Myanmar Ka-Daung | Washed

This is a washed coffee, made up of SL28, SL34, Catuai and Catimor varietals, from a collective of the surrounding neighbors who came together and had their cherries processed at the Mandalay facility. The coffees were cupped and blended for a specific profile, named “Ka-Daung” after the beautiful national bird of Myanmar. Our importing partner for Asian coffees was there early last year to help hone in and create this coffee, and back again just last month. 

The producers do not use any kind of chemical fertilizer or chemical defensive for pests. The only product they add to the soil is fertilizer from organic matter, from their own farms generally. The farmers typically own a quarter to three acres, so very small farms, on which they intercrop a few varieties of Arabica coffee with crops such as avocado, jackfruit, jengkol beans, papaya, pineapple, passion fruit, banana, tea leaf, and macadamia trees for shade. After the coffee cherries are picked, they are then trucked to Mandalay Coffee Groups (MCG) Wet/Dry Mill located in Pyin Oo Lwin for processing. Once the cherries arrive at MCG they are sorted by variety and color. Then they start their journey at the wet mill; pulped, fermented (in tanks for 18 hours), washed, and sun dried & combed once an hour. After the desired moisture level has been reached the coffees are hulled, sized, and sorted in their Pinhalense dry mill and Satake & Buhler optical sorter. Final touch is hand sorting before being bagged to rest and export.

Look for a very nicely rounded, sweet cup, with notes of ripe raspberry, with sugars almost like a cordial, and sweet chocolate caramel candy with vanilla wafer. It’s sweet, and rich, with a remarkable cleanliness that really so pleasantly surprised us and got us so interested in what we were learning about coffee in Myanmar.