# Monsooned Malabar - Too soon post roast?



## HowardSmith (Jan 21, 2018)

So I have been a bit more experimental recently with my bean choices & veered away from my usual RAVE CHATSWOOD...

In doing so it has been a bit of a PITA.

Mahogany Jampit Hit to start with was a little unpalatable but after allowing it to fest between 2-3 weeks & brewing it at close to 1:1.25 ratio it was good in milk & I actually came around to enjoy the 'spice' that this blend delivers.

I now have some Rave Monsooned Malabar which is 9 days post roast so it should be about ready to go... only problem being it tastes vile.

1:1.5 1:2 1:3 not good... Tasted over extracted but I don't think it is even at that short ratio. Never had to pull anything from rave shorter than 1:1.5 so before I waste a load more time & beans I figured I would ask if anyone has any tips.

I am getting a really watery shot with a foamy crema which I believe is to be expected with this bean. Not sure about the watery almost black shot though... seems odd.

Anyone got any tips?

I drink in milk always.

Thanks in advance


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

It may taste bad bad under 1:3 is unlikely to be "over extracted " .

People will have different opinions on resting , but 9 days should be fine in terms of getting a consistent shot.

Beyond that it's been an age since I had MM so can't qualify how it should taste. I would expect at least the strength to change from a 1:1.5 shot to 1:3


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## HowardSmith (Jan 21, 2018)

Mrboots2u said:


> It may taste bad bad under 1:3 is unlikely to be "over extracted " .
> 
> People will have different opinions on resting , but 9 days should be fine in terms of getting a consistent shot.
> 
> Beyond that it's been an age since I had MM so can't qualify how it should taste. I would expect at least the strength to change from a 1:1.5 shot to 1:3


Like I said I don't think it is over extracted, not leaving a 'dry' Finnish that I usually associate with over extraction.

& I just made one more attempt & pulled a 20in 26out & it still wasn't good for me.

Strength is not too much of a concern for me as I am always diluting down with milk anyway. But yeh the shot is a little more 'heavy/stronger' pulled shorter with a finer grind.

Not sure if I am just tasting what this beans should taste like but to me it is really ashy.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

At 20 into 26 , it will be strong and really " under extracted " this doesn't always present itself as sour . I know you dilute it which will change the strength bit won't always change the " extraction " . Milk in theory will sweeten what you have . I'd be tempted to start long at 1:3 in a nominal time and taste, if unpleasant reduce to 1.2.5 etc . If nothin tastes good or different down to 1:1.5 then dunno . Try diluting the shot with a little water and tasting alsob

In theory the notes are sweeter than you are getting .

I presume your shots are falling somewhere between 20-40 second in length .


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## HowardSmith (Jan 21, 2018)

Mrboots2u said:


> At 20 into 26 , it will be strong and really " under extracted " this doesn't always present itself as sour . I know you dilute it which will change the strength bit won't always change the " extraction " . Milk in theory will sweeten what you have . I'd be tempted to start long at 1:3 in a nominal time and taste, if unpleasant reduce to 1.2.5 etc . If nothin tastes good or different down to 1:1.5 then dunno . Try diluting the shot with a little water and tasting alsob
> 
> In theory the notes are sweeter than you are getting .
> 
> I presume your shots are falling somewhere between 20-40 second in length .


Well I have pretty much tried a ratio from not far off 1:1 all the way up to 1:3 all around 28-40 secs & I really just cant pull a sweet shot, all seem really ashy & flat.

Would you like me to send you some of my batch to see what you make of it? Free of corse.


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## Batian (Oct 23, 2017)

My home roasted (light/ medium to medium) MM always takes longer to mature (for espresso) than other coffees. I usually try at 10 days, but it is often 15/20 days before I feel it is at its best. I have also found that in comparison to other coffees, it needs a slightly coarser grind and less weight to get best results.


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## HowardSmith (Jan 21, 2018)

Batian said:


> My home roasted (light/ medium to medium) MM always takes longer to mature (for espresso) than other coffees. I usually try at 10 days, but it is often 15/20 days before I feel it is at its best. I have also found that in comparison to other coffees, it needs a slightly coarser grind and less weight to get best results.


Thanks

By less weight do you mean a shorter shot/ tighter ratio?


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## Batian (Oct 23, 2017)

Using a '16gm' naked PF I start with 16gm for any coffee. I then adjust weight of coffee and the grind accordingly, keeping tamp as even as is possible, and so that the level of coffee in the basket is about 1/8" below the rim.

10 secs infusion (helped if necessary)

20 to 30 secs pull and a few seconds drip.

I aim for 40gm in the cup.


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## HowardSmith (Jan 21, 2018)

Taking a look on raves site the tasting notes are a bit different to the bag...

