Where is coffee grown in Australia and how does it relate to island origins?

Papua New Guinea coffee earns the nickname Little Blue Mountain because it shares island climate, high altitude, and volcanic soil with Jamaica, and Typica was introduced from Jamaica in 1931. The flavor is not identical: Jamaican Blue Mountain is rich and full-bodied, while Papua New Guinea shows more fruit acidity within its body.

Most Papua New Guinea coffee grows between 1,200 and 2,500 meters on highland terrain east of Indonesia, between the equator and 10 degrees south latitude. That setting yields bright acidity with floral and fruity aromas, closer to South American style than the spice and herbal notes common in Indonesian beans. Coffee growing nations with similar island conditions often draw comparisons.

Papua New Guinea coffee is often called "Little Blue Mountain" by enthusiasts, and this saying has both historical roots and similarities in terroir. Starting from this Papua New Guinea coffee listed by Front Street Coffee, this article sorts out the country's coffee introduction and cultivation history, industry ups and downs, and the reasons for inconsistent quality, and provides a detailed analysis of the origin information, variety characteristics, washed processing method, roasting suggestions, and brewing parameters of Front Street Papua New Guinea · Bird of Paradise Estate, helping you understand its similarities and differences with Jamaica Blue Mountain.

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For coffee enthusiasts, Papua New Guinea is neither unfamiliar nor truly familiar as a origin. Many people have heard its name, but few have actually tasted it. Some friends who have tasted Papua New Guinea coffee associate its flavor with "Blue Mountain." To figure out where this "Little Blue Mountain" saying comes from, Front Street specially introduced and listed this Front Street Papua New Guinea coffee to explore together with everyone.

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea is located east of Indonesia and has a typical island climate. It lies between the equator and 10 degrees south latitude, with tropical rainforests, volcanic rock, and highland terrain, mostly at elevations of 1,200–2,500 meters. The regional flavor of Papua New Guinea coffee is clearly different from the spice, herbal, and low-toned notes common in Indonesian beans. Instead, it shows brightness, acidity, and floral and fruity aromas, overall closer to the South American style. Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) believes that it is called Little Blue Mountain because Papua New Guinea also has an island climate, high altitude, and volcanic soil, and the spread of coffee beans was also introduced from Jamaica, hence the name "Little Blue Mountain," though the flavor is not exactly the same. Front Street Jamaica Blue Mountain takes the rich and full-bodied route, while Front Street Papua New Guinea Little Blue Mountain brings out a little fruit acidity within its richness.

Papua New Guinea Planting History

In 1931, Typica was introduced to Papua New Guinea from Jamaica. At that time, Britain had ruled Jamaica for nearly 300 years, and Jamaica's most representative coffee was Typica Blue Mountain coffee; because Australia and Britain had friendly relations, it was natural for Papua New Guinea to introduce Typica. When introducing Papua New Guinea coffee to guests, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) uses the name "Little Blue Mountain," because the historical basis is solid and "Little Blue Mountain" is indeed much easier to remember than "Papua New Guinea."

In 1950, Bourbon coffee seeds were introduced from Kenya. Coincidentally, Kenya was also a British colony at the time. The government encouraged open cultivation, allowing the coffee industry to see substantial growth in the 1970s and 1980s.

In 1961, after the end of World War II, the western part of New Guinea, formerly belonging to the Netherlands, declared independence under the name "West Papua," but only a few months later it was invaded by Indonesian armed forces, which had also become independent. Indonesia then established Irian Jaya Province there. After 2003, it was reorganized into Papua and West Papua provinces. By 1962, the two varieties Mundo Novo and Caturra were introduced from Brazil, and the quality of Papua New Guinea coffee beans has since improved significantly.

Papua New Guinea's Coffee Industry: From Adversity to Diversity

According to a translated report by Finance Network, member countries of the International Coffee Organization (ICO) once implemented a quota system for coffee exports in the last century. In order to obtain enough coffee, Australia had to buy large quantities of Papua New Guinea coffee beans, because the area was still Australian territory at the time.

In 1975, Papua New Guinea declared independence, and combined with the ICO abandoning the quota system in the 1980s, Australian coffee importers became more willing to purchase coffee from around the world. From then on, Papua New Guinea's coffee industry entered a stage of difficult struggle.

Especially over the past decade, Papua New Guinea's coffee production fell by 22% from about 1 million 60-kg bags in 2009 to 800,000 bags today. The decline in production is largely due to aging coffee trees—over more than 30 years from the 1980s to the present, almost no one replaced old trees, and even fewer guided farmers on how to renew plantings. Fortunately, in an ongoing support program funded by the World Bank and the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (since April 2010), more than seven million coffee trees have been replanted or restored. According to the World Bank, many coffee farmers who participated in the first round of replacement planting have already seen increased yields.

Although Papua New Guinea has incredible soil conditions, with ideal rainfall, weather, and climate, and can be said to possess all the basic elements for making delicious coffee, for various reasons it has never been able to consistently produce large quantities of high-quality coffee. This has always been a local challenge, mainly because more than 85% of coffee is produced by smallholders. Unlike other coffee-producing countries with many independent farmers cultivating small plots, international buyers find it difficult to purchase coffee beans of consistent quality in Papua New Guinea.

The root cause of inconsistent quality lies in the difficulty of passing on coffee-growing knowledge, because Papua New Guinea is home to as many as more than 10,000 tribes scattered across the country, speaking more than 800 different languages, making it very difficult for professional coffee knowledge to spread smoothly locally. At the same time, the complexity of the tribes has also created land ownership problems. Because land changes hands or people fight over ownership, coffee plots have remained uncultivated. In addition to lacking knowledge and resources, smallholders also lack the motivation to persist with coffee, because they rely more on subsistence farming. At the same time, growing coffee offers too low a return for them. For farmers in Papua New Guinea, the vast majority of their farming time is spent on food, and coffee can only rank second.

