Monsoon Malabar Coffee

Monsoon Malabar: a guide to India’s most popular coffee

Monsoon Malabar is one of India’s most sought-after coffees and is an all-time customer favourite here at Coffee Direct.

From the unique process used to give these legendary beans their signature taste profile to its intensely rich flavours and aromas, this Indian roast is an exceptional coffee.

If you’d like to learn more about this incredibly unique single-origin coffee from India, check out our coffee lovers guide to Monsoon Malabar below.

What is Monsoon Malabar?

Monsoon Malabar is a unique variety, produced from Arabica coffee beans grown in Malabar, one of the wettest regions of India, known for its wild monsoon season.

Malabar, located in a mountainous region of southern India, provides ideal coffee-growing conditions, with coffee plants grown at high altitudes, surrounded by lush vegetation and nutrient-rich humus soil.

Once picked, a bean from this region undergoes a unique ‘monsooning’ process to bring out its flavours. First, beans are harvested, washed in fresh spring water and left to dry in the sun. Then, they are transported to open warehouses in Karnataka and Kerala on the Malabar coast. It’s here where the magic happens.

Spread out evenly on the floors of the open warehouses, the beans are exposed to harsh monsoon winds and rain for three to four months. Exposure to these elements allows beans to soak up moisture from the monsoons, causing them to swell in size, turn from green to pale yellow hues and lose much of their acidity. Throughout the monsooning process, beans are also regularly raked and moved around to ensure each bean benefits from its new environment, receiving enough ventilation and soaking up plenty of moisture, while avoiding mould.

This processing method dates back to an era when raw green coffee beans were transported from India to Europe via the Cape of Good Hope — a journey which could take up to six months. With coffee beans stored within the wooden hulls of sailing vessels, it was noticed that the sea winds and humid atmospheres of the monsoon season transformed the character and state of the beans, enhancing their flavour profile.

What does Monsoon Malabar taste like?

Malabar’s unique growing conditions combined with the way its speciality beans are exposed to India's monsoon winds produce a spectacular tasting coffee.

Our Monsoon Malabar is a heavy-bodied brew that makes a wonderfully mellow and smooth cup of coffee, with deep, rich flavours and aromas. The roast is often described as bold, earthy and sweet, having tobacco and wood notes, as well as intense aromas of dark chocolate and nuts.

Spice is another defining flavour and aroma of this Indian bean, which is hardly surprising seeing as the coffee beans grow in the same region as exotic spices such as anise, cardamom, pepper and cinnamon.

When served as a dark roast, Monsoon Malabar makes an excellent espresso, as it produces the perfect amount of crema. The signature flavours of the bean also come through beautifully in milk-based drinks such as a flat white or cappuccino.

Why choose our Monsoon Malabar coffee?

Alongside the fantastic flavours and aromas of our monsooned Malabar beans, there are a few more reasons why coffee lovers choose our Indian roast over other UK coffee brands.

Delivering the freshest possible coffee to our customers is one of our top priorities at Coffee Direct. To ensure we deliver every bag of coffee with superior freshness, we roast in small batches and only ever roast your beans when an order is placed. We also pack all our coffees in foil fresh bags with a one-way valve to prevent contact between the bean and freshness-zapping air particles.

With its low acidity content and rich flavours, Monsoon Malabar is a tremendously versatile coffee, making it the perfect pick for all types of brewing methods. Catering for this characteristic, at Coffee Direct you can order whole beans if you love to grind your own beans (or use a bean-to-cup machine), or choose from a range of pre-ground coffees. Simply select your preferred method when adding Monsoon Malabar to your basket and we’ll freshly grind your order to the exact grind size required for your brewing method of choice.

You can find out what customers have to say about our Monsoon Malabar beans.

If you love Monsoon Malabar coffee, you should try...

We’re sure once you’ve tried this speciality Indian roast, it will become a firm favourite in your household, so for your next coffee purchase, we recommend these related products:

Monsoon Malabar green beans

Roasting your own beans, whether at home or at your local roasters, is a great way to experience your favourite coffee. So, if you want to experiment with your next coffee delivery, why not add our green beans to your shopping cart?

If you prefer earthy flavours and hints of sweetness, we recommend opting for a light to medium roast profile, whereas if you enjoy spicier flavours and chocolate tones, a dark roast coffee won’t disappoint.

If you're looking for more information about this speciality roast from India, you can discuss all product information or learn more about any of our items by contacting our customer service team via our handy contact form. If you like to see savings in your shopping basket, we suggest you sign up to our Coffee Direct newsletter for all our latest promotions.

We deliver across the UK and to selected EU countries using Royal Mail and DPD. Available delivery options and charges are shown at checkout. Our standard delivery service takes 1–3 working days.

Some third-party supplied products may have different delivery times and costs, which will be clearly shown at checkout.

Coffee machines and certain other equipment may be shipped directly from the manufacturer. Where this applies, full delivery details will be provided at checkout.

Choose the grind that matches your brewing method.

More information on choosing the right coffee grind

Add any combination of coffees, teas or gift packs to your cart to save with our bulk discounts. Not available on carts including Subscribe & Save products or selection packs. Cannot be used in conjunction with any other discount codes. Discount is automatically applied at checkout.

All of our coffees stay fresh unopened for up to 9 months. Our teas stay fresh unopened for up to 12 months.