Lahamenegu - Papua New Guinea

Region: Goroka, Eastern Highlands Province

Altitude: 1550 masl

Process: Natural

Varietal: Bourbon

We taste: Cranberry, Fudge, Cherry Cordial

The Lahamenegu Mill

This is our third year in a row buying this lot from the Lahamenegu Mill. This coffee is so consistently wonderful with deep red fruit flavors and a winey rich mouthfeel. The Lahamenegu wet mill was established in 1979 by Volcafe PNG. It is the largest wet mill in Papua New Guinea and can process over 9,000,000 kilos of coffee per year. This enables them to experiment with processing methods and maintain a consistently high quality crop.

PNG green coffee beans are usually wash-processed, but private ownership of a wet mill has its privileges. It means natural (or dry) processed PNG green coffees like this can be made to order. For natural coffee lots, cherry is only sourced from farms that are part of a registered supply chain. The Lahamenegu Mill encourages long-term relationships with smallholders, which in turn maintains production consistency and quality over the years.

The Natural Process

The Natural Process is a way of drying coffee cherries without using water to remove the fruit from the bean. It is the oldest method of processing coffee and is often used in regions where there are dry seasons (like Ethiopia). Natural processed beans are floated in water and the ripe cherries are sorted from the underripe cherries to ensure peak quality. The ripe cherries are then dried on raised beds in the sun and rotated in order to ensure they are dried evenly. The natural process allows the coffee beans to spend more time with the fruit which often results in more fruit-forward and juicy flavors in the cup.

In the Cup

We bring this coffee back every year, it's such a consistently sweet and wonderful coffee for the fall and winter months. When hot, it has a deep black cherry aroma with a hint of liquor, on the first sip, those qualities really shine with flavors reminiscent of cherry cordial. The sweetness is rich and fudgy with a juicy mouthfeel. As it cools, the bright raspberry-like acidity begins to really shine through, complimenting the deep molasses sweetness. The mouthfeel reminds us a lot of cranberry juice with a sweet-tart quality. The finish is silky with a hint of amaretto. Overall, this is an amazing coffee for anyone looking to branch out a bit from their comfort zone which maintaining the fullness and richness of some of our more classic offerings.