Green Coffee Offerings : Indonesia : Papua New Guinea


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We had just one good PNG to offer - the Kimel Peaberry, which was really the best one of all the samples I cupped. The rest did not work out. Offers seemed lacking this year. But I am planning to get to Papua New Guinea this July, and hope to make some new contacts.


About Guinean Coffee

Map of Papua New Guinea
 

Papua New Guinea is a distinct coffee among the Indonesians, even though it doesn't even have an entire island to call its own. Papua New Guinea occupies the eastern half of the island it shares with the Indonesian provice of Irian Jaya (no organized coffee production originates from Irian Jaya). The small-farm "Coffee Gardens" have a unique wild note in the cup but are in no way as earthy as other Indonesian coffees such as Sumatra and Sulawesi. These small farms are often organized into coops that share wet-milling facilities and are Organic certified.

The Plantation coffees are the larger farms and have the cleaner, more delicate and sophisticated cup character. While a lighter body than Javas, good PNG has the delicate notes, complexity, and sometimes the acidity or brightness of the best Central Americans.

I have also cupped small farm, natural dry-processed Papua New Guineas and been astounded with the depth, range of flavors and subtleties of the cup: hopefully we will see something of this kind available as a commercial coffee in the US market at some time. Much of the seedstock on Papua New Guinea is planted from the Jamaican Blue Mountain var. typica arabica, and with the Arusha typica varietal from Tanzania. Some are more modern hybrids or the Indian "Kent" varietal.

There are several types of PNG coffee I really enjoy: A bright, clean, fruited cup such as Kimel; A balanced lower-toned cup like Arokara Plantation (great for espresso) and a more rustic Organic PNG. In general PNG is such a solid origin, with a range of different cup profiles, as opposed to Timor which has one basic cup profile. So I feel we have good reason to offer multiple PNG coffees (although business-wise it makes little sense, but hey, we don't operate like that anyway!).


Our Papua New Guinea Offerings:

(You will need to read the reference page to interpret terms and numbers used below). Check out the Sweet Maria's Coffee Home Roasting Forum for more conversation about home roasting this and other coffees.

We are currently out of stock. The review below is provided for your reference.

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Papua New Guinea Kimel Peaberry

Papua New Guinea occupies the Eastern half of the island it shares with the Indonesian provice of Irian or simply Papua. There is very, very little organized coffee production from the Irian side, But the PNG highlands are planted with a variety of coffee types, and a combination of a few large plantations, and many many smallholder coffee gardens. PNG coffees can be a bit confusing. They are different from other Indonesian, Southeast Asian or Pacific Island types. All PNG coffees are wet-processed, which is a large part of their more bright, acidic profile, and why some basic aspects of the cup are indeed similar to a Central America coffee. Many other Indonesia coffees, such as Sumatra and the bulk of Sulawesi coffees, are "wet-hulled" which results in lower acidity, heavy body, and the funky "earthy" character which some people love more than others. There can be a huge range of cups flavors from rustic, bulked Organic lots to Plantation coffees. The plantations are larger farms that have their own coffee-processing wet mills, so they are able to control all the variables of production better than the small farm coffee gardens. That is where the Kimel farms are rather interesting. Kimel has their own wet mills like a plantation, but is actually a group of farms centered aroung the main 620 hectare plantation and is cooperatively owned by the indigenous Opais peoples of the Wahgi Valley. In a sense, it is a private cooperative, and mainly due to excellent altitudes and decent quality control at the mill, the coffee has a vibrant brightness while retaining some unique PNG origin characteristics. Also interesting is the fact Kimel is comprised of more cultivars than you can count on one hand, a mixed salad of green coffees: Typica, Arusha, Blue Mountain, Mundo Novo, Catimor, Caturra, and probably more! This indicates that, while buyers and sellers like to represent coffees being of one or two cultivars, in reality farmers tend to plant some on any type that comes along, a way of hedging your bets in case any particular cultivar doesn't pan out. Kimel is broadly available since Royal Coffee sells it, but there is a good range of quality from lot to lot, grade to grade. This particular PB lot is extremely nice, though lacking some body and complexity. The dry fragrance is sweet and piquant, especially vibrant at City+ to Full City. (City roast seemed a little grainy, oat-like due to underroast). The wet aroma has orange marmalade and cinnamon-allspice notes, and these come out in the cup flavor too. I was impressed how the clean brightness is stable through all the roast ranges, even into 2nd crack, where sarsaparilla/root beer flavors are present. City+ roast has apple cider flavors as well as floral touches; honeysuckle. While I didn't like the lightest City roast much when I first cupped it on 12 hours rest, it really balanced out at 48 hours, with sweet jammy orange-apricot flavor. In the finish there are some slight piney/foresty tastes, hinting at it's origin as a near-Indonesia coffee. The body is light, and it's not a cup with huge dimension/depth, but I think this is the best PNG of the year, based on all my cuppings.





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Typica trees under shade in Papua New Guinea,
Country: New Guinea
Grade: PB
Region: Eastern Highlands
Mark: Kimel Coffee Gardens
Processing: Wet-Processed
Crop: Late Dec 2009 Arrival
Appearance: .0 d/300gr, 17-18 PB Screen
Varietal: Typica, Arusha, Blue Mountain, Mundo Novo, Catimor, Caturra
Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium intensity / Brightness, with traces of foresty-herbal flavors
Roast: City roast works, but only with 48 hours+ of rest. Otherwise, City+ to Full City+ was remarkably stable in terms of brightness and cup flavors. See the review comments.
Compare to: NOT like wet-hulled Indonesia coffees of Sumatra or Sumawesi. A bright cup with light body, and just hints of Indonesia
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We are currently out of stock. The review above is provided for your reference.


Archived Reviews

To view reviews for out of stock coffees, visit our New Guinea Coffee Archives.


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