Brian Hockenhull, who runs Buckley’s Yard Coffee Shop at 2 New Street, Uppermill, talks about the world of coffee and introduces you to their Coffee of the Month.
Visit Buckley’s Yard at New Street, Uppermill or phone Brian on 07973 155030 or emailbuckleysyarduppermill@gmail.com
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Coffee of the Month: Monsooned Malabar
This month we turn our attention to one of the world’s greatest and my best selling coffee – Monsooned Malabar.
This is a protected status Indian coffee unique to the Malabar Coast of Karnataka and Kerala. India is the seventh largest coffee-producing country in the world with most produced in the hill tracts of South Indian states.
An Indian Muslim pilgrim, Baba Budan, brought the first seeds to India from Mecca (Saudi Arabia) in around AD 1600.
Monsooned Malabar is a coffee steeped in legend, its flavour achieved by chance hundreds of years ago.
On their journey from India to Europe in the 16th century the coffee beans were stored in the holds of ships for months. The damp, humid conditions mellowed the beans, removing their acidity and giving them a pale, heavy sweetness, which was an immediate hit with Europeans.
To replicate the process today, fom June through September the selected beans are exposed to moisture-laden monsoon winds in well-ventilated warehouses until they are washed to a pale gold, causing the beans to swell and lose the original acidity, resulting in a brew with a practically neutral pH balance
Monsoon Malabar is a coffee with character. Smoky, complicated and intense, it’s traditionally a brewed coffee but worth trying as an espresso; if only for the complete craziness! Not to everyone’s taste, but definitely a coffee to experience.
Roasted dark, the coffee has a pungent spicy aroma with strong hints of musty cigars and leather. However, on tasting the strength is tempered by a beautiful mellow smoothness. It’s totally unique, and if you have never tried it you should – and if you like it you’ll probably become addicted!
It’s really great – many people buy this as that strong coffee in the morning that is not going to rip your guts apart.
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