Is Laotian Coffee Famous? Why You Haven't Heard of It - The Arabica Coffee Varietals Grown in Laos

FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Lao Coffee

Laos sits south of China's Yunnan province and west of Vietnam, and like its neighbors it was once a French colony. The French brought war, but they also brought France's refined way of life and a comparatively advanced Western civilization. On the scenic, fertile Bolaven Plateau, applying rigorous botanical science, they discovered soil exceptionally well suited to coffee. So at the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th, coffee seeds were sown on Bao Song Mountain of the Bolaven Plateau -- and southern Laos' unique natural growing environment let Lao coffee take its place among the finest coffees of Southeast Asia.

Lao coffee is prized for its delicate, complex aroma and rich taste, with citrus fruit and floral notes lingering in the aftertaste and a faint chocolate sweetness underneath. Compared with most boldly flavored Southeast Asian coffees, it tastes fresher, gentler, and longer on the palate.

Coffee Cultivation Periods and Varieties in Laos

Around 1900, French settlers began planting coffee on the Bolaven Plateau of southern Laos, mainly Arabica varieties -- Typica and Bourbon.

From 1940 to 1990, wars, agricultural disasters (chiefly frost and leaf rust), and national policy pushed the varieties gradually toward the more disease-resistant, higher-yielding Robusta, with a small amount of Liberica alongside.

After 1990, Arabica varieties began to regain attention.

Today, Arabica still accounts for the majority of production.

Knowledge Point: Ground coffee loses its flavor quickly, so whole beans are the best way to preserve it

In short: FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee research center, glad to share coffee knowledge without reservation so more people fall in love with coffee. Three discount coffee events each month reflect our aim of offering the best coffee at the lowest price to more friends -- a mission we have held for 6 years!

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If Laos' Typica-and-Bourbon heritage has you curious about classic Arabica lineage, taste a living ancestor of that story in Yunnan: FrontStreet Coffee's 2013 Yunnan Natural Typica comes from the estate we planted in 2013 with Typica, the same heirloom variety first carried into the region by French missionaries -- and, like Laos, grown at the edge of the coffee world. Naturally processed and medium roasted, it offers dark berry and citrus tones with caramel sweetness, a touch of chocolate and dried apricot, and a black-tea finish; the gentler FrontStreet Yunnan Small-Bean, washed and medium roasted, gives soft nut and chocolate sweetness with light plum acidity at an entry-level price. Both suit drinkers who prefer smooth, low-bitterness cups with gentle fruit, and both brew beautifully as pour-over with a medium grind and moderate water temperature.