Papua New Guinea : wild and wildly classic coffees
If you have been following us for a while, you are used to us releasing crazy coffees. But if you are new in the rabbit hole, let us say this: we created this company to work mostly with emerging and less known origins. Papua New Guinea (PNG) fits the bill perfectly.
It comes to no surprise that when we heard that our friends at Crop to Cup, whom we have to thank for the import of those amazing coffees, would bring some exciting lots from there, we had to get in on it.
PNG is a small island nation of the Pacific. There are more then 850 indigenous languages, and it feels like the coffee grown there is even richer in tasting notes then in dialects.
When we tested some samples, one thing was evident: that creating our labels with only 3-5 tasting notes would be limiting! There were so many things happening in the cup that every sip could feel different then the previous one depending on what you decided to focus on. And yet, the coffees were easily enjoyable. It didn’t take long to reserve some bags because we knew we had to share this with our coffee friends.
Of the two lots we launch this week, our limited edition Mount Hagen might be the craziest coffee we ever had. And that comes from people who roast banana pudding tasting natural coffees from Yunnan ;-) If it’s not the craziest, then it’s a strong contender for the title. This will challenge your taste buds, and even your perception of what coffee can be.
Hailing from the Western highlands, this coffee has some pretty unique tasting notes, not often seen in coffee. It’s tropical, wild and herbal at times, with notes of honeydew melon, sage, liquorice, and the acidity of a star fruit. To balance it all, a nice sugar cane sweetness jumps in to bring everything together. If you have the chance to taste it, please let us know what crazy notes you found in it!
The second lot we have is a beautifully balanced and sweet coffee, Wahgi Valley. With a pleasantly round mouthfeel and prolonged aftertaste, this coffee from the Eastern Highlands is easy to drink at any time of the day, with any method.
The profile feels a bit more recognizable then the Mt Hagen, but with some twists: instead of the classic almond and chocolate profile we can often see in coffee, this one is full of white chocolate and macadamia nuts. Pair that with some elderberry acidity instead of the citrusy one often associated with some chocolaty coffees, and this coffee will be interesting from start to finish!
Since 95% of the farmers in PNG are small holders (some as small has owning 20 coffee trees!) and live in rural areas deprived of efficient roads, logistics can become a problem.
That’s why cherry collectors will make rounds daily with a truck and pay premium for red ripe cherries, before bringing back the coffees to be processed in a centralized mill with strict protocols.
We are looking forward to see where this coffee will take us, and we hope that our import partners will be able to solidify their relationship there to insure we can see the evolution of the coffee, harvest after harvest!
*Photo credits Crop to Cup