Introduction to India's Seven Major Coffee Brands and the Unique Flavor Characteristics of Indian Monsoon Natural Process Coffee Beans

India has cultivated coffee for a long time. In fact, it is the world's sixth-largest coffee producer. In most of the country, though, the vast majority of Indians prefer to start the day with tea, and traditionally, ordering coffee in a restaurant was more likely to bring a sad cup of Nescafé than anything resembling "real coffee." In recent years the situation has improved markedly, with a growing number of coffee brands changing India's market by showing consumers what artisanal coffee offers over instant, and what specialty coffee can be.

Indian specialty coffee quality has in fact been rising. FrontStreet Coffee previously carried an S795 coffee bean from India, processed with the monsooned natural method, which we will explain below. FrontStreet Coffee roasted this Malabar bean to a medium level, which significantly reduced the acidity and created a very distinctive taste: rich caramel, raisin, and herbal notes, with a mouthfeel somewhat like genmaicha tea and a berry-like finish.

Today, let's look at what coffee brands India has to offer.

Koinonia Coffee Roasters

Koinonia's unassuming location in one of Mumbai's popular neighborhoods draws plenty of people in for cold brew and specialty coffee. All coffees are hand-roasted and sourced from several estates in southern India. Popular varieties include Marvahulla. They also offer barrel-aged coffee, where beans are aged in whiskey barrels before roasting.

Araku Coffee

Araku offers premium, biodegradable coffee and blends grown and processed by local Adivasi farmers in Andhra Pradesh, which have also earned recognition on the world stage. Last year Araku Coffee won the prestigious Prix Epicures gold medal in Paris, beating blends from other countries. In India the brand offers four coffees, with Signature and Micro Climate as the bestsellers.

Black Baza Coffee

Black Baza Coffee aims to create a "localized, participatory, and meaningful coffee movement." Its coffee is 100% traceable to the farm and shade-grown, and the company believes in giving back to society and the environment, through employment and reforestation among other efforts. It offers both Arabica and Robusta beans, plus two blends with different flavor profiles. Dark chocolate, South Indian filter coffee, and fruity flavors are among the regular lineup, alongside frequent limited editions.

Halli Berri

Four Kariappa women run this family-owned coffee estate in Karnataka. Across six generations, "House of Halli Berri" has produced sustainably grown coffee, planted in shade with the cherries hand-picked. The coffee is produced in small batches from 100% Arabica beans with honeydew flavors.

The Flying Squirrel

This Bangalore-based brand was founded by third-generation coffee farmer Tej Thammaiah and advertising executive Ashish D'Abreo. It offers up to 11 different varieties along with a seasonal coffee rotation menu. Favorites include Parama, with chocolate notes, and the Sunkissed brew.

Ainmane Coffee

This Coorg-based brand produces one of the world's most expensive coffees, civet coffee, in which coffee cherries are eaten by wild civets and then excreted before the beans are collected and processed. Beyond that, Ainmane also offers a range of coffee blends.

Blue Tokai

Founded in 2013 by Matt Chittaranjan and Namrata Asthana, Blue Tokai offers freshly roasted coffee from light all the way to extremely dark roasts. "Our coffee is sold in bean form to customers who like to grind their own coffee before drinking, which we usually recommend, or specifically for the brewing equipment they use," the duo says. Attikan Estate from MS Estate and organic coffee are among the bestsellers.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If India's monsooned, low-acid style appeals to you, the same gently extracted character shows up in FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Gotiti Cooperative, a washed bean with white-flower sweetness, bright citrus acidity, and a green-tea finish. It is a natural fit for cold brew, where the low-temperature steep draws out lighter compounds and produces an iced coffee as refreshing as tea.

For a fuller, fruitier cold brew, FrontStreet Coffee's Strawberry Candy Gesha Blend combines a Costa Rican honey process with a washed Panama Gesha, giving raisin, orange, and ripe blueberry aromas with a rose-like fragrance and an almond finish; properly rested, it even takes on a fruit-liqueur quality. FrontStreet Coffee's Natural Huakui is the floral alternative, and in cold brew it shows magnolia, cream strawberry, dried mango, guava, and black tea notes.

If you want the juicy, high-acidity end, FrontStreet Coffee's Kenya Cherry Tomato brings cherry tomato, pear, black plum, and smoked plum to a cold brew, with low bitterness, a full acidity, and a long finish; it is especially refreshing over ice. Several of these beans are also pleasant as a cold brew, including FrontStreet Coffee's Washed Yirgacheffe Gotiti Cooperative and FrontStreet Coffee's Colombia Finca El Diviso Sidra, whose passion fruit, grape, and apricot character shines in an iced pour-over.