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Workers head for the treetops to harvest “the king of spices”—peppercorns—on the 125 square miles agroforestry plantation run by Tata Coffee near Coorg in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. Peppercorns are the seeds of vines that are trained to climb on the 1.8 million trees planted to provide shade for Tata’s vast robusta coffee plants below, seen on the one day a year that the coffee is in flower. This agroforestry plantation also supports wildlife, and rangers check for elephants before harvest crews are allowed to enter. Pepper is the spice that launched a thousand ships, from ancient Arab and Phoenician traders, to Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians. It was used in place of currency along the Silk Road, while colonial powers like the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, and British fought over the trade routes to the dense rainforests of the Malabar Coast, where the plants grew wild. The spice is as valuable across many cuisines as ever—the world consumes nearly as much black pepper today as all other spices combined.

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©2022 George Steinmetz
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Workers head for the treetops to harvest “the king of spices”—peppercorns—on the 125 square miles agroforestry plantation run by Tata Coffee near Coorg in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. Peppercorns are the seeds of vines that are trained to climb on the 1.8 million trees planted to provide shade for Tata’s vast robusta coffee plants below, seen on the one day a year that the coffee is in flower. This agroforestry plantation also supports wildlife, and rangers check for elephants before harvest crews are allowed to enter. Pepper is the spice that launched a thousand ships, from ancient Arab and Phoenician traders, to Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians. It was used in place of currency along the Silk Road, while colonial powers like the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, and British fought over the trade routes to the dense rainforests of the Malabar Coast, where the plants grew wild. The spice is as valuable across many cuisines as ever—the world consumes nearly as much black pepper today as all other spices combined.

All images ©George Steinmetz. Please contact us for usage.