How Do Coffee Farms in India Make Monsooned Malabar?

Monsooned Malabar, also called Monsoon Coffee or Indian Monsooned Coffee, gets its flavor from the humid southwest monsoon rather than from sun-drying or fermentation. Green beans swell and turn golden over weeks to months of exposure, losing acidity and gaining a profile of nuts, grains, and genmaicha tea, with a smoother, more mellow cup.

The beans come from the Malabar Coast in southern India at 1,100 to 1,200 meters, in varieties such as Kents, S795, Catimor, and Selection 9, processed by monsooned sun-drying. India has about 900,000 hectares under coffee and roughly 140,000 coffee farms, more than 90 percent of them smallholdings under ten mu.

When it comes to Asian coffee, most people first think of Indonesian Mandheling, but India also has a bean full of mystery—Monsooned Coffee, also called Monsoon Coffee or Malabar Coffee. Its flavor does not come from artificial fermentation or sun-drying, but rather from the high temperature and humidity of the southwest monsoon over the Indian Ocean, which causes green beans to swell and change color over weeks to months, reducing acidity and developing a unique profile reminiscent of nuts, grains, and genmaicha tea. Front Street Coffee will walk you through its origins, the Malabar producing region, the port, the monsooning process, the characteristics of varieties such as Kents/S795/Catimor, along with a roasting curve and comparisons of brewing with siphon, AeroPress, French press, and Kalita dripper, so you can understand this "weather-dependent" Indian curiosity in one article.

When people talk about Asian coffee beans, their first reaction is usually Indonesian Mandheling. But Asia also has a rather mysterious coffee—Indian Monsooned Coffee, also called Monsoon Coffee or Malabar Coffee (Monsooned Coffee). The way its unique flavor is formed fascinates Front Street Coffee. Legend has it that in the old days, Indian green beans were shipped to Europe by sea and, along the way, were affected by the high temperature and humidity of the Indian Ocean, causing the beans to swell in size and turn golden yellow. It was exactly this kind of fermentation change that made the cup smoother and more mellow, with a distinctive flavor. Common processing methods mostly rely on artificial sun-drying and fermentation, but Indian Monsooned Coffee alone uses natural climate to shape flavor, which amazes Front Street Coffee.

Indian Monsooned Malabar

■ Region: Malabar Coast, southern India

■ Altitude: 1100-1200 meters

■ Varieties: Kents, S795, Catimor, selection 9

■ Processing method: Monsooned sun-dried processing

Region Introduction

Coffee was brought in by pilgrims in the 16th century, and India established the earliest coffee plantations. You might not expect that India's coffee production is considerably higher than Ethiopia's or that of any Central American country. The country has 900,000 hectares of land planted with coffee and about 140,000 coffee farms, with more than 90% of farms smaller than 10 mu, making it small-scale farming. These farms are scattered across the coastal mountains of the south and east at altitudes of 900-1200 meters. Arabica accounts for the largest share at two-thirds, with the rest Robusta, and total production is about 440,000-450,000 bags, making it the world's fifth-largest coffee producer.

Monsooned coffee was actually an accidental discovery. In the 17th and 18th centuries, India shipped coffee beans to Europe by sailing ship, and a one-way trip took half a year. The green beans were piled in the bottom of the hold, absorbing plenty of sea moisture and saltiness. By the time they reached Europe, they had already deteriorated, with the color changing from dark green to a rice-like yellowish brown and the fruit acidity almost disappearing, yet unexpectedly developing a rich nutty and grainy flavor that tasted full and solid with a hint of genmaicha tea. Northern Europeans were very fond of this golden alternative coffee. In 1869, the Suez Canal opened, and with the arrival of steamships, the voyage from India to Europe was greatly shortened. But customers began complaining that Indian coffee had "lost its flavor," having lost the once-charming golden color and nutty notes. Orders plummeted, and only then did Indian exporters begin researching countermeasures.

