Mae Chedi – Thailand

A gourmet delicacy straight from the heights of the kingdom of Lanna, lala land of Asia. Flavors: Blackberry, peach, jujube Terroir: Mae Chedi (Chiang Rai) Producer: Watchara Yawirach Variety: Chiang Mai (SL28 x Caturra x Hibrido de Timor) Altitude: 1100m Treatment: Anaerobic White honey Score: 87 Harvest: 2021 Roast: light Net weight: 220g 100% arabica coffee A 34-year-old coffee farmer Watchara Yawirach runs a cooperative in the village of Mae Chedi in Chiang Rai with 19 members. Mae Chedi is an area traditionally known for its tea plantations, the main crop in the area. However, coffee has always been part of farmers' livelihoods. Coffee was introduced to the region in 1977 when cultivation was encouraged to replace opium production in Thailand. With the recent increase in demand for specialty coffee, the younger generation of farmers in the region are beginning to take coffee more seriously. This is the second year of their specialty coffee production and their coffee has been exporting for a year. Watchara led the group of producers to experiment with many coffee processing methods. In particular, they apply the methods of fermentation of tea to coffee. The 'Chiang Mai' coffee variety is a cross between SL28, Caturra and Hibrido from Timor. It is therefore a variant of catimor (like the Colombia and Castillo varieties) which is back crossed with the SL28 in order to improve the quality in the cup. The coffee cherries are fermented for 9 days in closed HDPE bags (anaerobic treatment) before being pulped and dried on raised boards (white honey process). This creates a near-zero oxygen environment, allowing the production of lactic acid during the anaerobic fermentation process. This adds body, sweetness and complexity to the coffee. This process is quite similar to the way they fermented tea in the region, i.e. for a very long period of time. Once the two stages of fermentation are completed, the coffee goes through a stoner, a huller, a sizer, a density table and this ends with manual sorting. The coffees are then shipped in a three-layer bag, which includes a cotton bag for the outside, an HDPE bag for the middle layer, and a GrainPro bag for the inside layer.