India Monsooned Malabar

Indian coffee has grown and progressed in leaps and bounds over the past few years, both in quality and quantity. This can be attributed to the liberalisation of the coffee market back in the 1990's when the Coffee Board of India lost some of its control on the exportation of coffee from its shores. Under the "regime" that the coffee board imposed, exported coffee was usually blended at source leading to a pretty inferior coffee arriving on our doorsteps. Since the system they imposed was scrapped twenty years ago, a range of very exciting arabicas and generally good robust coffee varietals have now been grown and are well recognised on the international coffee markets. This international recognition has also helped increase coffee output and quality. We have also noticed a shift towards the speciality markets and this has been guided by the Speciality Coffee Association of India, which help many of the Indian estates to trade directly with exporters and consumers alike.

India's main coffee growing region is situated in the southwest of the country, within the state of Karnataka. However, good growing regions are also seen outside of this area, places such as Tellichery and Malabar in the state of Kerala. As part of a recent study, some coffee plants have also been introduced into the tea growing region of Assam. It remains to be seen whether this will produce a good crop or not. It's the origin of coffee that we "coffee lovers" look for, as this helps us understand the drink we're about to enjoy. India's most unique element, one that evokes such harmonies on our palettes, is that of "monsooning". The monsooning process was derived from the old ways of transporting coffee to Europe, whereby the several months at sea and exposure to the sea air, meant that the coffee beans took on a truly unique character. This character can be easily seen at the green bean stage, as they, when exposed to humid air, change colour to shades of yellow. The monsooning process fell away as transportation methods improved over time, but Europeans who had become accustomed to the unique flavours, wanted to retain the "yellow" beans. This lead to the monsooning process as we know it today, whereby beans are left exposed to the humid Indian climate.

The monsoon season appears in India between May and June, when the monsooning of the coffee beans takes place in earnest. During this period the beans are spread to a depth of 5 - 8 inches in special open-sided buildings where they are then left for five days to "mature". The beans are, from time to time, raked over so that all the beans are effected by the heat and humidity. Once this process has been completed, the coffee beans are then packed in sacks and left in situ for the monsoon winds to whip around them and further induce the flavours that we enjoy. It is this "monsooning" process that allows only such varieties to use the monsooned name, Monsooned Malabar.

If you enjoy the natural spice that the "monsooning" process produces, then you should try an equally as good "aged" coffee, Indonesian Old Brown Java. This is another aged coffee, a process that is allowed for up to a year in "go-down" huts. The processes involved in exposing Old Brown Java to humidity is quite different from Indian Monsooned Malabar, but the flavours it produces are excellent, well worth a try.