What makes Monsooned Malabar different from other coffee farms' beans?

Monsooned Malabar comes from the Malabar Coast of South India, grown at 1,100-1,200 metres from Kents, S795, Catimor and Selection 9 varieties. Green beans are exposed to salty monsoon winds from May to September in open warehouses, swelling and turning yellow-brown while losing most of their acidity, which produces nutty, grain-like and genmaicha aromas.

The process began in the 17th and 18th centuries, when beans shipped in sailing vessel holds absorbed sea moisture. After the Suez Canal shortened the voyage, exporters recreated the effect deliberately. Brewing favors a slightly coarser grind and lower temperature, and blending coffee beans from India with a clean washed origin can balance the cured, earthy profile.

Indian coffee's rise to fame in the specialty world does not rely on traditional fruity acidity and floral notes, but rather takes a unique path with its distinctive "cured" flavor, among which Monsooned Malabar is particularly well-known. The birth of this coffee dates back to the age of sailing ship transport in the 17th to 18th centuries, when green beans absorbed sea moisture and salt in the bottom of ship holds, unexpectedly transforming into a special flavor that was yellow-brown and almost devoid of acidity. After the Suez Canal opened and shortened the voyage, Indian exporters, in order to replicate the old flavor, took advantage of the salty, humid monsoon along the Malabar Coast from May to September, processing the beans in monsoon warehouses for several months, causing the green beans to swell and change color, developing a rich nutty, grain-like profile and an aroma reminiscent of genmaicha. During cupping, Front Street Coffee found that this bean carries caramel, raisin, herbal notes, and a berry finish. This article will provide a complete analysis of its producing region background, processing method, cultivated varieties, roasting curve, and brewing data, offering coffee lovers a detailed reference guide.

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Indian coffee is not known for traditional fruity acidity or floral notes, but has instead become popular in the specialty world for its alternative "cured" flavor. India's monsooned coffee is especially famous. When FrontStreet Coffee first encountered monsooned coffee and learned about its production process, a comparison revealed similarities with the production process of aged Mandheling, but monsooned coffee tends to have berry notes and drinks more like genmaicha.

[Monsoon Monsooned Malabar] India Monsooned Malabar

Country: South India

Region: Malabar Coast, South India

Altitude: 1100-1200 meters

Varieties: Kents, S795, Catimor, selection 9

Processing method: Monsooned sun-dried processing

01 Producing Region Introduction

by FrontStreet Coffee

Coffee was brought in by pilgrims as early as the 16th century, when the first coffee plantation was established. You may not imagine that India produces much more coffee than Ethiopia or any single Central American country. There are 900,000 hectares of land growing coffee beans. India has about 140,000 coffee farms, and more than 90% of the farm area is less than 10 mu, belonging to small-scale cultivation. These farms are distributed on the coastal mountains of the south and east at altitudes of 900-1200 meters. In terms of coffee varieties, Arabica accounts for the largest share at two-thirds, with the remainder being Robusta. Total production is about 440,000-450,000 bags, making it the world's fifth-largest coffee producer.

Monsooned coffee was a new flavor created unintentionally. In the 17th to 18th centuries, India transported coffee beans to Europe by sailing ship. One trip took six months. The green beans were placed in the bottom of the ship's hold and absorbed the moisture and saltiness of the sea. By the time the green beans arrived in Europe, they had already deteriorated. Their color had transformed from dark green to the yellow-brown of rice grains, and the coffee's fruity acidity had almost disappeared, yet it unexpectedly developed a rich nutty and grain-like flavor. It drank full-bodied, with a bit of a genmaicha character. Northern Europeans liked this golden alternative coffee very much. In 1869, the Suez Canal opened, and with the advent of steamships, the voyage time between India and Europe was shortened, but customers began to complain that Indian coffee had "lost its flavor," having lost its former alluring golden color and nutty taste. Orders plummeted, and Indian exporters only then began researching solutions.

It turned out that the coffee shipped to Europe had its time shortened by more than half, so there was not enough time for it to mature and "transform," and it lost its original flavor. So exporters thought of the salty, humid environment brought by the Indian Ocean in southwestern India along the Malabar Coast from late May to September each year. After repeated experiments, they indeed produced a golden, acidity-free coffee similar to that of the past, 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 blending coffee beans, capable of increasing viscosity and tea-like body.

When mentioning Indian coffee, the one people in China most often encounter is Monsooned Malabar. The main reason for its formation is that in ancient times coffee had to take a voyage of several months to reach Europe. During the voyage, because it was exposed to salt-laden sea breezes and moisture, it changed into a special mouthfeel, and the originally fresh dark green coffee beans also became yellow-brown like Mandheling. Europeans at that time liked this rich thickness and unusual flavor.

