Indian Monsoon Coffee | The History of Monsooned Malabar Coffee? How to Brew Monsooned Coffee?

Indian Monsoon Coffee: The History of Monsooned Malabar and How to Brew It

When it comes to Asian coffee, many consumers are most familiar with the low-acidity, full-bodied Sumatran coffee, or with Vietnamese coffee, whose production has climbed in recent years. In fact, Indian coffee is the ancestor of the Asian region. As early as the 17th century, India was already an important supplier of coffee to Europe, second only to the port of Mocha in Yemen. At that time most Indian coffee beans traveled to the European continent by sailboat, a voyage of about six months. During that long half-year at sea, the sea breeze and the moisture and saltiness absorbed from the ship's hold changed the beans in both appearance and taste. The raw beans gradually shifted from dark green to a yellowish brown like rice grains, and the beans swelled and grew larger.

Through this process the fruit acidity is smoothed out and replaced by flavors such as nuts, caramel, and tea aroma, this mature transformation is somewhat similar to aged Sumatran beans, along with a thick mouthfeel. Indian monsooned beans have a flavor all their own, usually with a rich nutty and grainy sweetness, almost no acidity, and often the aroma of brown rice tea. It is said that Northern Europeans at the time were especially fond of this golden coffee.

Coffee traders skilled in business could feel that consumer demand. Interestingly, when the Suez Canal opened in 1869 and steamships arrived, the journey from India to Europe shrank dramatically, which should have been a great advantage for merchants selling Indian coffee. Yet European customers complained that the coffee had lost its flavor, and orders fell sharply.

Early sea transport was slow, and Indian coffee beans, exposed to humid sea winds on the long voyage to Europe, underwent an interesting change in flavor and appearance, from green to golden, with the taste turning mellow and extremely low in acidity and developing rich nutty and grainy flavors. Today, with modern technology, that special raw-bean character is reproduced artificially. Selected AA-grade raw beans are gathered and exposed to the air during the monsoon season, then constantly turned so the beans fully receive the humid sea winds, and finally they are carefully hand-sorted so the special flavor is reborn.

The Monsooning Process

Monsooned coffee must be made from sun-dried beans, and the processing plant faces west to welcome the salty, humid monsoon winds blowing from the southwest.

The beans are spread flat in the monsooning yard with all the windows open. After a certain degree of monsooning they are bagged, but since the beans expand considerably the raw beans cannot be packed too full, and the coffee bags cannot be stacked too densely, to avoid mold from poor ventilation. The beans are occasionally poured out and the jute bags changed to prevent mold growth.

The monsooning period is about twelve to sixteen weeks. After maturation the beans undergo a smoking treatment to drive away weevils, and finally they are hand-screened to remove any beans that failed to turn golden. After three to four months of monsooning, the volume of the green beans expands by one to two times, their weight and density decrease, their moisture content is about 13%, and both their quality and quantity change significantly.

Flavor Characteristics

Indian Malabar beans are soft beans that look strong but are actually weak inside, with the mature richness unique to "aged Sumatran Mandheling." The brown rice tea flavor and mouthfeel are quite special, with a light grassy aroma and a balanced acidity and bitterness, which makes them very suitable for blending into comprehensive coffee.

Although monsooned Malabar beans look large and plump, they are actually soft beans, a change caused by months of weathering. Weeks of exposure to humid monsoon winds not only turn the beans yellow but also significantly reduce the coffee's own acidity, resulting in a very special mouthfeel. Besides being drunk as a single origin, Indian Malabar beans are also very well suited to blending.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommended Brewing

Filter: Hario V60

Water Temperature: 88°C

Grind Size: Fuji grinder setting 4

Brewing Method: Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, 15g of coffee. First pour 25g of water and bloom for 25 seconds; second pour to 120g and stop, then wait until the water level in the coffee bed drops to half before pouring again, slowly pouring until reaching 225g. Extraction time about 2:00.

Analysis: The three-stage method clearly separates the front, middle, and back-end flavors. Because the V60 has many ribs and drains quickly, stopping the water flow extends the extraction time.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Monsooned Malabar's mellow, low-acid, aged character has a natural cousin in Sumatra Mandheling, and FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling is a faithful example. Sourced from the Lake Toba region of Sumatra and roasted medium-dark, it is low in acidity and full-bodied, with caramel, dark chocolate, and toasted bread aromas and a long sweet finish, making it a perfect fit for anyone who likes the deep, earthy style.

For the highest expression of that style, FrontStreet's PWN Golden Mandheling is built on beans of 18 screen or larger with fewer than 3 defective beans per 300g sample to meet the top G1 standard, and it is sorted by hand three times. Brewed fresh, it delivers sandalwood, herbs, spice, roasted hazelnut, caramel, and dark chocolate with a clean, richly sweet body.