ADOUT FARM
The highland village of Khun Lao is located in northern Thailand, in the Chiang Rai province. Over the past few decades, Thailand has made an incredible leap from producing cheap commercial coffee to premium specialty. A shining example of this transformation is the story of a local farmer, Khun Jaroon. On his highland plots, situated at an altitude of 1300–1500 meters, he abandoned mass production in favor of shade-grown cultivation and bold experiments with processing, adapting technologies to the cool mountain climate.
A special uniqueness to this coffee is given by the rare local Chiang Mai variety — a hybrid of the resilient Thai Catimor and the famous Kenyan SL28, combining disease resistance with bright fruitiness. On Khun Jaroon's plantations, a complex Anaerobic Red Honey processing method is applied: the cherries are first fermented in oxygen-free tanks, and then depulped while retaining a layer of mucilage. Thanks to the mountainous influence and morning mists, the fermentation proceeds very evenly, deeply saturating the beans with fruity sugars.
Photo from: lefthandroasters.com