The 2019 "Papua New Guinea Coffee Market Research" report points out that current extensive government regulation and requirements actually make an already difficult business environment even more complicated. The report states, "By reducing government intervention and providing more support to the country's coffee industry, it will be more productive": 1. Expand agricultural extension services and best-practice training; 2. Scientific research on agricultural and economic issues, leading to new national plans and policies; 3. Support for promoting private enterprises doing business domestically and internationally. The study identifies three priority areas of work that it hopes can transform the industry: supporting women's participation in coffee; promoting business growth, domestic consumption, and international trade; promoting quality from seed to cup.

Front Street Papua New Guinea · Bird of Paradise

Producing Country: Papua New Guinea

Estate: Sigri Bird of Paradise Estate

Altitude: 1600-1800m

Processing Method: Washed

Variety: Typica

Grade: AA

Sigri Bird of Paradise Estate

Papua New Guineans regard the beautiful bird of paradise as a bird of freedom and happiness, "a gift from the gods." The Typica coffee beans of Sigri Bird of Paradise Estate, like the migration of birds, traveled a long way from Jamaica Blue Mountain to Papua New Guinea for cultivation, carrying the same lineage as Jamaica Blue Mountain. This Blue Mountain lineage is also what draws attention to Papua New Guinea Bird of Paradise coffee beans today. Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) purchases each coffee bean hoping it has unique characteristics and does not want different beans with the same flavor. This is also why Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) spends a great deal of time selecting beans and adjusting roasting parameters, among many other steps. A coffee bean can have similarities with other coffee beans, but it must also have differences.

The estate was established in 1950 and has now been around for more than 60 years, making it a pioneer of the local coffee industry. Bird of Paradise Estate is located in the Waghi Valley in Western Highlands Province, in a high-altitude mountain area of about 1,500 meters, with mineral-rich volcanic soil, a cool climate, fertile soil, and abundant rainfall. Bird of Paradise Estate also places great emphasis on ecological protection. In order to protect the soil and water sources, it refuses to use pesticides and insecticides, and cares for the ecology and nearby birds. Bird of Paradise Estate has adhered to a high-standard planting and processing system for many years.

During the harvest season from April to September each year, only fully ripe red coffee cherries are hand-picked, achieving a perfect balance of acidity and sweetness in the coffee cherries. At Bird of Paradise Estate, cupping is conducted every day to ensure that the estate provides customers with consistently top-quality coffee. As a result, Bird of Paradise Estate has become a classic among the world's specialty coffees. As mentioned earlier, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) chose this Front Street Bird of Paradise Estate coffee bean precisely because of the estate's strict production chain, which ensures the quality of the coffee beans.

Coffee Bean Variety: Typica

Typica has an elegant flavor, but the plant is weak, has low disease resistance, and is susceptible to leaf rust. Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) believes that the most distinctive feature of the Typica coffee tree is its bronze-colored tips, which some also call "red-tipped coffee." Typica beans are relatively large, either pointed-round or slender-pointed, different from the round-bodied beans of the Bourbon variety. Typica coffee has its own uniquely clear and clean flavor, along with balanced characteristics and a high level of cleanliness in the cup.

Coffee Bean Processing Method

After harvesting ripe, fully red coffee cherries, they are sent to the estate's own washed processing station for processing. The local washed processing in Papua New Guinea differs from the washed processing methods in Central and South America.

It uses three rounds of washed fermentation, each soaking for about 24 hours, with clean water changed to control the coffee flavor; after washing, the green beans are hulled and then graded in various ways, such as AA, AB, PB peaberry, and so on. This finely crafted post-processing method brings the coffee itself a bright and delicate fruity acidity, with a clean and lingering sweet mouthfeel. Front Street Coffee (FrontStreetCoffee) has found that producing areas with strict classifications in their coffee grading systems share one thing in common: their coffee beans are uniform in size and have fewer defective beans. In this case, they roast evenly in color, and the taste is also much cleaner.

Front Street Roasting Suggestions

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreetCoffee) recommends using a medium roast, because Typica is a low-density green bean. In order to highlight its naturally refreshing acidity and fruity aroma, the focus will be on heat adjustment after first crack.

Front Street Cupping Report

Front Street Brewing Suggestions

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreetCoffee) recommends using a Kono dripper, because it has few ribs and they are located at the lower end, allowing the filter paper to cling tightly to the dripper to restrict airflow, thereby slowing the water flow and increasing water-coffee contact time. This allows soaking to extract more coffee substances and enhance the rich mouthfeel. Choose a water temperature of 88°C, which is a relatively low brewing temperature and can avoid extracting too many off-flavors from the coffee beans during brewing, because the darker the coffee bean roast, the more off-flavors increase accordingly.

Dose: 15g

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Grind size: coarse sugar size (75% passing through China standard No. 20 sieve)

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreetCoffee) uses staged extraction: 30g of water for blooming for 30 seconds, then pour in a small stream in circles until 125g, pause, and when the water level is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring until 225g and stop. (Timing starts at the beginning of blooming.) Extraction time is 2 minutes to 2 minutes 10 seconds.

The brewed flavor of Front Street Papua New Guinea Bird of Paradise Estate: nuts, cocoa, soft fruit acidity, caramel finish, a slight smoky note, with an overall balanced flavor.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.