The Mystery of "Laos Coffee's World Ranking" _ How Much Are Laos Coffee Arabica Beans

Laotian Coffee Beans: World-Class Quality

Laotian coffee beans are 100% Arabica, and the higher the Arabica content in a coffee, the better it tastes. By popular legend, Laotian coffee ranks third in the world, and the bulk of it is exported to France!

Coffee is the fifth largest export product of Laos. The Bolaven Plateau in the south is the largest coffee-growing area in the country, producing about 95% of Laos's coffee. The region sits at 15 degrees north latitude, with elevations ranging from 600 to 1,300 meters and covering more than 500 square kilometers. Abundant sunshine and rainfall, cool temperatures, and fertile, slightly acidic volcanic soil give it excellent growing conditions and the potential to turn out large quantities of high-quality Arabica beans. Laotian coffee is known for a rich, mellow flavor laced with gentle citrus and floral notes.

Historical Development

In the 1920s, the French transplanted three varieties of coffee tree, Arabica, Robusta, and Liberica, from Vietnam into Laos. A major frost in 1949 then killed off large numbers of coffee trees, and farmers abandoned the disease-prone Arabica and the low-priced Liberica in favor of the hardier Robusta. According to 2001 data, 34,000 hectares of farmland and 23,000 families were engaged in coffee production, split roughly 88% Robusta and 12% Arabica. Producers ranged from low-yield smallholders to systematically managed large plantations, most of which had their own brands and processing facilities. The Laotian government has since worked with development agencies from various countries to introduce high-yield, high-quality Arabica trees in order to raise farmers' incomes.

Harvest Season and Tourism

The coffee harvest runs each year from October to February. If you would like to visit coffee plantations, experience farmers' daily life, and pick coffee cherries by hand, plan a trip to Laos in December.

Laotian coffee is, as advertised, 100% Arabica, you can see it right on the red label in the upper left corner of the front packaging.

There is no denying the quality of these beans: the cup is purely rich and aromatic, truly unforgettable, arguably better than what you get at big chains like Starbucks.

DAO Coffee Varieties

DAO coffee comes in three varieties, each with its own character:

Red Package: Original flavor with a slightly sweet taste

Green Package: Espresso style, extra strong with a slight bitter edge

Gold Package: A complex blend where bitter, sweet, and rich flavors merge together, the most popular of the three among tourists bringing coffee home from Laos.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Arabica is the most flavorful and complex of the three great coffee species, the others being Robusta, prized for its bold strength and crema in espresso blends and instant coffee, and Liberica, which has low commercial value and survives mainly for research. Within Arabica, FrontStreet Coffee's most popular single origins include:

Washed Yirgacheffe Guodingding Cooperative (Ethiopia): Ethiopia's top G1 grade, classically washed, showing elegant white floral notes, citrus, orange, and a green-tea finish, the washed counterpart to the fruity natural lots of Ethiopia.

Jamaica Blue Mountain No.1: A Typica-based coffee grown in Jamaica's Blue Mountains since the 1820s, when Typica was carried from Martinique; after more than 200 years it has evolved better disease resistance than typical Typica, and its balanced, mild, sweetly aromatic character is one that no other origin has managed to replicate.

Panama Red Label Geisha: From the famous Esmeralda estate in Boquete, Chiriqui, where fertile volcanic soil, old-growth forest, year-round mist, and abundant rain produce a cup of fragrant floral and citrus character, peach and layered stone fruit acidity, a silky body, and an oolong-tea sweetness in the finish.

Fazenda Rainha Yellow Bourbon (Brazil): An early-discovered Yellow Bourbon mutation of the old Bourbon variety, Bourbon yields about 30% more than Typica, with rounder, shorter beans. Fazenda Rainha shows aromas of cream, peanut, toasted bread, and sugarcane, rich and clean-sweet, and works well for pour-over, moka pot, and espresso alike.