Indian Monsooned MalabarCoffee Bean Intro:

[Monsoon / Monsooned Malabar] India Monsooned Malabar

Country: Southern India

Region: Malabar Coast, Southern India

Altitude: 1100-1200 meters

Varieties: Kents, S795, Catimor, Selection 9

Processing Method: Monsooned Natural Process

When it comes to Indian coffee, the most commonly encountered variety is Monsooned Malabar (Malabar). Its formation is mainly due to the fact that in ancient times, it took several months for coffee to be shipped to Europe. During the voyage, exposure to the salty sea breeze and humidity resulted in a unique flavor profile, and the originally fresh dark green coffee beans turned yellowish-brown, similar to Mandheling. Europeans at the time favored this rich body and distinctive flavor.

MANGALORE is the new port of Mangalore in India. It is located north of the Gurupur River estuary in Karnataka, southwestern Indian Peninsula, northwest of Mangalore city, and faces the Arabian Sea. Inside the port (MANGALORE), the northeastern shore is a bulk cargo terminal used for general goods, with a railway connection to the terminal. The area is often affected by southwest winds in summer, with an average wind force of 5-6, and also impacted by tropical storms. The tides are semi-monthly, and the port exports minerals, pepper, coffee, sandalwood, cashews, tea, and more. About 2 nautical miles south of the new port, there was originally a small port mainly used for coastal trade and fishing. The new port is about 10 kilometers south of Mangalore city’s port and about 6 kilometers from the old port.

Indian Monsoon Monsooning Process

Every year in May and June, the monsoon season occurs in southwestern India. Monsooned coffee requires the use of sun-dried beans. Coffee farmers spread the beans flat in the monsooning factory, about 12-20 cm thick, and let them sit for 5 days. They then repeatedly rake the coffee beans with a broom to ensure all beans are exposed to the highly humid air at the time. The beans are then loosely packed into bags and stacked to allow the monsoon winds to penetrate the bags. The monsooning factory faces west to catch the salty, humid southwest monsoon. The coffee beans are spread out in the monsooning yard with all windows open. In summer, the monsoon winds blowing from the Arabian coast are very humid. Once the beans have been monsooned to a certain degree, they are bagged again, but the bags should not be too full, and the bags should not be stacked too densely to avoid poor ventilation and mold. There, these bags are re-stacked once a week for a total of 7 weeks until the beans change in color and flavor. The beans are also periodically removed and the jute bags are replaced to prevent mold growth, making the process quite time-consuming and labor-intensive.

The monsooning period lasts about twelve to sixteen weeks. After maturation, the beans undergo additional smoke treatment to repel beetles. Finally, manual sorting is required to remove unripened golden beans. Starting in June, after three to four months of monsooning, the volume of green coffee beans expands one to two times, the color begins to turn from green to golden yellow, the weight and density decrease, and the moisture content is about 13%. The acidity of the beans is also reduced, resulting in significant changes in both quality and quantity. Finally, unmonsooned beans or other defective beans are sorted out again to remove those not affected by the “monsoon,” followed by cupping, grading, bagging, exporting, and other post-processing steps. The period from October to February each year is the best time to produce “monsooned” coffee.

Roasting

This coffee has an average bean density, so medium heat is applied steadily during roasting. The turning point to yellow occurs around 4 minutes and 50 seconds. Then, the heat is reduced and the air vent is opened to initiate the Maillard reaction. At first crack, the air vent is fully opened, maintaining the heat at around 184.4°C. The beans are dropped 2 minutes and 30 seconds after first crack.

Coffee Varieties

Kent:

A Typica hybrid variety discovered in 1911 at the Kent Coffee Estate in the Malabar region of India, resulting from a cross between S288 and Typica. It has high yield and rust resistance. However, it has not achieved high scores in cupping. The coffee aroma is thicker than that of Bourbon.

　　S795

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

　　Catimor

In 1959, the Portuguese crossed Brazilian Caturra with Timor to develop the hybrid Catimor, which has super-strong disease resistance and yield capabilities. However, its flavor is also inferior. It is currently an important commercial bean variety. To address the poor cupping reputation of Catimor, in recent years, plant breeders in various countries have revisited crossbreeding with Arabica and Catimor to try to reduce Robusta lineage.