We're looking forward to Thursday when one of our first coffee loves makes a long-awaited return: Papua New Guinea (PNG).
During the first two years we were open, Intelligentsia offered PNG coffee. The green coffee came from a strain of trees that had been transplanted from Jamaica's Blue Mountain region. And the coffee shared much of the famed JBM flavor and balance, without the high cost. Even if it wasn't pedigreed as many of Intelligentsia's single origin coffees were becoming at the time, it was still deliciously different and one of our favorites.
As Intelligentsia moved to making more/all of their purchases via Direct Trade, PNGs were discontinued. There wasn't (isn't) much infrastructure there. Geoff made his first visit to PNG in 2007 to pursue possible direct trade opportunities. That process is ongoing. The Agoga Estate we'll be offering is "direct trade in transition", meaning it's not quite there yet. But hopefully close.
The potential for Papua New Guinea is extremely promising. As with Ethiopia, there are native heirloom varieties that are growing wild. It's a topography and climate that should be perfect for growing wonderful coffees in the future.
We're looking forward to Thursday.
In other coffee news, this is the last week for the following coffees:
- La Verdad Guatemala Trapichitos
- Stumptown Rwanda Muyongwe
- Stumptown Colombia Las Vegas
- Stumptown Colombia El Jordan
- Intelligentsia Colombia Los Guayabos
- Intelligentsia Burundi Izikiri Ngoze
We'll be introducing a new La Verdad coffee - Colombia Montserrate - next week. It will be the sole Colombian for sale for the next couple of months as both Intelligentsia and Stumptown's Colombian stocks have run their course.
After a couple of weeks of tasting, we made a decision to stick with Stumptown's Burundi Bwayi over the Intelligentsia Burundi Ngoze. And we're sticking with the Intelligentsia Rwanda Zirikana Bufcafe over Stumptown's Rwanda Muyongwe. There are other Burundi and Rwanda offerings as well and we'd love to offer everything we can from these countries, but that's simply impractical. So unless anything changes, we'll have just the one Rwanda and one Burundi. The roasters indicated that supply of both should last into mid-March.
Above photos by Geoff Watts.
btw, it's delicious. dried tree fruits and a nifty little black pepper tingle with a smooth finish. a bit different than our memories of PNG, but a really tasty cup of coffee that shows off the region's future promise.
Posted by: rich | February 20, 2010 at 02:12 PM