Discover the Unique Monsoon Processing Method - India's Monsoon-Treated Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Indian Monsoon Processed Coffee

India has the longest coffee history of any producing country in Asia. Indian coffee did not flourish until the 19th century, under British colonial rule, but it already had roughly two hundred years of history behind it before that.

In 1870, leaf rust disease and rising market demand for tea pushed many estates that were capable of producing high-quality coffee to switch over to tea, and India's coffee industry suffered a serious setback. Even so, Indian coffee kept developing, although planting and research shifted toward disease resistance, which left taste and flavor as secondary concerns for Robusta and its extended varieties. India's low altitude and climate patterns also mean that the highly adaptable Robusta varieties yield extremely well. Their flavor is cleaner than Robusta grown elsewhere, which makes Indian Robusta popular among roasters and a common component of espresso blends.

Among Indian coffees, Monsoon Malabar is the best known. It can now be produced under precise control, but its discovery was purely accidental.

During the British colonial period, coffee was exported to Europe in wooden boxes. Over the long voyage the beans were exposed to the humid monsoon air and absorbed a great deal of moisture, which had a dramatic effect on the coffee by the time it arrived. A single journey took several months, and the raw beans sat in the lower holds of the ships, taking in moisture and salt from the sea surface. By the time they reached Europe they had already deteriorated and turned yellow, had lost almost all of their fruit acidity, and had nonetheless developed an extremely distinctive mouthfeel.

Navigation and shipbuilding later improved and shortened the voyage, which changed the flavor of this monsoon-treated coffee. As a result, the process known as monsooning began to be carried out in warehouses instead.

Monsooning is used only on coffee that has already been dried in the sun. After monsooning, the beans become lighter in color and very fragile. They are hard to roast evenly, and because they are so brittle the roasted coffee often looks poor and contains many broken beans. These broken beans are different from the defects found in low-grade coffee, however, and have less impact on flavor.

During monsooning, coffee typically loses acidity but gains an intense, wild aroma, which earns it polarized reviews across the industry. Some treat that flavor as the coffee's signature; others regard it as a defect caused by the processing method.

In short: FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee research hall that enjoys sharing coffee knowledge with everyone. We share without reservation simply to help more friends fall in love with coffee. We also hold three low-discount coffee activities every month, because FrontStreet Coffee wants to provide the best coffee at the lowest prices to more friends. This has been FrontStreet Coffee's mission for the past six years!

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Because Indian coffee so often ends up in espresso, the FrontStreet blends built for espresso and the moka pot are a natural match. FrontStreet Classic Blend is designed for exactly that job, and its greatest strength is crema: even a beginner working with an ordinary home machine can pull a dense, fine-textured shot. It follows the traditional Mandheling and Brazil blend recipe, with a small amount of Robusta added to the classic Italian formula, so extraction delivers butter, nut, spice, dark chocolate, and toast aromas, a thick and sturdy body, and a golden crema that makes latte art easy. Mellow and rounded, it is just as comfortable at home as it is in a cafe.

FrontStreet Black Cocoa Blend is the value option: 100% Arabica, generous crema, a full-bodied cup, and a friendly price that keeps quality and cost in balance. For a new cafe owner who needs to control spending, it is a sensible, no-fuss choice.