Chocolate, Cedar, Wood Smoke, BBQ aroma

Can confirm the wood smoke & BBQ

Maybe this tasting note is what I am tasting as 'ashy'


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## jj-x-ray (Dec 31, 2017)

I really enjoyed compass's monsoon Malabar at 1:2.5

It was a weird but not unpleasant taste, but I wouldn't have said it was smoky. Different roaster tho


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## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

The usual description for monsooned is sweet spicy kick etc or sometimes not possible to describe. A good description is Dark, bold, pungent and spicy flavours. I don't drink much else other than odd packs of 250g every now and again to try. I've tried medium / special roasts as per coffeecompass that now say full to dark roast rather than special but frankly I feel it's a waste of the bean. It need to be taken to 2nd crack and should show signs of oil on the beans when they arrive, just drops but 5days later a good coating on all - recent weather here though seems to have pushed that out to more. When they are all oily they are ready but can be used a bit earlier. They aren't grinder friendly but Niche copes and weighing in on a Mazzer Mini can with a bit more brushing than usual.

I drink it in a americano. I have tried it in milk and then it does taste chocolatey but I'd need a lot more coffee than I usually use for a 10oz drink milk whatever.

I currently use 13.3g that was 14g using the Mazzer. Niche is set to 10 which I believe is at the finest end that's likely to crop up. Shot wise somewhere in the 35 odd gram region in 30 sec. Flow starts late with the Niche and 10 sec of preinfusion on a DB was stalling at times before going to full pressure. So cut that to 7 secs so flow now occurs more or less when it did using the Mini. The brown crema now has a super spicy kick. Niche had tended to give more taste anyway over the mini.

Anyway for my wife I cut the shot time to 20sec - that gives it the sweet aspect that is often mentioned. As the time goes up the spicy part becomes more apparent. While tuning I've come across in between stages that gives a sweet after taste. I tend to tune to more or less kill that. I've tried 40sec shots but not impressed. Haven't tried the DB's low pressure extended time brewing.

Doing my best to get bean colour right they are a bit darker and more even than this shows - the shine is from oil.









I've also bought them and they have arrived more or less black, seems to be ok. Also when taken too far a bit of a burnt smell but that fades after after a while.








Spicy probably means what on earth is that taste - it comes from India so must be spicy. I have heard the word bitter used but no way is it acid bitter or anything like it.

John

=


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## HowardSmith (Jan 21, 2018)

For anyone interested...

I bagged this back up & left it for another 5 days & it has transformed. I found the same to be true for the Jampit hit from CC. I can actually see this getting better as did the JH towards the 3 week mark.

In milk this is smokey with a hint of that 'Jampit spice'... I actually think this would be killer blended with Jampit.

Still not 100% 'smooth', still has a little of the 'attack' in it that I am associating with these types of beans being too fresh but I can 100% live with that. But I think it is going in the right direction & will smooth out as it ages.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

HowardSmith said:


> Like I said I don't think it is over extracted, not leaving a 'dry' Finnish that I usually associate with over extraction.
> 
> & I just made one more attempt & pulled a 20in 26out & it still wasn't good for me.
> 
> ...


Monsooned Malabar is not a single origin that goes well with milk...not at all. If it tastes dry, ashy and that sort of bitter pit tannic taste, it's probably gone a little too far/too hot (well for my tastes). If that happens Monsooned Malabar can sort of suck the insides out of your mouth. I usually aim for milk chocolate (slightly lighter) with not too much heat in the roaster, the temperature being knocked down considerably. The MM shot should have good body be syrupy in the pour and produce a dense copious foam, that flabs out fairly rapidly.

I used to roast it a lot, but not so much nowadays.

If you look at @ajohns photo, that's an example of what I would consider way to dark for MM


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## HowardSmith (Jan 21, 2018)

Posting this pic will probably do little to demonstrate anything but for reference this is the MM from Rave.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

@HowardSmith yeah that looks alright, certainly not the cremated pile @ajohn showed us. I would think they should taste OK. Theres no evidence of spalling either, so temps were probably good. Next perhaps look at extraction and if you can, extraction temperature. Deffo not in milk though, it has an odd quality in a milk drink.


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## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

DavecUK said:


> @HowardSmith yeah that looks alright, certainly not the cremated pile @ajohn showed us. I would think they should taste OK. Theres no evidence of spalling either, so temps were probably good. Next perhaps look at extraction and if you can, extraction temperature. Deffo not in milk though, it has an odd quality in a milk drink.


LOL It takes skill to roast it to the level I like. When they arrive a few beans have traces of oil on them. 5 days later and all are coated in it.







That's how I like it. Take the oil away and I put them somewhere between Agtron 42 and 37 on this chart









I did do a milk drink out of curiosity. Distinct chocolate taste and no spicy kick. That is what I usually find lacking when it's in medium roast or rather weak. Rave's looks better than another well known supplier I tried but from the description they now roast it darker. Redber did a decent roast but always darker and finished up near black but stopped for some reason.

John

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