What are PNG Coffee Beans? Flavor Characteristics of Papua New Guinea PNG Coffee Beans

FrontStreet Coffee - Papua New Guinea PNG Coffee Introduction

Papua New Guinea

Many people assume that Papua New Guinea (hereafter PNG) coffee would resemble Indonesian coffee, but the two are in fact completely different.

PNG's coffee cultivation history is not long, with the earliest plantings dating to the 1890s. At first PNG coffee was not grown for commercial purposes. In 1926, 18 estates began cultivating coffee using imported Jamaican Blue Mountain seeds, so it was not until 1928 that PNG truly entered commercial coffee production.

From the 1950s onward, PNG's coffee cultivation began to scale up, and the government started building extensive infrastructure to support the growth of the coffee industry. Papua New Guinea's coffee production is not especially high, and its beans are all carefully processed washed Arabica. Washed coffee beans are generally full of bright fruit aromas without strong acidity. Their characteristics include a silky smooth mouthfeel and a wonderful aroma with moderate acidity. They are a relatively rare coffee that combines high body with medium acidity. Whether used as an espresso single origin or in a general blend, they make up for the shortcomings of acidic coffees.

Western Highlands:

This is another important coffee growing region in PNG. Much of the coffee from this area is grown around the capital of Mount Hagen (named after an old extinct volcano). Coffee from this region is uniformly stored in Goroka, which makes it difficult to trace a specific origin. High altitude and fertile soil make this area very promising for producing high-quality coffee as well.

Altitude: 1000-1800 meters

Harvest Season: April - September

Varieties: Bourbon, Typica, Arusha

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

PNG's first commercial plantings came from Jamaican Blue Mountain seed, so a fitting comparison is FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaica Blue Mountain No.1 from Clifton Estate, roasted medium-dark with nuts, dark chocolate, cream, and caramel and a soft, lingering sweetness. Brew it as a pour-over in a Kono dripper with 15g of coffee and a 1:15 ratio. Use 87-88°C water and a medium-coarse grind about the size of white sugar. Bloom with 30g of water for 30 seconds, pour to 120g, then finish at 225g, for a total extraction of roughly two minutes. Like PNG's washed beans, it trades sharp acidity for a rounded, full body.