LAOS SETAPOUNG

Espresso Roast

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A BIT ABOUT THIS COFFEE

This coffee is produced by Mr Ki in the small village of Setapoung. Here, Ki grows his coffee trees in small garden-like plots under the shade of local forest trees using organic vermicompost fertilization practices.

The Bolaven Plateau environment is ideal for organic coffee production with deep, fertile volcanic soils and a cool climate allowing for the coffee fruit to ripen more slowly. For this lot, Ki has hand selected the Catuai variety from his coffee garden and processed it using a fully washed method.

Our lasting impressions were how well-rounded, sweet and vibrant his coffee was.

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WHY YOU'LL LOVE IT

This coffee is sweet, clean and balanced and is truly a delicious ‘everyday coffee’.. soft yet vibrant stone fruit and citrus flavours sit perfectly on top with just a hint of caramel & honey sweetness. This coffee is for those who love clean, milder washed process coffees.

On top of Mr Ki’s finesse, we believe the terroir here also brings something special to the cup. We are so happy to offer specialty coffee from Laos once again.

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HOW TO BREW

We love it as: Espresso
Also good as: Aeropress, Stovetop, Plunger or Cold Brew. Enjoy!

Using Espresso Machine? Try - 20g in, 46g out at 26s...

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THE STORY

This is our second time importing coffee from smallholder farms in Laos, however it’s the first time we’ve had coffee from Mr Ki from Setapoung. Setapoung was one of the first villages on the Bolaven plateau that received training and infrastructure assistance to produce specialty coffee, and this early investment is still producing wonderful results. Similar to many villages in the region, coffee grows in small shade grown plots averaging between 0.5 - 3 hectare in size.

Here was Ki’s process:

He hand selected fully ripe Catuai cherries from his garden for specialty processing. The coffee was floated, pulped and stirred frequently during fermentation before being dried on raised tables. The thin layers of parchment were stirred frequently until the perfect moisture level was achieved. The dried parchment was double bagged to keep moisture levels consistent and stored in a cool, dry room before dry milling.

From here, we purchased the dried parchment from Mr Ki, and with the help of our good friend Mr. Wock, we were able to organise dry milling and handsorting before export. Buying parchment from individual households enables farmers to hone in on their farming techniques and processing, while not having to worry about dry-milling, bagging, sorting or anything related to export. It does create substantially more involvement and effort for us, but it’s a model that we’re proud to say provides a successful and mutually beneficial relationship, where the farmer has control over the quality of the product leaving their farm and also the price they receive for it.

Thanks to the help of some wonderful people on the ground, we’ve been lucky to establish a few direct relationships in Laos with some folks with unique varieties who are keen to keep the dream of Lao specialty coffee alive and well.

Also, a special mention must be given to the founders of the Jing Jhai co-op who helped facilitate our first import from Laos. As a Co-op, Jing Jhai worked hard putting in years of training and support with a handful of villages here before calling it day during the challenging pandemic. Since then, we have been back and forth between Aus and Laos catching up with a handful of growers who are happy to keep their awesome coffee flowing to Australia.