ROADS LESS TRAVELLED SERIES

LAOS - DUANGTA

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A BIT ABOUT THIS COFFEE

Duangta cultivates his coffee in the serene village of Phudam Khuan on the Bolaven Plateau, where his fertile coffee gardens thrive near an extinct volcano.

With rich, volcanic soil and a commitment to organic farming, he emphasises clean processing. Among his diverse mix of coffee varieties, Duangta grows heirloom types like Typica, a low-yielding variety introduced to Laos by the French nearly 100 years ago.

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WHY YOU'LL LOVE IT

This coffee presents a gentle and approachable flavour profile, offering a perfect introduction to the unique character of Phudam Khuan.

It features a lovely unrefined sugar-like sweetness, balanced by soft fruit notes of citrus, apple, and berry.

Tea-like qualities, often found in the Typica variety, further elevate its complexity, contributing a subtle depth to the overall experience.

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HOW TO BREW

V60

20g Dose

300g Yield 

2.45 Brew time 

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THE STORY

We first tried Mr. Duangta's coffee in 2023. He shared samples with us to cup and we fell in love with the flavour potential of the coffee from this village. We were also impressed by the processing and drying infrastructure that he had already invested in.

In small lots, Duangta grows Typica, Yellow Caturra, Catuai, Java, and Catimor. The Typica variety is now quite rare worldwide because it is both low-yielding and generally difficult to grow, being quite susceptible to pests and disease. As one of the lowest-yielding Arabica varieties, it can produce less than half of what other varieties do, which is why it has fallen out of popularity. However, when it is separated and processed with great care, farmers can demand a much higher price for it than for other varieties due to its delicate and sweet profile.

We meet with each of our farming partners before, during and after harvest. Agreements are made based on how much they can and want to produce as well as our quality requirements. In most cases, we buy everything that is produced by each family at a price set by them, aligning as closely as we can with our volume requirements. We purchase the coffee from each farmer as parchment—this means it has gone through wet-processing and drying but not dry-processing—so once collected, we personally handle the milling, sorting, grading, bagging, and export to Australia. This way farmers don’t have to worry about dry-milling and the complexities related to export. Being able to set their own parchment price, they can better account for their total costs. It’s substantially more involvement and effort for us, but it’s a model that we are proud to say is the most mutually beneficial here.