February’s Traditional coffee subscription is from Baroida in Papua New Guinea. This is our second year working with the Baroida estate, and this year we have seen the coffee take on a new intense sweetness that works really well as a medium to dark roasted coffee.

 

As an espresso this sweetness takes on the flavours of sticky dried fruit, molasses syrup, and a liquorice intensity. With milk - think sticky toffee pudding! If you are using a cafetiere or other filter brew method, you will note a heavy mouthfeel, a date or raisin-like sweetness and a long pleasant finish.

If you havent tried coffee from this region before, the Baroida is a great introduction to the qualities of speciality coffee in PNG.

 

The Baroida estate was founded by Ben Colbran in 1962, and he was one of the first to cultivate coffee in the Eastern Highlands of the country. Now his son Nichol owns and manages the farm and mill where the coffee cherries are processed.

 

The family have become closely in-tune with the unique climate and soil conditions of PNG, and have adapted traditional Kenyan methods of farming. High rainfall and frequent flooding make coffee cultivation very tricky, so the Colbran family implemented a system of drainage ditches and shade-cover in the form of indegenous trees.

 

They have been coffee pioneers in the region, and have even begun processing coffee cherries for neighbouring farms. We’d love to know how you get on with Baroida, so please get in touch, share your brew recipes and thoughts on the flavour notes!

  

  

 

This coffee is tropical in flavour and floral in aroma. It is one of our lighter roasts within the Discovery subscription and therefore quite delicate. We would recommend brewing using a pour-over method, such as v60 or Chemex, although cafetière will also work well. Drinking this coffee black will ensure you taste all the subtlety of the fruit notes and enjoy the blossom-like fragrance.

The coffee is grown in the region of Yunnan, which is better known for high quality tea production. But coffee here is beginning to gain a world wide reputation in the specialty coffee sector too! The Banka mill, where the freshly picked coffee cherries are processed, is home to one of the region’s first optical sorters. This helps remove any under ripe cherry, foreign matter, and spoiled fruit - and therefore improves further the final coffee cup quality. 

The farm and mill are now beginning to experiment with controlling different yeast fermentations, and new varietals of arabica in order to further diversify their offer, and ultimately earn a better return for their hard work. 

We hope you enjoy this introduction to Chinese speciality coffee, so do get in touch to let us know what you think.

     

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