Monsooned Malabar – AA Super Grade

Monsooned coffees are truly one of a kind. Unlike most high-grade specialty coffees, which are washed (or “wet processed”) by growers to ensure consistency and eliminate defects, monsooned beans are spread on warehouse floors in the west coast of India during the monsoon season. While there, moisture-laden winds from the Arabian Sea blow over the coffee through the open walls of the warehouse. The beans do not get wet, however, as the warehouse still has a roof.

During this 12- to 16-week process, the beans soak up moisture, swell in size, change color, and, most importantly, shed their acidity, turning monsooned coffees into the lowest-acid coffees in the world. In the cup, the coffees boast abundant body and a smooth, pleasant earthiness.

Monsooning simulates the process that Indian coffee used to undergo more than a century ago, when it was shipped in wooden sailing vessels around the African continent for four to six months on its way to the markets in Europe. Modern shipping better preserves the initial condition of the coffee, but at the expense of several unique flavor characteristics.