22 Oct 2019
Over five days, our team visited three regions in the Shan State - Pyin Oo Lwin, Ywa Ngan & Pinlaung along with 9 farms - Myaing, A Lel Chaung & Lay Ywar. Our Assistant Head Roaster, Josh, takes us through his trip.
As a roaster, you develop a sense of affinity and familiarity with each coffee that evolves over time as a substantial amount is spent profiling, analysing and obsessing over the smallest detail. It is in that moment, when standing face to face with the producers of a coffee that you know so intimately, that everything falls into place. The whole picture is realised. It was incredibly humbling and a little surreal to be met by beaming smiles, overcoming the language barrier and realising the amount of hard work and dedication put into our common goals: achieving outstanding quality coffee.
There are many great stories that you hear about people traveling to origin, from personal stories involving producers to innovative processing methods but its not until you’re standing there taking in the sights, sounds and smells that the reality really hits home. The smell of drying coffee is something that I remember vividly, that I could best describe as a mix of ripe, tropical fruit and sharp fresh olive. We shared a little moment of mutual admiration and the producers’ sense of pride and achievement, that coffee from their village was being enjoyed internationally was evident.
Josh Haidinger
Assistant Head Roaster