Papua New Guinea Baroida Estate

In 2010 (before Nylon was “born” at Everton Park), we roasted our first coffees from Papua New Guinea. A couple of bags literally hand delivered by a mysterious gentleman, who claimed to be a family member of a fairly large and well known plantation in the Western Highlands. Back in those days, our knowledge of coffee origins were very much driven by hearsay and what the traders wanted us to hear. PNG sounded like an exotic land where head-hunters and cannibalism still exist. So imagine the excitement we had, to be roasting coffees that apparently had the same cup profile of the Blue Mountain cultivar! (Yes, back in those days, we honestly thought Kona and Blue Mountain were one of the better coffees one should drink.)

Fast forward to 2014, we chanced upon a sample that was dropped off at our roastery. Out of curiosity, we roasted and cupped the beans, and was surprisingly wowed by the cup quality - this definitely has the potential to be a special coffee. We contacted the equally mysterious stranger to find out more about this coffee.

The Story:

The Baroida Plantation, located in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea, was founded by Ben Colbran in the 1960s. Ben first purchased the land from a native man named Taro & they were amongst the first people to cultivate crops in those valleys. In 1965, the government encouraged the early settlers to start growing coffee as a long-term sustainable crop. Ben became one of the first coffee producers of the Eastern Highlands when he started to plant coffee trees on the land, which thrived in it’s unique micro-climate.

The Colbran Family is now in its third generation with Ben’s son Nickel and grandson Chris running the Baroida plantation. In 2005, Chris started the Tairora and Lamari Network, coffee projects dedicated to improving pricing and traceability in the local coffee trade. 5 years later in 2010, after years of turning their coffee to various exporters, that would either sell it or blend it into generic lots, the Colbrans decided to process and export their own coffee.

So here we are, found in the most unexpected way - our first coffee from the Indo-Pacific region. The aroma on the nose is distinct vanilla and chocolate but the cup opens up with a distinct fruit mix of grapes, stone fruits and pink guava. But it’s the molasses sweetness that leaves you gaping for more with every sip. Together with a good mouthfeel and clean finish, we are really proud to be able to share with you our first foray into coffee from PNG.

• Producer: Colbran Family
• Local municipality: Aiyura
• Origin: Eastern Highlands, Papua New Guinea
• Altitude: 1615 - 1830m asl
• Varietals: Typica, Bourbon, Arusha, MondoNovo
• Processing: Washed. Coffee is pulped using disk pulpers, and dry fermented for 36 hours. After fermentation, mucilage is removed by pumping the coffee through pipes.
• Drying: Outdoor tarps and mechanical dryers. Coffee is dried on plastic tarps on the ground, and drying times vary greatly on climate and can range from a few days to over 30 days. The last few years, drying has been a challenge as weather has been unpredictable and unseasonably rainy. This causes the Colbrans to use the mechanical drier more frequently, even though the tarps are preferred.

A Big Thank You

On 1st May 2013, we celebrated our 1st birthday with coffees on the house in exchange for your kind donation to charity:water. Together with the limited edition totes and tees sold, we raised an amount that the team was so proud of.

This year on 1st May 2014, with an extended standing room in our tiny shopfront, we kept the coffees flowing with no charge for the 2nd year running. The support from the crowd was unwavering, as we collected a sum of S$5,701.25 from the generous donations as well as the sale of the limited edition buttons. A very kind lady also pitched in another S$900 for the brew gift set, bringing the total amount to S$6,601.25 for charity: water.

Your kind support is very much appreciated.

Thank you - Team Nylon.

Nylon turns 2!

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Earlier this year, Singapore experienced our driest season with little or no rain for 2 months. Several states in our neighbouring Malaysia even have to resort to water rationing for businesses and residents alike. Through years of foresight, planning and conserving, Singaporeans were much luckier compared to our peers as our diversified water sources meant that our daily lives went on unaffected except for the usual complaint of “This weather is so blardy HOT!”

This was a wakeup call to many. Many of us in this part of the world don’t spend too much time thinking about water because it’s available everywhere we go. When we’re thirsty, we flip a handle or push a button. When we’re dirty, we twist a shower knob. When our cars are dirty, we hose down the dirt with zero hesitation. When we need to cook our rice, when we use the bathroom — water is just an arm’s length away and more often than not, we forget how precious clean water can be.

In many developing countries, the situation is a lot less fortunate. Women and children walk for hours, up and down mountains, just to collect water that can make them really sick.

On 1 May 2014, we celebrate 2 years of awesome coffees at Nylon and we want to continue to do our part on this very special day. Last year, because of your kindness, we raised a total of SGD$3,915.80 for charity: water but we want to better that figure this year. And we can only do that with your help! In return, we will be serving coffees FREE from 9am - 6pm on 1 May 2014. We humbly ask for your generous support to our cause — any amount you give is gonna be a massive step towards providing clean water to someone who really needs it.

