This year finally sees a return of this village lot from the village of Bant Sawk in Myanmar. This origin is a relative newcomer to the world of specialty coffee, hitting the market with some very fine natural process coffees indeed. This lot in particular is very clean and sweet with hints of raspberry and vanilla and a nice, bright apple-like acidity. The mouthfeel is almost creamy and it is very pleasant to drink all day long.
 
Socio-Economic Kontext:
 
Myanmar is a Southeast Asian nation bordering on China, Bangladesh and India to the North and Laos and Thailand to the South. It has seen its fair share of ethnic and civil unrest and has been in the media recently because on top of the civil war the people of Myanmar have endured for years the country was hit by a severe earthquake which killed thousands and left even more people injured and homeless. Warlords dominating rural areas as well as a damaged or lacking infrastructure have made the situation for farmers in the remote upland areas increasingly difficult. Many of them experienced delays during harvest and production process which in turn had an impact on quality and supply chain logistics.
 
However, in Bant Sawk, a small village of about 200 households in the eastern uplands of Shan state, coffee farmers still managed to produce this delicious and balanced lot of coffee even under challenging circumstances. For them, the cultivation of specialty grade Arabica coffee has meant the transition away from forced opium production and towards a safer, healthier and better life for the whole region. Our import partners ‘This Side Up’ from The Netherlands have been working with the villagers of Bant Sawk and the surrounding villages of the Hopong area since 2017. Since then, word has spread throughout the region and more and more villages have managed the switch from opium poppies to coffee. This Side Up are paying the farmers price premiums for premium quality and the money has been invested back into the communities to improve the coffee processing infrastructure.
 
Environmental Kontext:
 
No industrial fertilizers or pesticides are used in this area and even though these producers aren’t certified organic, their ways of growing and producing their coffees can be characterized as organic by default.      
 
The community farmers of Bant Sawk produce sun dried natural coffees: the coffee cherries are handpicked and delivered to Hopong community drying stations. Here, they are screened for ripeness and only the fully ripe cherries are placed on raised netted drying beds. Slow drying is a priority and drying times range between 13-17 days depending on weather conditions. All lots are separated by day and all members’ deliveries are fully traceable.