Indian Monsooned Malabar

Like the fallen leaves on an autumn day, I loved this cup as much as I love the fall smells and colors.

This was the first time that I tried the Monsooned Malabar. I roasted it just until the second-crack began in order to keep more of the original flavor of the bean than infusing the flavor of roast.

What I noticed as I roasted was that the beans smoked pretty good but then the smoke seem to diminish and the chaff was very limited. This Monsooned worked its way through the expected roasting stages without complaint. After about 8 minutes it was finished and I started it to cooling.

I roasted 3oz of the green bean for a 2.5oz yield of roast (16.7% shrinkage). I placed 1oz of whole beans in 750ml glass container, topped off with water, corked the bottle and sat it in the sun for the day. I am attempting to make sun-coffee. I will let the beans soak in the sun day-after-day until all of the beans have sunk to the bottom of the bottle. I'll post again after I have sampled the brew.

Then I brewed a cup of the coffee in a French Press. I ground the beans medium and added a 1/2 ounce (by wieght) to 12 ounces of boiling filtered water. When I added the water to the grounds the grounds frothed with freshness and there I left it to steep for 4 minutes. I then poured 2 - 6oz cups and me and the wife sampled the brew.

As I smelled the aroma I noticed a very cocoa note where my wife said it smelled like a casserole but she could not name the casserole. In any respect, the aroma was different - but in a good way smelling very distinctly of a rich character. As we tasted the coffee my first thought was that it was very smooth to the pallet and she mentioned that it was very mild to the taste. It was both of those with a very homey-type flavor that made me wish that I were in the woods enjoying the songs of birds, the sight of the fallen leaves from trees, and the smells of a damp-autumn and sun-shiny day. All in all this was a very good roast with a great character worthy of being one of God's great creations.

Oh, I almost forgot, I ordered a syphon brewer today - I'm as excited as a young maiden lying in wait for the ball with the prince. I'll post about this in a few days.