Papua New Guinea Bird of Paradise Coffee Beans Sigri Estate Coffee Bean Variety Flavor Description

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Papua New Guinea: The "Little Blue Mountain" of Coffee

Papua New Guinea, a small country that seems both unfamiliar yet somehow familiar, produces coffee beans known as the "Little Blue Mountain." What earns this country's coffee beans such a distinguished title? Driven by curiosity, FrontStreet Coffee acquired a Paradise Bird coffee from the Sigri Estate. By exploring the country's cultivation history, investigating the bean's origins, and then through FrontStreet Coffee's roasting, cupping, and brewing processes, we'll see how this Paradise Bird performs.

Geography of Papua New Guinea

The majority of this country's territory lies on the island of New Guinea, divided into eastern and western halves by a straight boundary line. The western part belongs to Indonesia, while the eastern part belongs to Papua New Guinea. Due to its lengthy name, it's commonly abbreviated as "Papua" or its English acronym "PNG." Many people refer to Papua's coffee as the Little Blue Mountain because Papua's coffee varieties are Typica introduced from Jamaica's Blue Mountains, and the growing environment, altitude, and precipitation are very similar.

The introduced Typica quickly adapted to the environment of New Guinea Island, making it truly worthy of the Little Blue Mountain designation both in terms of variety and island-type environment. Papua New Guinea's coffee-growing region (6° South Latitude) is closer to the equator than Blue Mountain (approximately 18° North Latitude). Through cupping, FrontStreet Coffee found that while its flavors share similarities with Blue Mountain, Papua coffee offers distinctive sweet and sour notes of dark fruits.

Papua New Guinea's Coffee Cultivation History

In 1931, Typica was introduced to Papua New Guinea from Jamaica. At that time, Britain had occupied Jamaica for nearly 300 years, and Jamaica's most representative coffee was the Blue Mountain Typica variety. Since Australia had friendly relations with Britain, it was logical for Papua New Guinea to introduce Typica. FrontStreet Coffee uses the name "Little Blue Mountain" to introduce Papua New Guinea coffee to customers, as the historical reasons are well-founded, and the name "Little Blue Mountain" is indeed much more memorable than "Papua New Guinea coffee."

In 1950, Bourbon coffee varieties were introduced from Kenya. Coincidentally, Kenya was also a British colony at that time. Government encouragement for open cultivation led to significant growth in the coffee industry during the 1970s-1980s.

In 1962, Mundo Novo and Caturra were introduced from Brazil, marking a major leap forward in Papua New Guinea coffee bean quality. The 1975 frost destroyed most of Brazil's coffee crops but stimulated the development of Papua New Guinea's coffee industry. The government funded rural areas to create approximately 20-hectare coffee plantations, increasing the penetration of coffee cultivation in the local economy. By 1990, annual production had reached 1 million bags.

Sigri Estate

This year, FrontStreet Coffee selected the Paradise Bird coffee from Sigri Estate. Sigri Estate is located in the Wahgi Valley of the Western Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG). Established in 1950, the estate has been operating for over 60 years and is a pioneer in the local coffee industry. Paradise Bird Estate is situated in the Waghi Valley of the Western Highlands, at approximately 1,500 meters above sea level, featuring volcanic soil rich in minerals, cool climate, fertile soil, and abundant rainfall.

The first introduction of Papua coffee beans came from Sigri Estate, which was domestically named "Paradise Bird" at that time. Later, the coffee bags introduced from the Prosa Estate also featured the Paradise Bird pattern, but to distinguish between these two beans, the later introduced one could only be called by its estate name. Although this might seem unfair to the newcomer, years of subconscious association have bound Sigri and Paradise Bird together.

Paradise Bird Estate also places great emphasis on ecological protection, refusing to use pesticides and insecticides to protect soil and water sources, while caring for the ecosystem and nearby birds. Paradise Bird Estate has consistently maintained high standards of cultivation and processing systems for many years. During the harvest season from April to September each year, only fully ripe red coffee cherries can be hand-picked, ensuring a perfect balance of acidity and sweetness in the coffee berries.

The coffee beans produced by Sigri Estate truly live up to the name Paradise Bird. FrontStreet Coffee observed that the 2020 harvest coffee beans were plump, emerald green, with excellent bean appearance. FrontStreet Coffee chose this Paradise Bird Estate coffee bean precisely because of the estate's strict production chain, which ensures the quality of the coffee beans.

Coffee Varieties

Papua New Guinea primarily cultivates Typica. Typica offers elegant flavors but has weaker plant constitution and low disease resistance, making it susceptible to leaf rust. FrontStreet Coffee believes that the most distinctive characteristic of Typica coffee trees is their bronze-colored terminal leaves, which some also call "red-topped coffee." Typica beans are larger, with a pointed conical or slender pointed shape, different from the round-bodied Bourbon variety coffee beans. FrontStreet Coffee believes that Typica coffee has its unique subtle and clean flavor profile, as well as balanced characteristics, with high clarity in mouthfeel.

