How to Brew Indian Coffee for the Best Taste: Low Acidity, Rich Body Indian Coffee Beans

Indian coffee occupies an unusual place in the coffee world: mild in acidity, heavy in body, and prized in Europe precisely for those qualities. This is a closer look at how the country grows it and how to brew it well.

FrontStreet Coffee: An Introduction to Indian Coffee

India is hot for most of the year, with a tropical monsoon climate over the greater part of the country; the Thar Desert in the west runs to a tropical desert pattern instead. Summer brings a pronounced monsoon, while winter's monsoon influence is far weaker. The year divides into a rainy season from June to October, a dry season from March to May and a cool season from November to February. In winter the Himalayan barrier shields much of the country from cold currents and cold high-pressure systems pushing south.

Coffee growing depends above all on temperature and rainfall. Arabica does best between 23°C (73°F) and 28°C (82°F), with annual rainfall in the range of 60-80 inches (1.5-2.0 m).

Where rainfall falls below 40 inches (1.0 m), irrigation has to be provided. Arabica also wants relative humidity of 70-80%, while Robusta prefers 80-90%.

Three parts of India grow coffee: the traditional southern belt, the non-traditional areas along the eastern coast, and the northeastern region.

Arabica, the premium species, is planted between 1000 meters (3300 feet) and 1500 meters (4900 feet). Robusta, lower in quality but far more adaptable, grows between 500 meters (1600 feet) and 1000 meters (3300 feet).

Kent

Kent is a Typica hybrid found in 1911 at the Kent Coffee Estate in India's Mysore region, created by crossing S288 with Typica. It yields heavily and resists rust, and its aroma carries more body than Bourbon. It was later introduced to New World producers such as Kenya and Indonesia, where it made a lasting contribution. The variety takes its name from the Englishman L.P. Kent, owner of the Doddengudda Estate in Mysore.

S795

Known locally as Jember, this variety was developed in India in the 1940s by hybridizing Kent with Coffea Liberica. In 1955 the Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute (ICCRI) gave it the name Jember, and it is now grown widely in India, Indonesia and Ethiopia. S795 is India's leading variety today, accounting for 70% of total Arabica production.

Indian coffee earned its European reputation on lower acidity and gentle sweetness, qualities that make it a natural fit for espresso, a style of coffee that is otherwise brighter and more acidic.

Brewing Parameters

Grind size: BG 5R (China standard No. 20 sieve, 58% pass rate), coffee-to-water ratio 1:13, water temperature 85°C, extraction time 1 minute 30 seconds

Brewing Method

Start with 15g of ground coffee and a coffee-to-water ratio of 1:10 during brewing. Bloom with 30g of water for 30 seconds, then pour slowly to 120g for the first stage, finishing at 150g. After lifting the filter cone away, add 45g of water straight to the coffee liquid.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Indian coffee sits at the soft, full-bodied end of the spectrum, and drinkers who like that profile tend to look for the same easy-going weight elsewhere. FrontStreet Brazil Queen Estate is the closest everyday match. Grown in Mogiana on fertile red volcanic soil, it is a rare Yellow Bourbon, a natural mutation of Red Bourbon, and it pours the clean sugarcane sweetness and fruit that set it apart from other Brazilian lots, over cream peanut, chocolate and toasted bread with a low, gentle acidity. Brewed as a pour-over, a moka pot or an espresso, it never turns sharp. FrontStreet Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 takes the same balance further upmarket: a Typica that avoids both the bracing fruit of African coffees and the heavy bitterness of a dark roast, landing instead between acidity, sweetness, bitterness and aroma with cream, caramel, chocolate, nut and a light fruit note over a supple body.

If you would rather explore the brighter end, FrontStreet Ethiopia Huakui is a naturally processed Ethiopian coffee whose tropical strawberry, passion fruit, jackfruit and lychee aromas come with almost no bitterness, while FrontStreet Panama Red Label Geisha shows the florals and citrus that made the variety famous, with a refined, tea-like finish. FrontStreet Colombia Sidra, from the Ecuadorian-derived Sidra variety and roasted medium-light, adds grape, dried fruit and passion fruit for drinkers who want complexity without losing balance.