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What are the characteristics of Indian Monsooned coffee? Is Indian Malabar coffee delicious?

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 public account: cafe_style). In early years, Indian coffee had to be transported from the Malabar coast to Europe via sea routes, often taking about six months to reach Europe. During these long sea voyages, these coffee beans were gradually affected by the sea breezes and monsoon winds, leading to gradual changes in their flavor characteristics and color.

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

The Origin of Monsooned Malabar Coffee

In early years, Indian coffee relied on sea transportation to reach Europe from the Malabar Coast, often taking about six months to arrive. During this long maritime journey, coffee beans were gradually influenced by sea breezes and seasonal winds, resulting in significant changes in flavor characteristics and color. These transformations led to the birth of today's Indian monsooned Malabar specialty coffee beans.

India's monsooned Malabar coffee is one of the world's most renowned specialty coffee beans. Monsooned coffee beans are also called "monsoon coffee beans," named after their English name "Monsoon." The processing method is quite complex and unique, primarily creating complex, distinctive flavors through the interaction between earth and sea wind. The name "Monsooned Malabar" refers to the unique coffee product processed from monsooned beans in Malabar, on India's west coast. The coffee undergoes tedious and rigorous monsooning treatment here before being shipped worldwide.

The Complex Monsooning Process

Malabar coffee must be made from sun-dried beans, and all processing facilities for Malabar coffee face west to capture the salty, humid monsoon winds blowing from the southwest sea. Coffee beans are spread flat in monsooning fields with windows fully open. After monsooning to a certain degree, they are bagged. However, because the beans expand considerably during the process, coffee bags cannot be filled too full, and coffee bags cannot be stacked too densely to avoid mold and spoilage due to poor ventilation. The beans must also be periodically poured out and gunny sacks changed to prevent mold growth - quite a time-consuming and labor-intensive process. The monsooning period lasts about twelve to sixteen weeks. After maturation, the beans undergo smoke treatment to drive away weevils, followed by manual sorting to remove failed beans that haven't turned golden yellow. After three to four months of monsooning treatment, green coffee beans expand to one to two times their original size, with reduced weight and density.

Characteristics and Roasting Recommendations

Although monsooned Malabar coffee beans appear large and plump, they are actually soft beans that are strong on the outside but weak on the inside - a change resulting from months of weathering. Coffee beans exposed to humid monsoon winds for weeks not only turn yellow but also significantly reduce the coffee's natural acidity, creating a very special mouthfeel. Besides being consumed as single-origin coffee, Indian Malabar coffee beans are also very suitable for blending espresso.

How Should Indian Malabar Coffee Be Roasted?

Because this coffee has moderate bean density, FrontStreet Coffee recommends roasting with medium heat, steadily increasing temperature. The yellowing point occurs around 4 minutes 50 seconds, then reduce heat and open the air valve to enter the Maillard reaction. At first crack, open the air valve wide while maintaining heat at approximately 184.4°C. Drop the beans 2 minutes 30 seconds after first crack.

Indian Monsooned Malabar AA

Country: India
Region: Malabar
Altitude: 1000 – 1500 meters
Processing Method: Monsooned
Grade: AA
Variety: Arabica
Flavor Description: Cream, wheat, drupe, brown sugar, rich body

Brewing Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee recommends using pour-over method to brew Indian Monsooned Malabar coffee.

Grind Size: 4 (Japan Fuji R440)
Water Temperature: 83°C
Equipment: Kono dripper, 17g coffee, water temperature 83°C, grind size 4, water-to-coffee ratio close to 1:13
Technique: 30g water for bloom, bloom time 30s
Pouring Stages: Pour water to 120g, pause, then pour with slightly larger flow to 221g
Extraction: 30-120-221, total extraction time 1:50-2 minutes

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse bean varieties, offering both famous and lesser-known beans, plus online services. https://shop104210103.taobao.com