Thailand – Lanna Coffee – Som Poi Natural Processed

Description

This is a cool tasty coffee when served to the right crowd. Very much so a slow dried natural. Gets a lot of fermenty sweetness and wild fruity factor at lighter roasts but shows almost a “barrel aged” smokiness at the darker roast points. Similar to Bali Kintamani Natural or Zambia Natural

Thai Coffee?!?!? A rare origin in the U.S. for stand up beans, turns out they grow a lot of coffee in Thailand. The specialty market has been up and coming and the beans getting better and better. Similar to origins like India but with more hybrid processing methods. These beans have a unique story and taste.

We have been looking for tasty Thai coffee for quite some time, had some friends on the ground over there for a bit but every time we got samples, tasted more like robusta with some overly earthy tones, reminded me of more European style espresso beans. We hooked up with Lanna coffee recently (awesome folks) to source some tastier feel good lots.

Tasting Notes: A very cool cup for a natural processed fan, if you don’t like some ferment tones, don’t jump into this one. Lots of fruit and acidity at the lighter roast points, mostly down the red fruit and citric alley balanced with an herbal spiced chocolaty undertone, comes of a bit unique like an Indian coffee with crazy fruity & acidic highlights. Medium roasts come off much more mild, builds the chocolaty undertone, mutes up some of the wild fruit and acidity but doesn’t burn it out, exotic and very drinkable. Will start to pick up more of a barrel aged tone around 2nd crack and a strong smoky factor into 2nd crack.

Roasting Notes: Fun to play around with this one but exotic at any roast points. Higher chaff. Light to medium roasts are the more exotic cups with stronger acidity and fruity factor, many will appreciate it here. Can be much more of a “daily drinker” at the medium to dark roast marks building the more traditional chocolaty undertones and reducing the acidity a bit.

Som Poi is significant for many reasons, including being one of the strongest communities that Lanna coffee has been sourcing from for over twenty-five years. Even more, coffee production has been part of this community’s story for more than forty years. Karen ( KHA- WREN) villagers migrated from Myanmar into Thailand hill country more than one hundred-fifty years ago, and despite having a nomadic history, they have remained united through it all. Today, more than five-hundred villagers make up the village of Som Poi.