What is Monsooned Coffee?
Monsooned coffee is a unique coffee flavour produced by storing coffee in a special warehouse during monsoon season, where the moist winds circulate around the coffee and make it swell in size and take on a mellowed but aggressive, musty flavour. In the monsooning process, arabica coffee is spread on the floor of the special warehouse, raked and turned by hand to enable it to soak in the moisture of the humid winds. The process takes around 12 to 16 months, where the beans swell to twice their original size and turn into a pale golden colour. After additional hand-sorting to remove any coffee that did not expand properly, the coffee is prepared for export.
Monsooned Malabar is an extremely earthy, musty, and pungent cup with a unique combination of caramelly finish and potent flavours, not for those who like a "clean" or sweet cup. Despite its nonconformity to traditional ideas of good coffee, it is a unique coffee flavour that has cultural tradition and history. It is best used in espresso blending with longer drum roasting and resting of 3+ days. Some Italian espresso roasting companies use this coffee in their "exotic" blend offering, along with 2-3 other non-monsooned arabicas to even out the cup and provide aroma and some sweetness. Even as a drip/infusion brew, the coffee mellows after 2 days, and resting is key to the best cup results.