It turned out that coffee shipped to Europe had its travel time cut by more than half, leaving no time for the "transformation" of aging, so the original flavor no longer existed. Exporters then thought of the fact that the Malabar coast of southwestern India welcomes salty, humid monsoon winds from the Indian Ocean from late May to September each year. After repeated experiments, they indeed created a coffee similar to the golden, acid-free coffee of earlier times, and therefore named it "Monsoon Coffee," commonly known as monsooned coffee. For hundreds of years, it has been widely used by European coffee businesses in blended coffees, where it can add viscosity and a tea-like feel.

Export Port

MANGALORE is India's New Mangalore Port, located north of the Gurupur River estuary in Karnataka on the southwestern Indian peninsula, northwest of Mangalore city, and facing the Arabian Sea. Within the port (MANGALORE), the northeast bank of the waters is a bulk cargo wharf used for general cargo, and the wharf is connected by rail. In summer, southwest winds often blow, with average wind force reaching 5-6, and it is also affected by tropical storms. Tides are semidiurnal. It exports minerals, pepper, coffee, sandalwood, cashews, tea, and more. About 2 nautical miles south of the new port, the original port was smaller in scale and mainly used for coastal trade and fisheries. The port of Mangalore city is farther south, about 10 kilometers from the new port and about 6 kilometers from the old port.

Processing Method

Every year in May and June, southwestern India enters the monsoon season. Monsooned coffee must be made from sun-dried beans. Coffee farmers spread the beans flat in the monsooning warehouse at a thickness of about 12-20 centimeters, leave them for 5 days, and then rake them over and over so that all the beans come into contact with the extremely humid air at that time. The beans are then loosely packed into bags and piled up so the monsoon can blow through the bags. The monsooning warehouse faces west to welcome the salty, humid southwest monsoon. The coffee beans are spread flat in the monsooning yard with all the windows open. In summer, the monsoon blowing from the Arabian coast is very humid. After monsooning to a certain degree, the beans are bagged again, but the bags cannot be too full, and the bags cannot be stacked too densely, otherwise there is no airflow and mold easily develops. There, these bags must be rebagged and restacked once a week for 7 weeks in total, until the color and taste of the coffee beans change. During this period, the beans also have to be poured out from time to time and the burlap bags changed to prevent mold, which is quite time-consuming and labor-intensive.

The monsooning period is about twelve to sixteen weeks. After aging, the beans also undergo fumigation to drive away weevils, and finally manual screening to remove failed beans that have not turned golden yellow. Starting in June, after three to four months of monsooning, the green coffee beans swell to one to two times their size, the color changes from green to golden yellow, weight and density decrease, moisture content is about 13%, and acidity is also suppressed, resulting in major changes in both quality and quantity. Finally, beans that have not been properly monsooned or other debris and defective beans are screened out, removing those coffee beans not affected by the "monsoon," followed by post-processing steps such as cupping, grading, bagging, and export. Every year from October to February of the following year is a good season for making "Monsoon" coffee.

Cultivated Varieties

Kent:

A Typica hybrid variety discovered in 1911 at the Kent coffee estate in the Mysore region of India, bred from S288 and Typica. It has high yield and rust resistance, but its cupping performance is not outstanding. Its coffee aroma has more depth than Bourbon.

S795

Jember, Indian botanists took the opposite approach: they first crossed the first-generation S288 with Typica to obtain Kent, then crossed Kent with second-generation S288 to create today's S795. In 1955, the Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute (ICCRI) named it Jember, and it is widely planted in India, Indonesia, Yemen, and Ethiopia. It has some resistance to coffee leaf rust, but the resistance weakens over time. Its flavor is close to Arabica, with a wild taste.

Catimor

In 1959, the Portuguese crossed Brazilian Caturra with Timor to cultivate the highly disease-resistant and high-yielding second-generation hybrid Catimor. However, its flavor is also poorer, and it is currently an important variety for commercial beans. To improve Catimor's poor cupping reputation, botanists in various countries in recent years have again interbred Arabica and Catimor over multiple generations, attempting to reduce its Robusta lineage.

