Most coffee in India is grown in the southern states of Karanataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. South Indian coffee is typically wet-processed and is smooth, sweet, and medium bodied. At its best Indian coffee reaches the flavor characteristics of Pacific coffees, but at its worst it is simply bland and uninspiring.
Indian monsooned coffee mutes the acidity and has a heavier body often appropriate to add depth to an espresso blend. The best monsooned coffee is Monsooned Malabar.
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Another Asian country with a large coffee production is Vietnam. Coffee originally came to this country in the mid-nineteenth century when French missionaries brought arabica trees from the island of Bourbon and planted them around Tonkin. They flourished. More recently, coffee has been re-introduced and the coffee industry is growing so rapidly that Vietnam is rapidly becoming one of the world's largest producers.
Today, small plantations, located in the southern half of the country, produce mostly robusta coffee. In the cup, Vietnamese coffee has a light acidity and mild body with a good balance. It is frequently used for blending.
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Indonesia, one of the world's largest countries, is composed of thousands of islands. Several of the larger islands -- Sumatra, Java and Sulawesi (or Celebes as it was called) -- are known throughout the world for the fine, quality coffees which grow there.
The coffee plant was introduced to Indonesia by Dutch colonists in the 17th century and soon led the world's production. Today, small coffee farms of 1-2 acres predominate and most of it is dry processed. Indonesian coffees are noted for a pronounced rich, full body and mild acidity.
Indonesia is also known for its fine aged coffees. Traditionally, these were coffees held over a period of time by farmers who wanted to sell them at higher prices. Warehousing, it was found, gently aged the coffee in Indonesia's warm, damp climate and resulted in an coffee prized for even deeper body and less acidity. It is a process which cannot been matched by technology.
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