Papua New Guinea – The Colbran Family – Arusha, Bourbon, Mundo Novo, Typica – Washed

Farm: Baroida Estate

Now in our fifth year of partnership, we’re once again excited to share our fresh crop microlots from the Colbran family’s Baroida Estate. The family have been perfecting their approach to producing Papua New Guinea’s most sought after coffees for six decades.

Among the misty peaks of the country’s Kianantu region, Baroida Estate is a 220-hectare coffee haven planted between 1,700 and 1,850 metres above sea level. The farm was founded in the 1960s by New Zealander Ben Colbran after the government encouraged foreign agriculturists to cultivate the eastern highlands. Ben migrated with his young family and began a series of farming and milling enterprises to fund their vision of a coffee estate. The region’s heavy rainfall demanded innovation from conventional coffee growing practice. After much trial and error, he perfected the art of “reading” coffee trees to gauge their health and needs and mastered the drainage necessary to suit the wet and tropical ecosystem. That wisdom was passed down through his family, and the farm is now run by his son Nichol, who insists the success of their operation lies in doing things the “old-fashioned” way. The farm is named after a local spirit said to live in a stubborn river rock that has stands steady through lifetimes of torrential flooding.

Arusha, Bourbon, Mundo Novo and Typica varietals grow in volcanic soil, where the cherries are hand-picked and sent through a disc pulper, followed by a 36 hour dry fermentation. The coffee is then washed and dried before being carefully sorted for export. This coffee brings aromatic dried fruit notes and a gentle citrus acidity that will please any crowd.

Tasting Notes: Soft and fragrant, with notes of cola and dried fig, sugarcane sweetness and a refreshing lime finish.