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91

Martinez Fine Coffees

India Monsooned Malabar

Roaster Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Coffee Origin: Southern India.
Roast Level: Medium
Agtron: 49/60
Review Date: December 2007
Aroma: 8
Body: 7
Flavor: 8
Aftertaste: 8

Blind Assessment

Low-toned, simple but resonantly deep coffee, with variants of smoke and chocolate notes running from aroma to cup. As the cup cools the smoky character subordinates itself to delicate chocolate and orangy floral notes. Very clean, sweet finish. The smoke notes, by the way, appear to be a variant on the musty/malty character of the unroasted monsooned beans, not a symptom of a darker roast.

Notes

Monsooned Malabars are arabica coffees that, after drying inside the fruit and fruit removal, have been exposed to wet, salty winds inside special open-sided warehouses during the monsoon season. After several months of such exposure the beans swell to about twice their normal size, lose acidity, and develop a mildly malty, musty character. Martinez Fine Coffees specializes in elite single-origin coffees only. The firm was founded in 1988 by the distinguished Jamaican-born coffee man John Martinez. Visit www.martinezfinecoffees.com or call 800-642-5282 for more information.

Who Should Drink It

How about metrosexuals: An exceptionally elegant version of the often dauntingly rugged and macho monsooned cup.

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This review originally appeared in the December, 2007 tasting report: Exotic Procedures in Far Places: Aged, Monsooned and Luwaked Coffees

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About the Author: Kenneth Davids

Kenneth Davids is editor, chief writer and co-founder of Coffee Review. His latest book, 21st Century Coffee: A Guide is an unprecedentedly thorough survey of specialty coffee in all of its aspects, authoritative yet engaging. He has been involved with coffee since the early 1970s and has published three earlier books on coffee, including the influential Home Roasting: Romance and Revival, now in its second edition, and Coffee: A Guide to Buying, Brewing and Enjoying, which has sold nearly 250,000 copies in five editions.

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