Monsoon
An initiative that breaks down the traditional way of buying coffee.
We look at how we can connect directly with the farm, where our coffee comes from and how we can remove the middlemen, buyers and sellers. When we buy our coffee we not only look at the cup quality but at the eco standards it is grown under, the social standards the workers are living under to the relationship Ducale can build so we can tell their story to you.
Sourced from the same plantation for flavour and consistency.
The beans from Ducale’s Monsoon blend have been sourced from a single farm along the coastal region of Western India, renowned for some of the finest A-grade Arabica’s in the world. An important part of our selection involves ensuring that the farm employs sustainable and responsible processes.
The accidental hero of Indian coffee. The Monsooning process.
Before the transportation of coffee became a much faster and more efficient process, it would take 4-6 months to ship out of India and into Europe. During the coffee’s journey it would be stored below the waterline of a wooden vessel, which was humid and moist. This environment caused the bean to swell and change colour from green to pale gold. More importantly, it produced a mellow tasting coffee that was easy on the stomach and was popular amongst Europeans. The monsooning process was later developed to simulate this original and unique treatment all those years ago. Today, recently harvested beans are layered about 5 inches thick in well-ventilated warehouses during the Southwest Monsoon months. The beans are exposed to moisture laden winds from the Arabian Sea for 12-16 weeks. They’re lovingly raked, bulked and regularly rebagged to help balance moisture absorption. During this process the beans increase their moisture
content from the regular 10.5% for Indian coffees, to about 14.5%, creating the lowest acid coffee in the world.
Taste characteristics.
A mellow tasting coffee with a sweet fragrance is perfect for the adventurous coffee connoisseur wanting a lively and complex cup. Ducale’s Monsoon blend displays musk candy and almond aroma and a rich toffy flavour with a clean full palate finish. It’s heavy bodied but with a very low acidity, making this blend perfect for milk based drinks that brings out a sweet cocoa and malt flavour in the cup.