Africa | America | Asia

Coffee can grow between latitudes 25° north and 25° south along the equator. This coffee belt covers about 70 countries in 3 continents – America, Africa and Asia. To learn more about the story behind these coffee producing countries is the first step of understanding what Single Origin coffee is. In this Trio Set, we select one coffee from each continent, which are all high quality Arabica, carrying a signature taste of the origin. Let’s start traveling around the world.

The specialty coffee bean in the AAA coffee trio set

In this Trio set, we select 3 coffee that represent 3 major taste profile of speciality coffee – Africa, America and Asia. Through tasting them, you can have a basic understanding on how to connect your sensory to the vocabulary that used to describe the flavors.

• Africa: Ethiopia Guji Tome Uraga Washed
• America: Guatemala Proyecto Xinabajul Paraiso
• Asia: Sumatra Lintong Sigumpar Village

3 bags in the box. 100g Each. All freshly roasted while order received.
Price: HK$280/set, including FREE devliery

Africa

Africa is the birthplace of Coffee, archaeologists believe the first coffee plant was born in the Africa Continent 465 million years ago in the Ordovician period. In about 900A.D. Ethiopians started collecting wild-grown coffee cherries and making drinks out of it by pan-fired and boiling. This traditional way of drinking coffee is still kept till today as the Ethiopia Coffee Ceremony. 

Coffees are now produced in over 20 countries in Africa, the largest producer is still Ethiopia, followed by Uganda, Tanzania and Ivory Coast. But for specialty grade coffee, Kenya is the first country to bring in washed processing instead of the traditional natural sun-dried process in 1900. Later on, the washed process becomes the mainstream processing for other countries like Rwanda, Burundi, etc. to enter the export market.

America

America is the biggest coffee producing continent today, producing more than half of the coffee we consumed everyday. Major producers are Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Costa Rica, Peru, Honduras, etc. which are all Spanish/Portuguese speaking. Brazil alone has produced more than 30% of the coffee worldwide, while Colombia is the top speciality grade coffee producer with strong R&D on variety and processing technique. The 7 central America countries are the most vibrant and interesting origins for speciality grade coffee, they combined produced even more than Colombia. For the “New World” of coffee, America is the epicenter.

Asia

Asia had the biggest coffee cultivation during the Old World, before the New World taking over. In 1400s, Yemen started cultivate coffee in farm, becoming the first country growing coffee in the world. In 1700s, coffee growing globalisation began, first in India and Sri Lanka in South Asia, then in Dutch colonies Java, Timor, Sumatra, Bali and Sulawesi. Some of these Pacific islands joined together to form Indonesia today, making it becoming the biggest coffee producing country in Asia for a long time, until Vietnam came into the picture a few years ago. But for specialty grade coffee, Sumatra, Sulawesi, Timor-Leste and Papua New Guinea are still the best in Asia.

Flavor of Different Origin

The aroma and taste of coffee will be affected by a number of environmental factors, such as altitude, soil and most critical climate. Micro-climate of the growing region like day-night temperature difference, sun exposure ratio in a day, overall precipitation, drying seasons, etc. will all contribute to the flavor development. Variety selection is also a major factor, as well as the way of processing after harvest. 

We picked an Ethiopian from the famous Sidama area which biologists believed was where the first coffee tree came from. African coffee is the best on acidic side with a complex fruity taste and aroma.

Guatemalan coffee is the best representative for America, carrying a clean acidity and strong sweetness like chocolate. This clean and balanced taste can mostly be found in coffee coming from America.

Sumatra produces the best specialty coffee in Asia, and Lintong is the best of the best on the Sumatra island. You can taste a luscious sweetness with herbal and earthy taste, very smooth coffee.

• Africa –
  Origin: Ethiopia
  Region: Sidama, Bensa
  Producer: Qonqana station, Asefa Dukamo
  Altitude: 2000m
  Cultivar: Heirloom
  Processing: Washed
  Roast Level: Light
• America –
  Origin: Guatemala
  Region: Huehuetenango
  Producer: Proyecto Xinabajul, Sweet Maria’s
  Altitude: 1500-200m
  Cultivar: Bourbon, Caturra, Catuai, Typica
  Processing: Washed
  Roast Level: Medium Light
• Asia –
  Origin: Sumatra
  Region: Lintong, Sigumpar Village
  Producer: Pak Alex
  Altitude: 1400-1500m
  Cultivar: Ateng, Bergendal, TimTim
  Processing: Wet Hulled
  Roast Level: Medium Dark