How is Indian Monsoon Coffee? What is the Origin of Monsoon Coffee? What is the Monsooning Process?

FrontStreet Coffee Briefly Describes the Monsooning Process

There are several reasons Indian coffee wins over drinkers, but the most important one is a treatment applied to the beans and commonly known as monsooning.

Monsoon coffee (Monsooned Malabar) is a unique coffee from southern India. It is processed with a typical air-drying technique and deliberately stored in open warehouses exposed to the monsoon winds, in order to build viscosity and reduce acidity.

The Accidental Discovery of Monsooned Coffee

Oddly enough, this new flavor was created entirely by accident. During the 17th and 18th centuries, India shipped coffee beans to Europe by sailing ship, and each voyage took six months. The green beans sat at the bottom of the hold, absorbing moisture and salt from the sea air. By the time they reached Europe the beans had deteriorated, their color shifting from deep green to the yellowish brown of rice grains. The fruity acidity had almost vanished, yet the coffee had developed a rich nutty and grainy flavor, with a full body reminiscent of genmaicha, or brown rice tea. Once shipping to Europe was shortened by more than half, the coffee no longer had enough time for that transformation during the voyage, and the original flavors were lost. Exporters then thought of the salty, humid environment along the Malabar coast in southwestern India, where the Indian Ocean carries salty moisture in from late May to September each year. After several experiments, they managed to reproduce the golden, acid-free coffee of the past and named it Monsoon Coffee, commonly known as monsooned coffee. For hundreds of years, European coffee professionals have used it widely for blending, since it increases viscosity and creates a tea-like sensation.

The Monsooning Process

Monsoon coffee is stored in special warehouses until the monsoon arrives. The ventilated design lets the humid monsoon winds circulate freely among the beans, causing them to swell in volume and take on a mellow, distinctly musty flavor. The process is labor-intensive: the coffee is spread out in special ventilated warehouses and raked or turned by hand so the beans can absorb moisture from the humid wind. The whole process lasts 12 to 16 weeks, during which the beans expand to twice their original volume and turn a dull golden color. Additional processing then removes beans that have not fully expanded, and the rest is ready for export.

Indian Malabar beans, during their sea voyages at the bottom of a ship's hold, come into contact with moisture and salt from the sea surface, maturing into a golden, acid-free coffee with nutty and grainy flavors. Later, experiments turned this into the monsooning process used to recreate those flavors:

1. Place the stored beans in factory buildings facing west and spread the sun-dried coffee beans evenly inside, with all windows open to welcome the salty, humid monsoon winds blowing from the southwest.
2. Coffee beans cannot be packed too full, because densely stacked bags lead to poor ventilation and mold growth. It is also necessary to regularly pour out the beans and replace the burlap bags to prevent mold, which is quite time-consuming and labor-intensive.
3. This period lasts about twelve to sixteen weeks, and after maturation the beans must undergo a smoking treatment to drive away weevils.
4. Manual bean screening removes failed beans that have not turned golden yellow.
5. After at least 6 months to a year of exposure to the monsoon winds, the quality and quantity of the beans change significantly. The beans expand to one to two times their original size, with reduced weight and density and a moisture content of approximately 13%.

Because the beans are exposed to the humid monsoon wind for so long, the coffee's own acidity drops sharply, creating a very special taste with a slightly salty edge. Expect rich caramel, raisin, and herbal notes, a texture like genmaicha, and a berry aftertaste.

FrontStreet Coffee's Pour-over Brewing Recommendations

Recommended brewing method: Pour-over

Dripper: Hario V60

Water temperature: 90°C

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Grind size: BG 5R (Chinese standard: 58% pass-through rate for #20 sieve)

Brewing technique: Bloom with 32g of water for 32 seconds, then pour in stages to 126g. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 228g and stop. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed again, remove the filter cup. (Timing starts from the bloom.) Extraction time is one minute and fifty seconds.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Monsooned Malabar is prized for its soft, tea-like, low-acid cup, and if that gentle profile suits you, a washed coffee can offer much the same easy drinking with a cleaner finish. FrontStreet Kenya Cherry Tomato is a light-roasted washed lot from the Thika region at 1,550-1,750 meters, built on the SL28 and SL34 varieties and a 72-hour double washed fermentation. It pours out cherry tomato and preserved plum, bright yet rounded, with pear, black plum, brown sugar, and a green tea close.

For a cup that keeps the tea-like feel but adds wild forest character, FrontStreet Kafa Forest comes from the Kafa Biosphere Reserve in southwestern Ethiopia, where coffee grows between 1,400 and 2,100 meters. Roasted medium-light, it opens with white florals, bright lemon acidity, sweet orange, and bergamot, then finishes with a gentle melon and nutty sweetness and a green-tea-like body.