Export port by FrontStreet Coffee

MANGALORE is India's New Mangalore Port. It is located in the country's southwestern Indian Peninsula, north of the Gurupur River estuary in Karnataka, northwest of Mangalore city, 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 has railway access. In summer, southwest winds often blow, with average wind force reaching 5-6 levels, and it is also affected by tropical storms. Tides are semi-monthly. It exports minerals, pepper, coffee, sandalwood, cashew nuts, tea, and more. About 2 nautical miles south of the new port, the original port was small in scale and mainly used for coastal trade and fisheries. The port of Mangalore city is to the south, about 10 kilometers from the new port and about 6 kilometers from the old port.

02 Processing Method

by FrontStreet Coffee

Every year in May and June, a monsoon phenomenon appears in southwestern India. Monsooned coffee must be made from sun-dried beans. Coffee farmers spread the beans flat in monsoon warehouses at a thickness of about 12-20 centimeters and leave them for 5 days, then rake and comb these coffee beans over and over again with rakes so that all the coffee beans come into contact with the extremely humid air at that time. Then these coffee beans are loosely packed into bags and piled up so that the monsoon can blow through the bags. The monsoon warehouse faces west, welcoming the salty, humid southwest monsoon.

The coffee beans are spread flat inside the monsoon facility with all windows open. In summer, the monsoon blowing from the Arabian coast is very humid. After a certain degree of monsooning, they are put into bags, but the coffee beans cannot be packed too full, and the coffee bags cannot be piled too tightly, lest they not get enough air and mold. There, these bags are repacked and repiled once a week for a total of 7 weeks, until the coffee beans change color and flavor. The coffee beans are also poured out from time to time and the burlap bags replaced to prevent mold growth. It is quite time-consuming and labor-intensive.

The monsooning period is about twelve to sixteen weeks. After maturation, they still need to undergo a smoking treatment to drive away coffee bean 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, their color begins to turn from green to golden yellow, weight and density decrease, moisture content is about 13%, and the beans' acidity is also reduced. Both quality and quantity undergo major changes. Finally, beans that have not been properly monsooned, as well as other debris and defective beans, are screened again to remove those coffee beans not affected by the "monsoon." Then cupping, grading, bagging, export, and other post-processing preparations are carried out. Every year from October to February of the following year is a good season for making "monsoon" coffee.

03 Cultivated Varieties

by FrontStreet Coffee

Kent:

A Typica hybrid variety discovered in 1911 at the Kent coffee estate in the Mysore region of India. It was produced by crossing S288 with Typica and has high yield and rust resistance. However, it has never achieved good results in cupping. Its coffee aroma is more full-bodied than Bourbon.

S795

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

Catimor

In 1959, the Portuguese crossed Brazilian Caturra with Timor, cultivating the second-generation hybrid Catimor, which had super strong disease resistance and production capacity. However, its flavor is also relatively poor, and it is currently an important variety for commercial beans. In order to improve Catimor's poor cupping reputation, in recent years botanists from various countries have turned back to interbreeding Arabica with Catimor in multiple crosses, attempting to reduce its Robusta lineage.

04 Green Bean Analysis

by FrontStreet Coffee

This coffee has a generally average bean density, so during roasting FrontStreet Coffee used medium heat to climb steadily, with the turning point at around 4 minutes 50 seconds, then lowered the heat and opened the damper to enter the Maillard reaction. At first crack, the damper was opened wide, heat was maintained, and the temperature was about 184.4°C. The beans were dropped 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. Start the flame after 30S. Adjust the heat to 160. The turning point is at 1'25". Maintain heat. At 4'50" it turns yellow, the grassy smell disappears, and it enters the dehydration stage. Lower the heat to 140 and open the damper to 4. When it reaches 168°C, lower the heat again to 110.

At 8 minutes, dehydration is complete. Wrinkles and dark patches appear on the bean surface, and the toasted bread aroma turns into coffee fragrance, which 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. At 8'55", first crack begins, and the damper is fully opened to 5. Post-first-crack development time is 2 minutes 30 seconds, and the beans are dropped at 197.8°C.

Indian Monsooned Malabar coffee beans, although plump in body, are soft beans that look strong on the outside but are weak inside. Because the coffee beans are exposed for a long time to the humid monsoon environment, the coffee's own acidity is also greatly reduced, giving it a very special mouthfeel. During cupping, FrontStreet Coffee noted rich caramel, raisin, and herbal notes, a mouthfeel like genmaicha, and a berry finish.

05 Brewing Data

by FrontStreet Coffee

Recommended brewing method: pour-over

Grind size: 4 (Japanese Fuji R440)

Water temperature: 83°C

Kono dripper, 17 grams of grounds, water temperature 83 degrees, grind 4, water-to-coffee ratio close to 1:13

Technique: bloom with 30 grams of water, bloom time 30s

Stages: pour to 120g and pause, then pour with a slightly stronger stream to 221g

That is, 30-120-221, total extraction time 1:50-2 minutes

Other drip extraction suggestions:

French press: recommended grind size 4, water temperature 88°C

AeroPress: recommended grind size 4, water temperature 85°C

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