the Coffee Board Regional Office, Silchar, with jurisdiction of Haflong, Assam, Tripura and Mizoram, there are around 1,500 hectares of planted area, and 400 hectares of (coffee) fruit-bearing area, with about 2,500 holdings under the Kolasib division that accounts for the entirety of the state.

Nevertheless, a bigger chunk of Mizoram’s coffee comes typically from farmers who do not yet have a firm generational shift into the trade, and much of this process is still a work in progress.

Building a local brand

“We began sales in late 2024, opened our first kiosk in December 2024, and the second in August 2025,” says Khawlhring. In the last year, the growth has been fulfilling enough for them to funnel more capital investment.

They have only just started applying for grants from incubators and government aid, having remained bootstrapped till now. What brings the younger generation closer to a homegrown coffee brand in Mizoram?

A decade ago, consumer pull leaned largely towards national and global brands. Norakkan has taken a quieter route. Now, even customers from Bengaluru, Mumbai and Pune are discovering them largely organically.

Norakkan is not alone in this quiet coffee revolution in Aizawl. There’s Tribeland Coffee Roasters, which came to be known as the first commercial coffee roaster in Mizoram.

In 2019, PB Lalrinfela, a young graduate working in the rural development sector, encountered a small coffee farmer struggling to sell his produce. It prompted Lalrinfela to study deeper. In 2022, he launched Tribeland Coffee Roasters with his cousins and co-founders PB Lalduhzuala and PB Lalhruaitluanga. Starting across B2B and B2C, they have since leaned towards B2B, supplying local cafés while maintaining a single outlet in Aizawl.

Behind the grind

With its promise, Mizoram coffee’s challenges remain fundamental. For farmers, mostly small and marginalised, long marketing cycles, fluctuating prices, and the absence of a stable ecosystem make it a decision that is constantly being evaluated.

“The farmers find it difficult to wait through the whole cycle of marketing under the Coffee Board marketing scheme. From lifting the coffee and sending it for auction in Bangalore, it takes about 6-8 months, which is a long period for a small farmer,” says Ghosh.

Although nature offers the best of it, the drying process could be difficult. “High humidity and unpredictable rain patterns can slow down drying significantly. To address this, we have been exploring improved drying practices and encouraging the use of raised beds where possible,” adds Khiangte. To adapt to local conditions, Norakkan is experimenting with small-scale washed, honey and natural processing to retain added sweetness, and drying whole cherries in natural processing to develop deeper, fruit-forward flavours.

With jhum cultivation shaping farming, shade remains a key concern. “Many farmers in Mizoram rely on areca nut trees for shade, but when those die, the Arabica plants often do too. It’s not a viable long-term system, as Arabica needs mixed shade trees. Robusta, however, adapts better,” Ghosh explains.

The challenges, however, have not stopped a gradual incline in coffee prices. Norakkan notes a 20-30% increase in bean prices, compared to last year, as some outside businesses have also started sourcing from Mizoram. For smaller players like Norakkan and Tribeland, this makes deeper engagement with farmers around processes, pricing and quality, more critical than ever.

Coffee is still not a generational crop. Districts such as Serchhip, Aizawl and Lunglei lead production, but in many villages it remains a supplementary income. Post-harvest practices vary widely, shaped by access to knowledge and infrastructure, prompting efforts like Norakkan’s farmer training initiatives, often through the Coffee Board of India.

The road ahead

For Norakkan, the focus is now on scale and expansion beyond Mizoram. They have just got a big roaster and are planning their third outlet as a café cum roastery experience. This means more of shaping their brand online, and on socials. “This year, we’re refining our line-up to include micro-lots and single-estate coffees.”

While scale remains a priority, Norakkan’s attention is on understanding the coffee itself. “We need deeper research into genetics and how factors like wind and pollination give Mizo coffee character. To truly read what’s in the cup, you need to know the land it comes from,” Khiangte adds.

Simanta Barman is a journalist from Assam.