AAK Cooperative Washed

This smooth cup opens with aromas of cinnamon, nougat, and plum. Notes of milk chocolate, nougat, and clove accompany black cherry acidity. Cedar and milk chocolate linger in the long finish.

Details

Producer: AAK Cooperative Farm: 1,698 Smallholders Region: Highlands Altitude: 1,400-1,615 masl | 4,593-5,299 feet Varietal: Bourbon, Typica, Caturra, Catuaí, Arusha Process: Washed Roast: Light Notes: Nougat, Black Cherry, Cedar

The Story

Imported by our friends at Crop to Cup.

"Brian Kuglame is the General Manager of the AAK Cooperative, a group of 64 communities from across the Highlands region. That’s 64 different ‘house-lines’—single-family villages each with languages and traditions uniquely their own. What they have in common is a pidgin called Tok Pisin, and membership in the AAK Cooperative. AAK stands for Apo, Angra and Kange—the word for ‘Unity’ in the three major local languages. Coffee brings the world together in more ways than one. AAK is the only cooperative in PNG to unify so many disparate tribes, and they are proud of the role that coffee plays in promoting unity.

"With the exception of a few well-known estates, Papua New Guinea coffee is for the most part from smallholder production, all very small scale with little attention paid to specialty production due to the involvement of middlemen. While middlemen play a valuable role in bringing the coffee economy to remote areas up in the mountains, they complicate quality promotion between buyer and seller.

"With so many disparate cultural groups and languages across the Highlands, PNG culture has traditionally not lent itself well to cooperative export structures. AAK is one of the few organizations in the country to have successfully organized farmers across the Western, Central and Eastern Highlands into cohesive groups focused on quality."

The AAK Cooperative Washed hails from the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, where the AAK Cooperative cultivates coffee at elevations between 1400 and 1615 meters above sea level. This specific lot undergoes a washed process, a method typically employed to highlight the inherent clarity and acidity of the bean. By removing the fruit flesh before drying, producers often achieve a cleaner cup profile that emphasizes the terroir of the region.

Roasted by PT's Coffee Roasting, this selection presents a distinct sensory experience characterized by notes of nougat, black cherry, and cedar. When evaluating such profiles, tasters often find it helpful to reference a flavor wheel to better categorize these complex aromatic compounds. While washed coffees are frequently celebrated for their bright, crisp qualities, the specific interplay of these flavors reflects the unique environmental conditions found within the rugged landscape of the Papua New Guinea Highlands.