The Lady - Natural

The funkiest of the three Myanmar lots from this fantastic producing group is exactly what we have in mind when we want to drink a funky yet approachable coffee.

The rosehip notes and the hint of jasmine make this coffee very flagrant and interesting.
We get a little bit of a tropical fruit vibe that made us think of pineapple.
The unique processing method (read below) is probably the reason for the candy like, jujube notes we felt while tasting this for the first time.

This make a WILD espresso, but our favorite brew method for this was the good old batch brewer.

Processing

The unique way they process this coffee gives it so many lovely attributes. It's a combination of wet and dry fermentation using innovative carbonic maceration technique.
As opposed to the cherries processed with the washed and the honey methods who underwent both dry and wet fermentation, the natural is different: half the cherries were processed with the dry method and the other half with the wet method before being blended together.

For the dry part, the cherries are places in sealed tanks with no water to help with body and sweetness.
For the wet part, the cherries are submerged in water.
Only after those two processes will the pulp be removed and rinsed before drying for 20-24 days. (since all the skin and mucilage is still present at the time of drying, this is the longest drying time of the three lots)

Prior to fermentation, time is of the essence, even more so then the other two lots: within 4 hours of harvest, cherries are floated to remove under ripe cherry before hand sorting to remove other defects, something that is unbelievably when working with dozens of farmers from different farms.

Farmer:  The Lady Specialty Coffee
Importer: IndoChina Coffee

Price we paid:  24.90CAD/kg
FOB price: 15.60CAD/kg
Farmgate price: 2600 - 3100MMK/KG of fresh cherries (roughly 1,80CAD/kg), which is three times more than the average market price.
The farmers receive a 20% share of the profits once the final transaction is completed with the buyer, IndoChina Coffee.

The bigger than normal gap between FOB (money staying at origin) and what we paid for the coffee can be explained by the simple fact that no one imports those coffee to Canada and the USA. This means we book the coffee well in advance, and we order them from a warehouse in the UK once they land there, making logistics quite expensive.

In late April, Myanmar was hit by a devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake, killing thousands. (It even had repercussion on Yunnan, Thailand and Vietnam, three other countries we buy from.) Tens of thousands more were displaced, adding to the 3.2 millions already displaced people since the 2021 coup.

The producing group was not hit, but they are actively involved in helping provide drinking water and supply, a testament to the importance of community.

The combined effect of covid, post coup sanctions and rising inflation has put an even greater than usual strain on the people of Myanmar, including coffee farmers.