Papua New Guinea - Lamari

Tastes Like: Dark chocolate, mandarin and black tea, pronounced sweetness, a clean finish and a light-to-medium body. Varietals: Arusha , Blue Mountain , Bourbon, Typica Altitude: 1,700 to 2,000 metres above sea level Location: Lamari River Valley Coffee Gardens, Obura-Wonenara District, Papua New Guinea Process: Washed The coffee: This coffee is named in honour of the Lamari River, which flows through Papua New Guinea's Eastern Highlands. It brings together beans from smallholders across the area, provinding them with collective selling power. Coffee is grown, harvested, processed and dried by smallholders before being delivered to a collection station at a partner mill as parchment. Our friends at Sucafina then source the best quality lots, which are then hulled, graded and prepared for export. Background: Papua New Guinea is a new kid on the block when it comes to specialty coffee. In total, 85 per cent of the national's coffee is produced by smallholders who live in remote locations. This, combined with the country's historically-poor infrastructure has made it difficult for the country to transition into specialty coffee. Despite the challenges the country is working hard to bring in innovative solutions to improve the livelihoods of its smallholder coffee producers and hopefully lead to even better quality coffee being grown.