Roast: Full City (4/7) (Medium)
Tasting Notes: Chocolate, Nutty, Other Fruit, Raisin
Altitude: 1080 MASL
SCA Score: 82.5
Varietal: Costa Rica 95
Processing Method: Fully Washed
Story:
Coffee was introduced in Myanmar in 1885 by British missionaries, who planted coffee along the western coast of the southern tip of the country. In the 1930’s, Catholic missionaries brought Arabica to the north-eastern Shan State, one of the two major regions for Arabica production today. Coffee remained a relatively minor commodity, in what was then Burma, as British colonisers focused primarily on the production of rice. It wasn’t until the 1980’s when the government partnered with the UN to replace illegal poppy production (for opium) with coffee trees.[70]
The focus on coffee from Myanmar grew in 2015 when a partnership between the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) and Winrock International, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), sought to improve the poor volumes and processing at the time to help farmers achieve higher coffee scores to sell on the speciality market. Amazingly, within just a few years, coffee scores jumped from the low-70s to the mid-80’s marking Myanmar on the map as a new producer of speciality coffee.[70][71]
With high average altitudes of 1350 MASL, hot days and cool nights Myanmar is a perfect location for growing excellent coffee. This coffee is from the Moe Htet Estate, a large estate in Naungcho, a town within the north-west of Shan State. With around 200 acres of coffee production and long-term experience gained from working in government research as well as with multinational companies training on grafting techniques, the farm has established well. They employ 100 pickers over the harvest season from January to March, a historical harvest gap between the tea, soy and rice seasons, helping provide incomes to families that would previously have stayed at home during this time. [70][72]
Cherries from the Moe Htet Estate are harvested and delivered to the country’s largest dry mill, Mandalay Coffee Group (MCG). They go through a dry fermentation for almost 24 hours before being demucilaged and sun dried for 7-10 days. It is then hulled, sized and optically sorted before a final hand sorting to ensure the highest quality possible.[72][73]
We roast this coffee to a medium-dark level to express the chocolate and nutty notes, it has a smooth, full body with a hint of sweetness to finish.