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Is Coffee Grown in India? What Are the Flavor and Texture of India's Unique Monsoon Malabar Coffee?

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, Professional coffee knowledge exchange. For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style). Is coffee grown in India? What are the flavor and texture of India's unique Monsoon Malabar coffee? The reason why Indian coffee is loved by coffee enthusiasts has several causes, but the most important is due to a processing process applied to coffee beans, usually

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style)

Is Coffee Grown in India? India's Unique Monsoon Malabar Coffee - How Are Its Flavor and Mouthfeel?

Indian coffee is beloved by coffee enthusiasts for several reasons, but most importantly due to a processing applied to the coffee beans, commonly known as the "monsooning" process. In the past, when passengers or cargo traveled to India by sailboat, it took several months to reach Europe. During the journey, due to high air humidity, the flavor and color of raw coffee beans changed. Upon arrival at their destination, the coffee beans had transformed from their original green to a peculiar yellow color.

Indian Monsoon Coffee

Consumers gradually became accustomed to this, so when steamships shortened travel time, coffee producers discovered that consumers still wanted coffee beans with the color and flavor affected by long journeys. To recreate the original coffee flavor, the "monsoon" treatment process was adopted. Every year during May and June, monsoon phenomena occur in southwestern India. Therefore, during the monsoon season, people spread coffee in specially designed houses with open surroundings, about 12-20 centimeters thick, where it remains for 5 days. The coffee beans are repeatedly raked to ensure all beans contact the extremely humid air, then loosely packed into bags and stacked so monsoon winds can penetrate through the bags. These bags are repacked and restacked weekly for a total of 7 weeks until the coffee beans change color and flavor. Finally, these coffee beans undergo manual selection to remove those not affected by "monsoon" treatment, then are bagged and prepared for export. Each year from October to February is the ideal season for producing "monsoon" coffee.

Besides Karnataka state, high-quality coffee is also grown in Tellichery and Malabar in Kerala state in the southwest, as well as in Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu state in the southeast (formerly Madras Province).

High-quality Indian coffee is also classified as Arabica plantation coffee, with the highest grades being A, B, C, and T grades. "Monsoon" coffee is divided into Monsooned Malabar AA grade coffee and Monsooned Basanically coffee. India also produces some bean-shaped berry coffee.

Currently, the coffee industry faces problems—severe bureaucracy, excessive taxation, and lack of investment. The Indian Coffee Board currently controls the entire coffee industry, uniformly purchasing coffee and then selling it. Coffee is sold through large-scale auctions. These coffees are mixed together to achieve certain trade volumes, which eliminates differences between estates and regions, thus causing many high-quality coffee producers to lack sufficient motivation to produce uniquely flavored, high-quality coffee beans. The government attempted to solve this problem in 1992, and through efforts, obtained the famous Valley Nuggets coffee through A-grade coffee plantation seeds in several high-quality coffee-producing areas. It is hoped this will encourage other coffee growers, as most of them indeed desire to enter their products into the gourmet coffee market.

Origin/Plantation: Malabar Estate

Geographical Environment: Altitude above 1000 meters

Processing Method: Wind-Aged Sun-Dried

Flavor Characteristics: Noticeable sweetness, thick and oily body, excellent chocolate sweetness, biscuit and fruity sweetness, smooth and delicious, evenly sized coffee beans.

Introduction: Wind-aged coffee was accidentally created as a new flavor. From the 17th to 18th century, India transported coffee beans to Europe by sailboat, taking six months per trip. Raw beans were placed in the bottom of ship cabins, absorbing sea moisture and saltiness. When raw beans arrived in Europe, they had deteriorated, changing from deep green to rice-like yellow-brown color. The fruity acidity of coffee almost disappeared, but unexpectedly developed strong nutty and grainy flavors, tasting full-bodied with some genmaicha tea flavor. Northern Europeans particularly loved this golden alternative coffee. In 1869, the Suez Canal opened, and steamships emerged, shortening India-Europe travel time. Customers began complaining that Indian coffee had "lost its flavor," losing its former charming golden color and nutty taste, leading to sharp order reductions. Indian exporters began researching solutions. It turned out that coffee destined for Europe now took less than half the time, insufficient for aging and transformation, losing its original flavor. Exporters then thought of the salty and humid environment along the Malabar coast in southwestern India from late May to September, brought by the Indian Ocean. After several experiments, they successfully produced similar golden, low-acidity coffee, thus naming it "Monsoon Coffee," commonly known as wind-aged coffee.

Currently, wind-aged bean production involves first selecting good raw beans and transporting them to coastal wind-aging fields, spreading them out to receive humid southwest monsoon winds. Experienced workers frequently stir them to ensure even wind exposure. This process continues for 4 to 16 months, during which coffee beans swell to nearly twice their original size and turn yellow-white, becoming a distinctive Indian wind-aged Malabar.