India Monsooned Malabar

If you have been with us since you the beginning you will instantly recognize this coffee. This was the first coffee we ever sourced, and we consistently sold out of on a bi-weekly basis and now that it's back we won't be so quick to let it go this time. 

 

This coffee is processed in possibly the most interested method known to the coffee world: the Monsooned Process. Monsoon Malabar coffee is prepared from Arabica cherries and after grading, the coffee is transported to the coastal city of Mangalore where the “monsooning” is carried out in large openwalled warehouses. During the rainy months of June through August, the coffee is spread inside the warehouses with very good aeration and ventilation at a particular thickness so that the coffee slowly absorbs moisture. After it absorbs sufficient moisture and bloats in size, it has to be periodically bulked and bagged and stacked so as to ensure proper and uniform “monsooning.” This process has to be carried out many times during the months of the monsoon. After September, when the rains subside and the temperatures are higher, the ghostly white and swollen beans are sent through the final grading (gravity tables and hand-sorting) in order to obtain the Malabar export quality. The farmers not only produce coffee, they also grow pepper, cardamom, and oranges. Most of the farms are 80 to 100 years old and belong to third generation growers. 

 

Monsooned Malabar coffee is excellent as a standalone single origin but adds a complexity to espresso blends that you won't soon forget.