UNDER THE SHADE OF THE FOREST

Located in the area's highest elevation, Hua Chang has its own microclimate in Thailand's most significant coffee-producing region. Nawin works every day with an open mind and a broad perspective. He is a young risk-taker that lives and works in Hua Chang, which literally means "Elephant Head." The area is covered in forest, so the cherries ripen slowly. If we add all these elements, plus the rich nutrients found in the fertile black soil, perhaps we can explain the top-quality coffee that it produces!

CULTIVARS:

Catuai, Typica

ALTITUDE:

1,500 meters above sea level.

PROCESSING:

Natural: after the harvesting of ripe cherries, they are floated to remove potential defects. They are then laid out on a thin layer on raised beds for several days, while underripe and over-fermented cherries continued to be picked out. Then when the moisture reached about 30%, the coffee cherries are moved to speed up the drying on the patio to prevent overfermentation. For cleanliness, the patio is covered with plastic sheets.

Black Honey: the coffee cherries collected towards the end of the season because of the slow ripening which is unique to Hua Chang. We pulped the cherries at night and dried immediate on raised beds to prevent fermentation. The drying house is designed so that the ventilation allows for slow and even drying. After drying, the parchment is delivered to our mill to be hull and sorted for export.

Natural Yeast Fermentation: Coffee is inoculated with two types of yeasts: a yeast that is traditionally used for red wine, and a yeast used for white wine. Coffee cherries are fermented in closed tanks with a one-way valve, making sure the tanks are partially under water —in order to control the temperature. After 5 days, extra nutrients are added. This helps prolong the fermentation and yeast growth.

Soon after, the second type of yeast is added into the tanks and cherries are left to ferment for an extra 5 days. After this, cherries are taken out of the tank and laid out on a thin layer on raised beds for 25 days until the moisture hits an appropriate level.

Kenya Style Washed: the coffee cherries arrived from early to late evening then rested for one night before being floated the next morning. The cherries were then pulped and left to dry ferment for one day. The next morning, water was added and wet fermented for an additional day before washing and soaking then put to dry on a patio, covered with plastic sheets.