Roasting Suggestions

This coffee bean has average density. Front Street Coffee decided to use medium heat for a steady rise. The turning point is about 4 minutes 50 seconds, then lower the heat and open the damper to enter the Maillard reaction. At first crack, open the damper wide, maintain heat, and the temperature is about 184.4°C. Drop the beans 2 minutes 30 seconds after first crack.

Roaster: Yangjia 600g semi-direct fire

Preheat the roaster to 200°C and charge. Set the damper to 3, turn on the heat after 30 seconds, adjust the heat to 160, turning point at 1'25'', maintain heat, turn yellow at 4'50'', the grassy smell disappears, entering the dehydration stage. Lower the heat to 140, open the damper to 4, and when it reaches 168°C lower the heat again to 110.

Dehydration is complete at 8 minutes. The bean surface shows wrinkles and dark streaks, and the toasted bread smell turns into coffee aroma. This is the prelude to first crack. At this time keep the heat unchanged, open the damper to 5, and listen carefully for the sound of first crack. First crack begins at 8'55'', with the damper fully open at 5. Post-first-crack development time is 2 minutes 30 seconds, and drop at 197.8°C.

Brewing Suggestions

Front Street Coffee tried brewing with siphon, AeroPress, French press, and Kalita trapezoidal three-hole dripper to compare their flavors.

1. Siphon

Brewing parameters: Grind size BG 6M (70-75% passing through China standard No. 20 sieve), coffee-to-water ratio 1:13, water temperature 84°C, extraction time 1 minute 20 seconds

Brewing method: Pour 260 grams of water into the lower pot. After the water rises to the upper pot, add 20 grams of grounds, gently press the coffee bed so the grounds fully contact the water, stir at 30 seconds, turn off the heat at 50 seconds and stir again to let the coffee liquid return.

Flavor: Slightly fruity on entry, with flavors of genmaicha tea and chocolate, and a relatively thin body

2. AeroPress

Brewing parameters: Grind size BG 6M (70-75% passing through China standard No. 20 sieve), coffee-to-water ratio 1:13, water temperature 85°C, extraction time 1 minute 50 seconds

Brewing method: Inverted method, use 15 grams of grounds, pour in 195 grams of 85°C hot water, stir at 1 minute, flip and begin pressing at 1 minute 30 seconds, and finish pressing at 1 minute 50 seconds.

Flavor: Aromas of cream and nuts on the nose, with some herbal notes, a sweet sugarcane finish, and a medium body.

3. French Press

Brewing parameters: Grind size BG 6M (70-75% passing through China standard No. 20 sieve), coffee-to-water ratio 1:13, water temperature 85°C, extraction time 2 minutes

Brewing method: 15 grams of grounds, pour in 195 grams of water, stir the coffee bed at 1 minute, press down at 1 minute 50 seconds, with a total extraction time of 2 minutes.

Flavor: Smooth on entry, with a relatively heavy body, soft fruit acidity, flavors of nuts, genmaicha tea, and creamy chocolate, and a sweet sugarcane finish.

4. Kalita trapezoidal three-hole dripper

Brewing parameters: Grind size BG 5R (70-75% passing through China standard No. 20 sieve), coffee-to-water ratio 1:14, water temperature 85°C, extraction time 2 minutes

Brewing method: Use 18 grams of grounds. During brewing, the coffee-to-water ratio is 1:14. Bloom with 30 grams of water for 30 seconds, slowly pour to 125 grams and then split the pour, finishing when the water reaches 250 grams.

Flavor: A light plum-like acidity on entry, flavors of cocoa, nuts, and cream, with a clear barley tea and genmaicha tea sensation in the finish.

Front Street Coffee found that when brewing this bean with different devices, the overall tone is roughly the same, all carrying obvious genmaicha tea, cocoa, and nut flavors, but there are considerable differences in mouthfeel and fruit acidity. Among these devices, the Malabar brewed with siphon is relatively balanced and soft overall; the one brewed with AeroPress is more prominent in aroma; the French press yields a cup of Malabar with high body; and in the pour-over expression, the fruit acidity becomes clearer and easier to identify.

The same bean shows different flavors under different devices, and this is exactly where coffee's playfulness lies.

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.