Indian Mooleh Manay Honey
Indian Mooleh Manay Honey One Roast:
The historic temptation with Indian coffee was to treat them like a solid Brazil and roast so it is all things chocolatey. Thankfully we (most of us) as a culture have moved on and have learnt that higher-quality coffees show their qualities when roasted lighter. With many of these coffees, there is an undeniable body, which looks (crema) and tastes lovely.
On the pre-shipment, this lot was outstanding and more complex than the natural, so I begged Komal and Akshay for as much as I could get. Happily, we have found a great place for this coffee to sit, and we hope it gives you as much pleasure as we have had with it, so far. We aim to give a wide range of customers a chance to brew this and unusually for us, this is Espresso-centric, or to be viewed as a developed filter coffee.
Top Trumps
Farm owner: Ms. G.G. Padmashree
Varietals: S795 Crossbred arabica, (very common in India)SLN 6 and Catuai.
Process: Honey. “Selectively picked”. Two words mean a lot in quality.
Farm Established (Changed hands):2013 Fourth generation farm.
Location: Banks of the Harangi backwaters; Foothills of the Western Ghats, North Coorg.
Total Crop potential: 15 tons
Roast level: Light/Medium espresso or Developed Filter.
Cup Profile:
In Espresso:
Unlike the natural, this coffee, I feel is simply made for espresso. We have brewed this in a range of recipes and it just comes to life this way. I have been brewing this in a 1:2 ratio for milk-based drinks and found that longer extractions have worked oddly well. As always, we have taken this in milk up to 9oz to test for solubility. Also known as see if it works 😀.
Espresso: 17g of dry: 45-50g out in 35 +/- seconds= Bright, zesty Pineapple, green grape, and cranberry. Using good whole organic milk: 17g/34g (ish or just 1:2) 6oz Cocoa, Caramel, Carob |9oz in milk: Salted caramel, lactic sugars.
Aromatics: Chocolatey | Body: Super Creamy | Acidity: Almost non-existent, sweet |
In Filter:
This has a strikingly heavy (Creamy) body. The liquor is sweet, herbal, and soft. Yellow fruit sugars on cooling with a really “chewy” cocoa aftertaste.
Farm Info
India isn’t famous for its clean cups of coffee. A few have tried to improve and export better quality over the years, but it has really taken until recent times for a young, bright driven couple with ties in London and Northern Coorg, to make things happen. It has been fun to see and hear the regular updates, from the plantations now that Akshay and Komal are based in India full-time. The pandemic has enforced that to a degree. There is no standing still. Nothing is wasted, with local markets as well as their European business. You can follow their story here. Also, you can read more about them on our blog.
Mooleh Manay has been modernised and is producing coffee with an environmental and quality focus. In the UK, Komal Sable and Akshay Dashrath are selling well-produced coffees from the family farm and selected coffees, from friends and neighbors too. We absolutely love this coffee and urge you to watch this space as we have more to share.
