Papua New Guinea Mountain Top

Papua New Guinea Coffee

Papua New Guinean coffee was very late to the party when beans from the Jamaica Blue Mountain crop were planted in the late 1800’s. Despite its proximity to Indonesia, PNG coffee offers a vastly different taste profile and certainly stands alone from other arabicas from the Asian continent. Flavours of raisin and chocolate excite the palate, with a medium acidity this coffee is balanced and delicious.

What is the History of Coffee in Papua New Guinea?

Here is a brief timeline of the history of production in this country:

1926: Where coffee production starts. 18 plantations were established, which set the industry up for success. This is also when the Jamaican Blue Mountain seeds were first planted.
1960s: Infrastructure was dramatically improved, and the coffee industry saw a huge growth. This was because beans could be transported and processed much easier and quicker.
1970s: The industry went from strength to strength and continued to thrive.
1980s: Production took a turn for the worse and made many coffee workers redundant.
1986: Coffee rust started to affect the crops.
1990s: Production increased and the country even reached its peak in 1998.

Papua New Guinea Flavour Profile and Tasting Notes

All coffee that is labelled ‘PNG’ is grown on the Eastern side of the island. These beans are known for having a rich, luxurious body with subtle earthy tones. Most of the varieties grown here are Bourbon, Typica and Arusha with the latter originating from Tanzania. The complex taste notes of PNG coffee create a fantastic all round coffee that work fantastic if you like black coffee but equally great with milk.

 What is Washed Process Coffee?

PNG coffee is washed. meaning that the cherry of the coffee seed is removed before the fermentation and drying stage. The coffee cherries are put into water where any unripe fruit floats to the top. The skin and pulp of the cherry is then removed by putting them through a screen immersed in water. In the ferment and wash process the remainder of the pulp is broken down with microbes and then washed with large amounts of water. This produces clean, bright tasting coffee that is of high quality, note the even roast of this coffee.