Monsoon Malabar - India Coffee - Roasted in Scotland

Monsooned Malabar: Heritage Indian Coffee

India’s rich coffee heritage spans nearly 400 years, beginning when the Sufi pilgrim Baba Budan famously smuggled seven raw coffee seeds back from the Middle East to plant in the hills of Karnataka.

Commercial coffee farming expanded rapidly in 1840 across the mountain ranges of Southern India, where growers discovered ideal conditions: rich volcanic soil, high altitudes, sunny mountain slopes, and heavy tropical rainfall.

During the 19th century, green coffee made a grueling four-to-six-month journey to Europe inside the humid cargo holds of wooden sailing ships rounding the Cape of Good Hope. Seawater mist and damp sea air naturally cured the beans, transforming them from deep green to a pale straw color while mellowing sharp acidity into a uniquely heavy, earthy profile.

Today, that legendary transatlantic transformation is meticulously recreated along the Malabar Coast through the "Monsooning" process. Raw green beans are spread 4 to 6 inches deep in open-sided coastal warehouses, allowing humid monsoon winds to circulate and cure the coffee naturally for an exceptionally smooth, low-acid brew.