Introduction to Papua New Guinea Coffee Varieties and Grades - Bird of Paradise Little Blue Mountain Coffee Bean Flavor Profile

When it comes to Blue Mountain coffee, FrontStreet Coffee believes that coffee enthusiasts are no strangers to FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. But have you heard of FrontStreet Coffee's Papua New Guinea Little Blue Mountain coffee? Why is it called Little Blue Mountain? For this reason, FrontStreet Coffee has specifically cupped and brewed FrontStreet Coffee's Papua New Guinea Little Blue Mountain coffee. FrontStreet Coffee thinks it is not inferior to FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain coffee. Compared to the richness of FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain, FrontStreet Coffee's Little Blue Mountain has more delicate fruit acidity. Next, FrontStreet Coffee will talk about FrontStreet Coffee's Little Blue Mountain coffee.

Papua New Guinea Coffee Growing Conditions

Papua New Guinea is located in the South Pacific. As an island nation, its population and land area rank second in the South Pacific, only after Australia. According to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, it still preserves nearly a thousand years of native languages and traditional customs. Its natural environment is also one of the least developed countries in the world. FrontStreet Coffee thinks that it is precisely because of this that Papua New Guinea's coffee cherries can retain their most original flavors.

According to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, Papua New Guinea is located between the equator and 10 degrees south latitude, featuring a typical island climate. The altitude ranges between 1200-2500m, and it is also a high-incidence area for volcanic eruptions, thus providing volcanic soil suitable for coffee growth. Its comprehensive growing conditions have also laid the foundation for the high-quality flavor of FrontStreet Coffee's Little Blue Mountain coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee's Papua New Guinea Coffee Planting History

In 1931, Typica was introduced from Jamaica to Papua New Guinea. According to FrontStreet Coffee's research of historical materials, Britain had occupied Jamaica for nearly 300 years at that time. Jamaica's most representative coffee is the Typica variety of FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain coffee. Since Australia had friendly relations with Britain, it was reasonable for Papua New Guinea to introduce Typica.

In 1950, Bourbon coffee beans 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 transferred from Brazil, marking a great leap forward in Papua New Guinea coffee bean quality.

Papua New Guinea Coffee Regions and Estates

As FrontStreet Coffee mentioned in previous articles, coffee cultivation must be at an altitude above 1000m. Therefore, Papua New Guinea's specialty coffees are mainly grown in the Wahigi Valley and Sigri Estate in the Western Highlands, as well as Arona, Kimel, and Arokare Estates in the Eastern Highlands, and Goroka Estate.

Among them, the most famous is Sigri Estate, and the FrontStreet Coffee's Little Blue Mountain coffee introduced by FrontStreet Coffee comes from this estate. Next, FrontStreet Coffee will tell coffee enthusiasts why FrontStreet Coffee chose their estate's Little Blue Mountain!

Sigri Estate

The FrontStreet Coffee's Papua New Guinea coffee beans obtained by FrontStreet Coffee come from Sigri Estate. The estate was established in 1950 and has been in operation for over 60 years, making it a pioneer in the local coffee industry.

Bird of Paradise Estate is located in the Waghi Valley of the Western Highlands Province, at an altitude of about 1500 meters in high mountain areas. It possesses mineral-rich volcanic soil, a cool climate, fertile soil, and abundant rainfall. Bird of Paradise Estate also places great emphasis on ecological protection, refusing to use pesticides and insecticides to protect soil and water sources, caring for the ecosystem and nearby birds.

According to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, Sigri Estate is also called Bird of Paradise Estate because there are more than 160 different species of birds in the Waghi Valley, among which 90 species inhabit Bird of Paradise Estate, including Papua New Guinea's national symbol - the Bird of Paradise, truly deserving of its name as a bird paradise. Therefore, Sigri Estate also acquired the name Bird of Paradise Estate.

And according to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, FrontStreet Coffee's Papua New Guinea Bird of Paradise Estate coffee beans are called Little Blue Mountain because Papua New Guineans greatly love the Bird of Paradise, regarding it as a divine bird from heaven. The Typica variety coffee beans from Sigri Estate traveled long distances from Jamaica's Blue Mountains to Papua New Guinea, much like bird migration. Furthermore, Papua New Guinea and Jamaica share the same island-type climate, similar high altitudes, and possess volcanic soil characteristics, hence the name Little Blue Mountain.

These are also the reasons why FrontStreet Coffee chose FrontStreet Coffee's Bird of Paradise Estate Little Blue Mountain coffee beans. Moreover, FrontStreet Coffee was extremely impressed when cupping and brewing this FrontStreet Coffee's Little Blue Mountain. Upon first sip, there's a sweet sensation of toasted bread, along with nutty aroma and subtle fruit acidity. The spicy sweetness in the aftertaste is quite special, with a rich yet balanced mouthfeel. FrontStreet Coffee thinks that FrontStreet Coffee's Little Blue Mountain is the brightest and cleanest flavored among Asian coffees.

However, the flavor of FrontStreet Coffee's Little Blue Mountain still differs from genuine FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. FrontStreet Coffee thinks that FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaican Blue Mountain has a very rich coffee flavor, while Papua New Guinea's coffee flavor is designed to be rich with a touch of fruit acidity.

