Coffee from a very special country: Myanmar!

Coffee from a very special country. Why? It was only a few years ago that Myanmar produced specialty coffee for the first time. However, they do so impressively well and develop so quickly and effectively that this is really special!

Coffee with impact

We purchased this coffee through our partner This Side Up Coffee . They have a local partner in Myanmar called Hopong.

Hopong has managed to bring together coffee farmers from two different villages in one year to harvest their first specialty coffee in 2017. process as sun-dried natural coffee.

Farmers affiliated with the Hopong cooperative were fed up with secretly producing opium for drug lords and being persecuted by the local authorities.

In addition, they were also done selling substandard processed coffee to intermediaries for a price that was far too low.

That is why they started looking for a new way of earning a living. Through social media they learned that other coffee farms received help from an NGO to produce high quality naturals . With this they have taken a huge step in the deep and completely surrendered to specialty coffee production. With this they have (almost) become independent in one fell swoop. Speaking of coffee with impact…

From 3 bales in 2017 to...

The affiliated farmers of Long Hay village were able to deliver a first pilot batch of just 3 bales of coffee in 2017.

3 years later, the news has also reached 6 nearby villages and This Side Up Coffee is therefore offering all coffees from these affiliated villages in the 2020/2021 season.

How does it taste then?

All coffees from this region have a clean character with a typical thick banana sweetness, combined with tropical and red fruit notes.

The specific taste of the coffee that we have purchased, namely from the village of Ho Hwayt, has an extremely sweet character.

Think of; golden raisins, nectarine, lychee and tamarind. On the other hand, this beautiful natural from Myanmar is also very floral , with hints of roses and hibiscus.

How are the berries handled?

All berries are hand-picked by Hopong members in the early hours of the day. When this is ready, the berries are delivered to Hopong drying stations.

Here they are screened and again manually selected for a minimum of 95% maturity.

Fully ripe berries are laid out on drying beds. Slow drying is the main priority here and the drying time is 13-17 days depending on the weather.

What does the coffee farmer get?

The coffee farmers receive a price of €4.67 per kilo for their coffee cherries. €3.23 of that is the standard price and €1.44 is a bonus for the excellent quality of the harvest.

On top of this, another € 1.45 per kilo goes to Amayar, the dry mill, to get the coffee completely uniform in quality in Yangoon.

Does it sound interesting? Do you have any questions? Feel free to let us know!