Thailand Doi Pangkhon Washed | 25 lb | A-5164

This coffee comes from second generation coffee producer Afae Lercheku and his farm on the Doi Pangkhon mountain in Chiang Rai, Thailand. Afae has been studious in learning to develop his post-harvest processing, resulting in some of the best coffee that our partners at Beanspire Coffee have cupped from Doi Pangkhon, and area they have worked in since 2015. He is also committed to pursuing sustainable agriculture, growing multiple crops alongside his coffee like cucumbers, tomatoes, and other vegetables, which help him diversify his income along with aiding sustainability. This is the first year that Afae’s coffee has been exported from Thailand, and we’re proud to showcase his work to an international audience.

Coffee farming is a relatively new industry in Thailand, and one that is proving to be attractive to young entrepreneurs. Thailand's current coffee history dates back to the 1970s, when an opium eradication project started by the King of Thailand introduced the first coffee trees to areas like Doi Saket. Efforts to reforest degraded land and introduce coffee and other crops to replace illicit cultivations proved extremely successful. Farmers’ mountain properties today are flourishing, with many of the original planted varieties—like Catuai, Typica, and local Chiang Mai which is a cross between SL-28, Caturra, and Timor hybrid—thriving in healthy production.

Doi Pangkhon Washed was sourced from our exporting partners in Thailand, Beanspire Coffee. Beanspire’s co-founders, Fuadi Pitsuwan and Jane Kittiratanapaiboon, are part of the young generation moving the Thai coffee industry forward. Thailand is unique as a coffee producing country; the country’s specialty cafe and roaster scene is thriving, and domestic consumption demands regularly outpace the country’s production volume. Only around 5% of Thailand’s specialty coffee is exported each year, while the rest is enjoyed by Thai coffee drinkers. This means that the coffees selected for export by the team at Beanspire are each chosen to share the work of Thai coffee producers with a global audience, providing a glimpse into the growing specialty coffee revolution happening in the country.

Beanspire mill is one of the most advanced in Thailand, with a destoner, huller, and a gravity table for density sorting. Jane and Fuadi have built Beanspire to produce quality from the outset, passing all coffee through density and hand sorting multiple times to ensure quality and uniformity. Coffee is packed in triple layer bags for shipment: cotton bag as outer layer, High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) as middle layer, and GrainPro as inner layer. The HDPE bags help maintain moisture content, thus preserving quality for longer. We’re proud to partner with Beanspire Coffee to share this unique lot of coffee with you.

This coffee underwent a “Kenya-style” Washed process, building on the double fermentation Washed process common throughout Kenya. Cherries were first pulped before being fermented with no water. The pulped coffee was then wet fermented, before being soaked and fully washed to remove any remaining mucilage. The Washed parchment coffee was then dried on raised bamboo beds for at least 14 days before being moved to a lowland area to finish being dried to the optimal humidity.

Learn more about specialty coffee production in Thailand.

Want to try this coffee before you buy it? Order a Green or Roasted sample here.