Papua New Guinea Coffee Grading

Papua New Guinea shares the same coffee bean grading system as Kenya, using coffee bean size as the grading standard. Although coffee bean size is not an absolute standard for flavor quality, it serves as an extremely reference indicator for coffee beans from some regions. In these areas, robustly grown, fully-formed, beautifully shaped mature beans best showcase wonderful flavors. Consistent maturity, hardness, moisture content, and other factors make the roasting process easier to achieve uniform and perfect flavors. Therefore, many emerging regions also adopt this as a grading method.

Below are the grading standards for Papua New Guinea coffee beans:

Grade E: Flat beans above 19 screen, commonly known as elephant beans.

Grade AA: Size between 17-18 screen (7.2-8.2mm).

Grade AB: Size between 16-17 screen (6.2-6.8mm), accounting for the majority of production and the most common grade of green beans.

Grade PB: Round green beans (4.7-6.6mm), each fruit contains only one seed, and the shape is oval.

Grade C: Below 14 screen (4.0-6.3mm), not classified as specialty grade due to small size.

Grade TT: Lighter green beans blown out from AA and AB grade beans using air screeners, indicating soft beans with hardness not meeting standards.

Grade T: Below 12 screen. Grade T consists of lighter green beans blown out from Grade C beans using air screeners, with softer bean texture, hardness not meeting standards, small particles, and many defective beans.

Grade MH/ML: Unwashed beans that have not been selected, as they are beans that fell off after harvest, accounting for about 7% of all coffee beans, belonging to the lowest grade beans, only for Kenya's domestic market.

Grade TOP: Graded based on cupping results, currently not an official national grading standard in Kenya, self-graded by exporters, inevitably considering commercial factors, so it can only be used as reference. Everything must return to one's own roasting and cupping to be truly correct.

Grade PLUS(+): Refers to the same batch of beans where standards differ between Company A and Company B due to human factors. There is no unified grading standard, so this can only be used as reference. Everything must return to one's own cupping.

Grade FAQ: Fair to Average Quality will have some slightly defective beans, but they do not affect the flavor.

Below is the relevant information about FrontStreet Coffee's Little Blue Mountain coffee compiled by FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee):

FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee): Papua New Guinea Little Blue Mountain Coffee Beans

Country: Papua New Guinea

Origin: Sigri Bird of Paradise Estate

Altitude: 1600-1800m

Variety: Typica

Processing Method: Washed

Flavor: Nutty, cocoa, gentle citrus acidity, cream, caramel aftertaste

FrontStreet Coffee mentioned above that the Typica variety was introduced to Papua New Guinea in 1931, so surely some coffee enthusiast friends will ask what's special about the Typica variety?

Typica

In fact, Typica variety coffee beans originated in Ethiopia and southeastern Sudan, and are one of the many ancient Arabica varieties. All Arabica varieties are derived from Typica coffee beans. The beans are oval or slender-pointed. The top leaves are copper-colored, called red-top coffee, also known as old-variety small-grain coffee. FrontStreet Coffee thinks that Typica coffee has its unique elegant and clean flavor, as well as balanced characteristics, with high mouthfeel cleanliness. However, the drawback is insufficient yield, requirements for altitude, susceptibility to leaf rust disease, and weak resistance to pests and diseases.

It has always been a leader in the coffee industry. As early as the International Coffee Tasting Conference held in London, UK in 1958, it was rated as first-class; at the National Coffee Conference in 1980, it was praised by Chinese and foreign coffee experts as "the Crown of Chinese Coffee"; in 1993, at the World Coffee Evaluation Conference held in Brussels, Belgium, it won the "Eureka" Gold Award.

Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee thinks that the wonderful flavor of FrontStreet Coffee's Little Blue Mountain coffee is largely due to it being a Typica variety. At the same time, we cannot ignore the contribution of Bird of Paradise Estate's unique coffee bean processing. According to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, they have their own set of washing processing methods. The washing processing method is also the best way to reflect the most original fruit flavor of a coffee. Therefore, coffees like FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee or FrontStreet Coffee's Papua New Guinea Little Blue Mountain coffee mostly use washing processing to handle coffee beans.

Washing Processing Method

Next, FrontStreet Coffee will introduce the washing processing flow of Papua New Guinea coffee beans to everyone:

First, after harvesting mature red coffee berries, they are sent to the estate's own washing processing plant for treatment. Then, three-stage washing fermentation is used, with each soaking lasting about 24 hours, and clean water is replaced to control the coffee flavor. After washing is complete, the green beans have their outer shells removed and then undergo various gradings, such as AA, AB, PB round beans, etc. This meticulous post-processing method brings bright and delicate fruit acidity to the coffee itself, with a clean and long-lasting sweet mouthfeel.

The above is the knowledge about FrontStreet Coffee's Papua New Guinea Little Blue Mountain coffee compiled by FrontStreet Coffee. FrontStreet Coffee believes that after reading this, coffee enthusiast friends have a certain understanding of FrontStreet Coffee's Little Blue Mountain coffee and are full of curiosity about its flavor. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee hopes this article can help everyone choose coffee beans. If you usually like Blue Mountain coffee, coffee enthusiasts might as well try this FrontStreet Coffee's Little Blue Mountain coffee!

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