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The Southeast Asian nation of Myanmar is making waves in the coffee business, thanks to a climate and topography that lends itself to coffee growing and new technology from abroad that has improved the quality of its beans.
This has brought Myanmar recognition as a producer of high-grade, “specialty” coffees with unique flavors.
In early February, 35 members of the All Japan Coffee Roasters Association, an industry group, visited a processing plant in Pyin Oo Lwin, a highland village 1,100 meters above sea level about 70km east of the central city of Mandalay. The visit was led by Yutaka Shibata, president of Key Coffee.
Mandalay Coffee Group, founded in 2014, runs the plant. It has two functions, one of which is to process the beans. It collects coffee cherries from farmers in the area and the neighboring state of Shan. The red fruit is stripped of its pulp — a layer just beneath the outer skin that encases the bean — dried and milled. Various steps in processing create flavors unique to each type of bean.
The other function is to evaluate the quality of the beans. With the help of experts from the Specialty Coffee Association of America, the company has developed ways to process coffee cherries from each farm separately and classify them.
One method is “cupping,” evaluating the aroma and flavor of brewed coffee under set conditions, a bit like a wine taster does with wine. During the visit by the Japanese group, one participant tasted several coffees, describing their flavors with phrases such as “a waft of sweetness like chocolate or nuts,” and “bright acidity similar to apple or lemon.”
