- Thailand Chiang Rai Doi Pangkhon SL Washed (100g)
- Laos Paksong Typica Washed (100g)
- Myanmar Shan State Mt Indigo SL Natural (100g)
Up in the lush highlands where Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand meet lies a jungle wilderness on the shore of the Mekong River. The opium trade has deep roots in this region. And with the discovery of the opiate heroin, the trade routes between Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand earned an international presence as well as an infamous name: the Golden Triangle.
With high altitude and tropical climate, this area is not only good for growing opium, but also has potential to grow high quality Arabica coffee. In 1961 Richard Mann began introducing Caturra and Catuai coffee hybrid seedlings to the farmers in Chiang Rai, the Thailand part of Golden Triangle. He was later involved in the opium replacement program by the United Nations International Drug Control Program in 1980’s, which finally governments of the Golden Triangle (Thailand, Myanmar/Burma and Laos) teamed up. Since then, the area has undergone a big transition from opium to coffee.
Thailand – Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai
Alongside sugarcane, coconuts, cacao, and a few other profitable crops, coffee was introduced to Thailand on a widespread and near-industrial level. Coffee has since grown into one of the country’s favorite cash crops, filling commercially and community-owned fields and paddies across Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai province. More than 30,000 tons of green coffee are produced every year in this northern border region, making Thailand not only sits third among the coffee-producing countries of Asia but also earning specialty coffee growing region recognition by many Third Wave coffee roasters around the world.
Myanmar – Shan State
Myanmar is a relatively new origin to the specialty coffee community. Arabica production was centered around the Southern and Northern Shan States, and in Pyin Oo Lwin. The government of Myanmar has historically been pro-coffee production, and jump-started production as means to curb opium poppy planting in the 1980s. In the early 2000’s, the government launched a new program that offered land, financing, and technical support to prospective coffee producers, and coffee production increased as a result. Quality of specialty coffee from Shan State has constantly improved in past decades, it’s definitely a new growing region worth paying attention to.
Laos – Luang Prubang
Compared to Thailand and Myanmar, Laos is only in the beginning of opium replacement. In the northern city Luang Prubang, some UN projects, NGO and commercial roasters start recruiting farmers to grow high-value roasts — the sort that can compete with opium prices — and hopefully leave the drug trade behind. They pick more expensive and flavorful Arabica beans, trying to differentiate from the other coffee growing area Bolaven Plateau, which is mainly growing robusta.