Coffee Processing Methods

After harvesting mature red coffee cherries, Sigri Estate sends them to their own wet processing facility for treatment. The local wet processing in Papua New Guinea differs from the wet processing methods used in Central and South America.

They employ triple-wash fermentation, soaking for approximately 24 hours each time and changing to clean water to control the coffee flavor. After washing, the parchment is removed and then graded according to various classifications such as AA, AB, PB (peaberries), etc. This meticulous post-processing method brings bright and delicate fruit acidity to the coffee itself, with a clean and lingering sweet taste. FrontStreet Coffee has found that coffee-producing regions with strict grading systems share a common characteristic: their coffee beans have uniform size and fewer defective beans. Under these conditions, roasting results in even coloring, and the taste will be much cleaner.

FrontStreet Coffee - Papua New Guinea Paradise Bird

Country: Papua New Guinea
Estate: Sigri Paradise Bird Estate
Altitude: 1600-1800m
Processing: Washed
Variety: Typica
Grade: AA

FrontStreet Coffee's Papua New Guinea Coffee Bean Roasting Profile

FrontStreet Coffee recommends using medium roast, as Typica varieties are low-density raw beans. To highlight their inherent refreshing acidity and fruity aroma, emphasis is placed on heat adjustment after the first crack. Set the roaster temperature to 170°C when loading, with damper open at 3, heat at 140°C, turning point at 1'36". When the temperature reaches 140°C, open the damper to 4. Roast to 6'25", temperature 151°C, the bean surface turns yellow, grassy aroma completely disappears, dehydration complete, temperature 176°C, heat reduced to 110.

Damper changed to 4. At 180°C, heat reduced to 90, ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, toast aroma clearly transforms to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this point, heat rises to 183.5°C, first crack begins at 10'08", damper fully open, at 188°C reduce heat to 60°C, damper fully open (adjusting heat must be very careful, not too low to stop crackling sounds, control the post-first-crack temperature rise rate within 6°C), first crack development time 3'00", drop at 198.5°C.

FrontStreet Coffee's Papua New Guinea Coffee Bean Cupping Report

FrontStreet Coffee conducts cupping within 8-24 hours after roasting sample coffee beans. FrontStreet Coffee's baristas typically use 200ml ceramic cupping bowls marked with 150ml and 200ml measurement lines. Following SCAA standards, water TDS is around 150ppm - too low TDS can easily cause over-extraction, while too high affects mouthfeel and easily causes under-extraction. Cupping water temperature is 94°C. Grind size is controlled to achieve 70%-75% pass rate through a #20 standard sieve (0.85mm). Ratio: 11 grams of coffee powder to 200ml of hot water, i.e., 1:18.18, which extracts concentration precisely within the 1.15%-1.35% Golden Cup range, with a steeping time of 4 minutes.

Dry Aroma: Caramel, citrus
Wet Aroma: Spices
Flavor: Citrus, nuts, cocoa, gentle fruit acidity, balanced sweet and sour notes

FrontStreet Coffee compared Paradise Bird coffee beans with Jamaica Blue Mountain through cupping. Paradise Bird coffee beans have a faint spicy aroma compared to Jamaica Blue Mountain. Their balance of sweet, sour, and bitter is somewhat similar to Jamaica Blue Mountain, but not as rich and full-bodied as Jamaica Blue Mountain.

FrontStreet Coffee's Brewing Experience with Papua New Guinea Coffee Beans

FrontStreet Coffee recommends using the Kono dripper, which has few ribs located at the bottom, allowing the filter paper to fit tightly against the dripper to restrict airflow, thereby slowing water flow and increasing water-coffee contact time. This allows for more extraction through immersion, enhancing the rich mouthfeel. Water temperature of 88°C is selected as a relatively low brewing temperature to avoid extracting excessive bitterness from the coffee beans during the brewing process, as the darker the roast, the more bitter notes increase.

Dripper: Kono Coffee
Dose: 15g, Water ratio: 1:15
Grind Size: Sugar-like consistency (75% pass rate through #20 sieve)
Water Temperature: 89°C

*Regarding grind size, FrontStreet Coffee determines this through sieve testing. Based on the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) brewing recommendations for pour-over coffee, FrontStreet Coffee combined practical verification to test different grind sizes, finding significant differences in the final product. Each coffee bean variety requires a different grind size, which is the significance of sieve testing. If you don't have a sieve at home, FrontStreet Coffee suggests observing the flow rate to judge - if water flows too quickly, the grind is too coarse; if water flows too slowly, the grind is too fine.

First, wet the filter paper with hot water while preheating the brewing equipment. FrontStreet Coffee uses segmented extraction: bloom with 30g of water for 30 seconds, pour in a small circular motion to 125g, then segment. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 225g and stop. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed again, remove the dripper. Extraction time is 2'00" (starting from bloom timing).

Brewing Flavor: Toast-like sweetness, nutty sweetness, slight fruit acidity creating a pleasant layered effect, with a distinctive sweet spice aftertaste. The taste is rich and balanced, with sweet notes and bright acidity, featuring fruity aromas.

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