When the beans in your cup of coffee are grown in Myanmar

Dubai now has a subscription service for single origin, specialty coffees.

Usually, I'm up for anything to do with coffee. How about if a new experience sounds like a coffee club, where you can gather to reserve, and sample limited edition and specialty coffees - from countries you never knew had an intersect with the brew? In smaller pack sizes, and with a decent price tag.
Interested?  How about subscribing to it?
A new brand to market, Refinery by RAW, has drawn up plans to bring in coffees from up to 22 countries, some of which have never been marketed internationally. They're not looking at huge volumes - it's just that with the huge interest in coffee in the GCC - it makes sense to grow the product, the consumer, as well as the market.
Let's say you're a small farmer in Myanmar. With a 170-year-old coffee tradition that nobody's heard about, how do you get your product to market? For the small farmer with no more than 15 or 20 trees, it is easy to fall into the trap of, shall we say, alternative cash crops. Under the USAID umbrella as well as consultancy Coffee Quality Institute, small farmers in Myanmar for the first time, have access to information and training on how to look after, and maintain their trees, and the optimal time and manner in which they should handle the coffee berries. The processing step right after plucking the berry decides the flavour, body, acidity and aftertaste of the coffee. Instead of gradual improvement, the learning has resulted in dramatic change.
Enter RAW Coffee, straight out of Dubai, and one of a few coffee manufacturers and suppliers from around the world, that went into the land of pagodas. Founders Kim Thompson and Matt Toogood observed that in the south Asian country, women worked hard, and had a say in the finances of the home. Elected bodies in place at the community level made it easier to work with the villagers. There is a direct flight to Yangon. The coffee itself was great and had never been marketed internationally. The RAW team was hooked. Committing to buy the product, Raw is the first to bring coffee from Burma to the GCC.
Currently, there are 25 communities under this project and more that are keen to take up the baton, as they see their compatriots tie in a decent price for the harvest. Says Kim Thompson, describing the coffee from Myanmar, "The flavour is funky. It's clean-tasting coffee with the flavours of orange and sandalwood coming through from the soil." The beans are processed using a natural or dry-processed method. The farmers were taught to make African drying beds (with a mesh) so that air could circulate around the beans, and these are turned regularly to ensure that they don't ferment or spoil.
The metrics of the new launch, say the Kiwi owners of Raw, are like a food or beverage exploration club. A good point of reference is that the company currently serves nine different coffees from Ethiopia - each one tastes different. If we want coffee to improve in the region, there is a need for education on both sides of the table. As one of the most successful roasters in the region, RAW supplies coffee to over 200 café and restaurant outlets.
The demand for coffee today is the highest ever, but production is not optimal. This could be an interesting way for consumers to get involved, and ensure at the same time, that the farmers on small holdings get an equitable price for their produce.
The Specialty Grading Association (SGA) is the one standardised cupping school that decides the ratings of all the coffee that comes to market. The cup score attributed to this coffee is 88. Drop in at RAW Coffee's Al Quoz roasting headquarters on April 11 and 12 this week, to sample a cup of joe.
For more info, check refinerybyraw.com
harveena@khaleejtimes.com
Harveena likes a strong cup of java in the
morning . The rest of the day is sunshine

• UAE