Indian "monsoon"

In fact, I have never been very interested in Indian beans before. When I mention India, I have only a few impressions, a huge population; a large number of military high-tech weapons are purchased, and then a broken army is formed; the whole people speak English, and the software industry is developed; in my mind, India is like this. As for coffee, I have heard a lot about Indian monsoon coffee, but I have not deliberately seen what monsoon is like.

Until yesterday, a friend sent me a bean, let me taste fresh, but not Indian monsoon, but Indian volcanic beans, this volcanic bean is to break my bad impression of India (India oh, not Indian coffee), so I have interest in checking the origin of monsoon beans, feeling quite interesting, here to share with you:

This is a friend sent a good baked Indian volcanic beans, in order to taste the beans themselves, so only baked to a burst, so not fully developed, color is also relatively light, coffee acid is strong, taste is also relatively good.

Information from Coffee Appreciation Handbook

Indian coffee has come a long way over the past few years, both in terms of quality and quantity. One of the main reasons was the introduction of market liberalization policies in the 1990s, which greatly weakened the monopoly of the Coffee Board of India (CBI) on coffee exports.

Under the previous regime, coffee was exported mixed and regardless of variety. Under the new regime, the different types of Arabica and Robaik coffee grown in India have been re-differentiated to accommodate higher demand for Indian coffee. The gourmet coffee movement also flourished under the auspices of the Specialty Coffee Association of India (SCAI). Many of these members have their own plantations and can supply the Association directly.

Kanataka State, located in the southwest of India, is India's main coffee producing area, while high-quality coffee is produced in the Tellichery region and Malabar coast of Kerala State. In recent years, coffee cultivation has been introduced to areas with a tea tradition, such as Assam in north-east India, to help farmers improve their livelihoods.

Indian coffee is loved by coffee lovers for several reasons, but the most important is due to a process applied to the coffee beans, often referred to as "monsoon". In the past, passengers or cargo sailing to and from India took months to reach Europe. The taste and color of the green coffee beans change due to the high humidity in the transportation map, and by the time they arrive at their destination, the coffee beans have changed from the original green to a strange yellow.

Consumers got used to it, so when steamships cut travel time, coffee producers found that consumers still wanted coffee beans that had the same color and taste and were affected by long journeys. In order to recreate the flavor of the original coffee, a "monsoon" process is used. In May and June of each year, monsoon occurs in southwest India, so during monsoon season, coffee is spread out in special houses with open sides, about 12-20 cm thick, where it is left for five days, raked again and again so that all the coffee beans are exposed to the extremely humid air at that time, and then loosely packed into bags and piled up so that the monsoon can blow through the bags. The bags were refilled and stacked once a week for seven weeks until the beans changed color and flavor. Finally, the beans are hand-picked to remove those not affected by the monsoon and bagged for export. October to February is a good time to make "monsoon" coffee.

Arabica coffee produced in India, its highest grade is A. Some of the world's most popular Roast coffees also come from India. These coffees are processed to taste especially good and are popular with roasters, especially those who make good espresso coffee.