What Are the Best Coffees from India_Indian Coffee Flavor Characteristics Introduction_Indian Black Coffee Bean Recommendations

Professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style)

"Wet-Dry Alternating" Indian Coffee

In the past age of sailing, India transported coffee beans to Europe by sailboat. During the six-month voyage, raw coffee beans absorbed moisture and saltiness from the sea surface, then dried and contracted under sunlight. Their structure and internal chemical reactions therefore changed, fruit acidity almost disappeared, and rich nutty flavors developed.

Inspired by this, the "Monsooning" coffee processing method was born. Robusta coffee beans were carefully placed on tropical coastlines for several months during the peak season of southwest monsoon winds.

After coffee cherries underwent selection and drying, they were hulled to become coffee beans, then sent to well-ventilated warehouses and spread evenly on the ground to absorb moisture from the air, quietly awaiting the baptism of wind and rain.

Through the collaboration between nature and coffee farmers, after three months, the coffee beans finally presented strong, intense coffee characteristics, exuding aromas of wood and spices, recreating the unique flavors of ancient legendary coffee, and finally realizing the wish of "classics eternal."

In India, the legend of coffee dates back 400 years, when a saint named Baba Budan risked being hunted to bring these magical beans from Yemen to the mountainous region of present-day Karnataka. Since then, the southernmost states of India, including Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala, have become India's main coffee-producing regions. Because they are not grown in sunny places but in shaded areas, Indian coffee possesses a unique style. Among these, the most famous is India's Monsooned coffee.

The Origin Story of Monsooned Coffee

Speaking of monsooned coffee, the story traces back to the colonial period of the 17th and early 18th centuries, when the British began planting coffee on this land in India with suitable soil and climate, then shipped it back to Europe by sailboat. Due to the long distance (via the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa), one trip took six months. Coffee beans were placed in the bottom of ship cabins, absorbing moisture and saltiness from the sea surface. By the time raw beans arrived in Europe, they had already deteriorated, changing color from deep green to rice-like yellowish-brown. The fruit acidity of coffee almost disappeared, but unexpectedly developed rich nutty and grainy flavors. When tasted, it had a full texture, somewhat like genmaicha flavor. Surprisingly, people from Northern Europe particularly liked this golden alternative coffee, naming it "Monsooned Coffee."

Time developed into the 19th century, 1896, with the opening of the Suez Canal, the sea voyage time from India to Europe was reduced. But unexpectedly, Indian coffee orders also significantly decreased. European customers' reason was: Indian coffee had lost its flavor, not only losing the rich nutty taste but also the once charming golden color. Indian coffee exporters racked their brains and finally realized the reason - the development of navigation had shortened the time to transport coffee beans to Europe by more than half. The beans didn't have time to transform before reaching their destination port, naturally losing their original flavor.

Afterward, through repeated experiments, Indians finally found a way to recreate "Monsooned Coffee." They built dedicated monsooning workshops facing west to welcome the salty, humid monsoon winds blowing from the southwest. Workers spread sun-dried coffee beans evenly in the monsooning yards with all windows open. After monsooning to a certain extent, they were bagged, but coffee beans couldn't be filled too full, and coffee bags couldn't be stacked too densely to avoid mold growth due to poor ventilation. They also had to periodically pour out coffee beans to replace jute bags to prevent mold growth, which was quite time-consuming and labor-intensive. The monsooning period was about twelve to sixteen weeks. After maturation, they had to undergo smoke treatment to drive away weevils, and finally manual sorting was required to pick out failed beans that hadn't turned golden. After three to four months of monsooning, green coffee beans expanded to one to two times their original size, with reduced weight and density, moisture content of about 13%, and significant changes in both quality and quantity. In this way, although they didn't experience the rough sea voyage, the coffee possessed flavors similar to the previous coffee taste after monsooning treatment, finally winning back the hearts of European customers.

Modern Indian Coffee Production

Today's India, besides monsooned coffee, also produces and exports large quantities of Arabica and Robusta coffee. They are graded into AA, A, B, C, and T grades. "Monsooned" coffee is divided into premium Monsooned Malabar AA grade coffee and Monsooned Basanically coffee. All coffees possess mellow and rich flavor characteristics, making them more suitable for blending and making espresso coffee.

Indian Coffee Bean Brand Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee's roasted Indian coffee beans - Monsooned Malabar coffee and others - have full guarantees in both brand and quality. More importantly, they offer extremely high cost-performance. A half-pound 227-gram package costs only about 80 yuan. Calculating based on 15 grams of powder per pour-over coffee, one package can make 15 cups of coffee, with each single-origin coffee costing only about 5 yuan. Compared to café prices that often sell for dozens of yuan per cup, this offers excellent value for money.

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small storefront but diverse bean varieties, where you can find various famous and lesser-known beans. They also provide online store services at https://shop104210103.taobao.com

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473