Today, Harley is led by two sisters who are carrying that history forward in a very contemporary way. The estate combines traditional plantation knowledge with regular soil and leaf-tissue analysis, research-led decision making, and a strong conservation focus. Coffee grows under extensive shade alongside cocoa, banana, cardamom, pepper, and arecanut, while native forest and wildlife corridors remain part of the wider estate ecosystem.
That combination of heritage and modern agronomy is what makes Harley especially compelling. It does not feel like an estate preserved in the past. Instead, it feels like a place where history is still active, being adapted and carried forward through science, conservation, and thoughtful farming.
The coffees themselves reflect that same balance. Harley’s honey and fruit-forward processing work shows how distinctive profiles can be created without losing sight of the farm itself. One of the lots we were drawn to uses a banana-leaf-associated honey process, a coffee that immediately sparks curiosity but still asks to be judged first by the cup and by how clearly the process is documented.
For Kuyil, Harley is a story about continuity. About an old estate shaped by the Malnad landscape, led today by women, and moving forward through research and conservation rather than nostalgia.
The estate covers about 500 acres in the Manjarabad region of Sakleshpur, and it lies in a stretch of the Malnad hills surrounded by forest, waterfalls, and native vegetation. Both Arabica and Robusta grow here, under silver oak, fig, and jackfruit, with cocoa, banana, cardamom, pepper, and arecanut planted among them. The water used to wash and process the coffee comes from natural springs on the estate itself.
