The Origin Story of Indian Monsoon Coffee - Is Monsoon Coffee Good? Flavor Characteristics

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The Accidental Creation of Monsooned Coffee

Monsooned coffee was a flavor created quite by accident. From the 17th to the 18th centuries, India shipped coffee to Europe aboard sailing vessels, a voyage that took six months. Stowed in the depths of the hold, the green beans absorbed moisture and salt from the sea air. By the time they reached Europe they had "spoiled": their color had turned from deep green to the pale yellow-brown of a rice grain, and the coffee's fruity acidity had almost completely vanished. Yet they had unexpectedly developed rich nutty, grainy flavors and a thick, full body reminiscent of genmaicha (brown rice tea). Scandinavians in particular adored this golden, unconventional Indian coffee.

In 1869, however, the Suez Canal opened and steamships appeared, sharply shortening the India-Europe voyage. Customers began complaining that Indian coffee had "lost its flavor" - the charming golden color and nutty taste of old were gone - and orders fell sharply. Indian exporters set out to find a solution. The coffee now reached Europe in less than half the former time, too brief for the long sea "aging" that had transformed it. The exporters then thought of reproducing that transformation deliberately, using the salty, humid environment that the Indian Ocean monsoon brings to India's southwestern Malabar coast from late May through September. After repeated experiments they succeeded in producing a golden, low-acidity coffee much like the old sea-aged beans, and they named it "Monsoon Coffee" - the monsooned coffee we know today.

The Art of the Monsooning Process

Monsooned coffee must be made from dry-processed (natural) beans. The monsooning facility faces west to catch the salty, humid southwest monsoon winds. The beans are spread evenly across the monsooning floor with all the windows open. Once the beans have monsooned to a certain degree, they are bagged - but the bags must not be filled too full, nor stacked too tightly, or ventilation suffers and mold sets in. Workers must also periodically turn the beans out and swap the jute bags to keep mold away - a genuinely time-consuming, labor-intensive process.

The monsooning period lasts about twelve to sixteen weeks. After curing, the beans must be smoke-treated to drive out weevils, and finally hand-sorted to remove any beans that failed to turn golden. After three to four months of monsooning, the beans expand to one to two times their original volume while their weight and density fall; moisture content climbs to about 13%, and both quality and quantity change markedly.

Characteristics of Indian Malabar Coffee

Indian Malabar beans look plump and impressive, but they are actually soft beans - outwardly strong yet inwardly delicate, a result of months of weathering. Weeks of exposure to the humid monsoon not only turns the beans yellow and strips away acidity, but also gives the coffee the mature, mellow body typical of "aged Sumatra Mandheling." The mouthfeel is utterly distinctive, and Indian Malabar beans are also an excellent blender component for a wide range of coffee mixes.

Tasting Notes for Monsooned Malabar Indian Coffee

On the first sip you feel what is called a full-bodied, heavy sensation... though for my taste it is simply too intense.

Brew it lighter and drink - it is actually quite appealing: nutty sweetness with cocoa and milky aromas, plus smoky notes. Because the aftertaste carries a popcorn fragrance, there is even something faintly cigar-like about it.

Simply put, its most distinctive feature is that the aftertaste strongly recalls milk candy paired with smoked cheese.

Such a distinctive product - I imagine many people will come to love this coffee bean, won't they?

FrontStreet Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee is a Guangzhou roastery with a small storefront but a diverse range of beans, where you can find both famous and lesser-known origins; online ordering is also available.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Monsooned Malabar's superpower is its near-total absence of acidity, so it flatters drinkers who love body but dislike sharp fruit. In the same low-acid family, FrontStreet PWN Golden Mandheling - dark roasted, with a thick, lingering body full of herbal and dark chocolate notes and just a whisper of earthiness - is the classic choice for those who want richness without sourness, and it suits pour-over as well as espresso.

FrontStreet Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon offers another gentle route: medium roasted for a balanced cup with creamy peanut, toast, caramel, and hazelnut, rounded and smooth with a light caramel sweetness, at home in pour-over, moka pot, or espresso brewing alike.

Brewing tip: for low-acid, body-forward beans like these, use a slightly fuller extraction - medium-coarse grind, water around 90 degrees, and a patient 1:15 pour - to bring out the nutty, cocoa, and grain-like sweetness that defines them; if the cup feels too heavy, brew a little lighter and let the softer aromas surface.