This coffee comes to us from the Western Highlands of Papua New Guinea through the collective Miktimb Farmers Group. The Miktimb Farmers Group is comprised of 45 smallholders in and around Muglamp village, in the Western Highlands Province just north of Mount Hagen. Most farmers in Papua New Guinea dry their coffee in 3-5 days, but this shade-dried coffee was extended to 15-20 days. By extending the drying the phase, it lowers the water activity inside the bean. This allows for better preservation of the flavor. However, convincing farmers to do this is not easy. Slow drying locks up more drying bed space by slowing down how quickly a batch of drying coffee can be removed to make space for the next batch.  It also requires funding for raised beds and shade netting, more labor to turn the coffee regularly over 15 days instead of 5 days, and tracking the surface temperature of the drying parchment using a temperature gun. Fortunately, this makes a big difference. Following these techniques can raise a coffee's cupping score a few points, while also making the tasting notes more vibrant. This allows the farmer to charge a higher premium for the coffee, making the extra labor worth the effort.

In this coffee we taste notes of brown sugar, cola and lime acidity.