As part of the 2nd anniversary celebration, we have also prepared a special auction gift set perfect for any home brewer, consisting of

• Kalita 155 Stainless Steel Dripper
• Kalita 155 Brown Filters (50pcs)
• Porlex Mini Ceramic Hand Grinder
• Ethiopia Workye Shallo
• Hand Doodled Charity Run Illustration (Courtesy of May)

All these in a handy yet beautiful repurposed wine box. This gift set is worth a total of $145.50.

Send your bid** to water@nyloncoffee.sg by 4 May Sunday 11.59pm and we’ll announce the winning coffee nut the following day.

Make it a date with us on 1 May 2014!

** 100% of the winning bid will go towards the final amount to be contributed for this charity campaign and the winner will need to pick up the gift set from our shop.

Ethiopia Workye Shallo

We have been anticipating to drink this coffee ever since it arrived few months back. We are just thrilled to finally roll out this coffee that we consider to be special both in the cup as well as the efforts made behind the coffee.

Yirgacheffe is known for its complex, floral and acidic coffees. Normally the coffee cherries from small farms within an area would be blended at the wet mills with cherries from hundreds of other farmers with small plots of land. However, thanks to a project known as “One Farmer One Roaster”, a handful of small farms can now produce, sell, and export their coffee as a Single Estate Coffee. One of these farms belongs to Workye Shallo. She owns and runs the farm with the support from her son and other family members. It is located in an interesting area in Yirgacheffe called Wakesa, with altitudes up to 2000 meters above sea level. Under this project, Workye Shallo took on a micro-loan to invest in equipment that allows her and her family to run their own small scale processing operation. They are able to pay extra attention to picking, ripeness, processing and drying by embarking on this project.

This scheme is brought to us by our green coffee partner, Nordic Approach. Like the good folks behind Nordic Approach, we too believe that through this unique collaboration, we can change how some of the Ethiopian specialty coffees are produced and sold to roasters. It presents a sustainable avenue to showcase the coffee’s unique character and offers traceability for the roasters buying the Ethiopian coffees.

In support of this project, Nordic Approach added an extra USD1 per kg for this green coffee that will be handed over directly to the farmers this year. It is earmarked for investment in equipment that will help the farmers to develop and increase both quantity and quality. The prices for these coffees reflect the extra effort, risk and investment taken by the producers, and we are glad to have done our little part towards this cause.

This coffee is superbly clean and embeds the quintessential beauty of Ethiopian coffees. Lovely aromatics of coffee flower and hibiscus, delicious fruit notes of ripe peaches and apricots, coupled with candy sweetness and a bergamot finish. We only managed to buy very little of this coffee and don’t expect it to last more than 3 weeks.

• Producer: Workye Shallo
• Origin: Deveo, Wakesa, Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia
• Varietal: Old trees of Ethiopian Heirloom and new trees of improved varietals
• Altitude: 1800 - 2000m asl
• Processing: The coffee is pulped on a locally made pulper, fermented under water for 24-36 hours, graded in washing channels based on density and then soaked in clean water for 12-24 hours and sun dried in 10-15 days.

Dennis competed in Singapore’s first Aeropress competition with this coffee, and clinched the 2nd runner-up trophy. For those interested in his recipe, here goes….

16 grams of coffee, ground slightly coarser than paper filter setting
Rinse normal filter and warm up aeropress in inverted position
40g of water at 91c for about 40 sec
Add another 200g of water at 87c slowly
3 stirs, screw on cap and press after 2 min
Press gently for about 30 sec and stop before the hissing sound

Serve and enjoy!

Ethiopia Kecho Tirtira

We are approaching the end of our last few Ethiopian coffees from last year before the new crop harvest arrives in a few months time. Here comes a familiar name which some of you might still remember - Kecho Tirtira. It is a relatively new cooperative in the Limu area with about 350 smallholders which only started to produce coffees since 2011. We introduced this coffee last year with a roast profile aimed for filter brews. It was a crowd pleaser for its lovely fruity aroma, juiciness and sweetness. This year, we bought back this coffee again as it cupped even better than last year, all thanks to our friends from Nordic Approach, who are the guys on the ground sourcing our African coffees. We feel Kecho Tirtira is a rather versatile coffee and works great as a filter brew but also as an espresso. Hence this year, we decided to feature this coffee as a single origin espresso instead.

As an espresso, we taste red fruits (think very ripe red grapes and red currents) with caramel sweetness in the finish. The fruity tones are juicy but not overwhelming. Hints of floral flavours can be found in the mid tones but what we really love about the espresso is the syrupy mouthfeel. The viscosity and sweetness makes it so yummy that one can’t help but ask for a 2nd cup.

• Cooperative: Kecho Tirtira Cooperative
• Producers: About 350 smallholders
• Local municipality: Limu - Kossa
• Region: Jimma, Ethiopia
• Altitude: 1850 - 2050m asl
• Varietals: Ethiopian Heirloom 
• Processing: Pulped and mechanically demucilaged, soaked in clean water for 10 hours. Followed by skin dry and hand sorted for 4-6 hours after soak and finally sun-dried on african drying beds for 10 days.