Thailand Asor Merlaeku

Coffees like this one will surprise some people, and we are always happy to break down preconceptions. So often coffees from certain countries or regions are looked at as lesser than by the paradigmatic intelligentsia for one reason or another.

This raisin natural processed lot comes to us from Asor Merlaeku and is comprised of Catuai, Typica, and Chiang Mai varietals. Look for deep chocolate as well as light fruit and nutty flavors in the cup. Given the beautiful natural complexity of coffees, we feel like those flavors can contribute unique nuances for our dark roast fans.

From the Exporter, Beanspire:

"Huai Mae Liam is a coffee producing village whose coffee has only recently been given the recognition it deserves. In the past, the coffee from this village got sent to bigger villages like Doi Chang and Doi Pangkhon and had been marketed under the names of those famous villages. It is important that we recognize the effort of coffee farmers from Huai Mae Liam by giving them the identity they deserve. This is from a specific farm owned by Asor Merlaeku (39), one of the most sophisticated farmers we have encountered. This coffee is an innovation that we just started to explore with Asor. The process is called “Raisin Natural”, meaning that the cherries were left to dry on the trees and harvested only at the end of the season. We say that this is an innovation because normally these dried coffee cherries were left there because farmers did not have the resources to harvest all the ripe cherries in time. These dried cherries would actually get thrown away to get ready for the next harvest. But this method, done in Latin America too, actually produces really interesting flavors that we may not get from the ‘normal’ natural processed coffee. Because we are able to add value to products that would otherwise be thrown away, this means that it represents extra income for farmers."