PAPUA NEW GUINEA Baroida Natural filter

Product detailed description

Varieties: Arush, Bourbon, Mundo Novo, Typica
Harvest: September 2024
Region: Baroida, Aiyura, Kianantu
Farm: Baroida Estate
Farmer: Nicol Colbran
Altitude: 1700 - 1850 meters
Processing: Natural

Baroida Estate is located in the Kainantu area of the Eastern Highlands province. The farm was founded by Ben Colbran in the 1960s when the government encouraged foreign farmers to start cultivating land in the area. Ben first bought land from a native named Taro and was one of the first farmers to grow coffee in these valleys. Today, the farm is run by Ben's son Nichol.

The name "Baroida" comes from the spirit Baroida, which locals believe resides in a large river stone located in one of the main rivers flowing through the area. This rock stubbornly remains in the middle of the river, as long as anyone can remember, and refuses to move even during the largest floods, while other boulders have been washed away.

The Baroida farm lies in the Lamari River valley below the Jabarra mountain range. The coffee plants themselves are located at an altitude of about 1,700 to 1,850 meters above sea level among thousands of hectares of cleared land, surrounded by former colonial coffee estates (now managed by native landowners) and bordered by mountains full of small coffee growers who cultivate nearly a million trees.

One of the biggest challenges the Colbrans faced when they started was the problem of waterlogging. The system widely used in Papua New Guinea for planting coffee seedlings was borrowed from Kenya. When planting a new seedling, a hole approximately one meter wide and one meter deep is dug, filled with topsoil, and then the seedling is planted in it.

This method was completely unsuitable for the wet highlands of Papua New Guinea, where the average annual rainfall is 3000 ml (compared to Kenya, where it is less than 1600 mm). This problem was solved by digging drainage ditches between the rows of coffee. After a short time, Ben became very experienced in growing coffee. His knowledge expanded over time with increasing experience, and he passed these solutions on to Nichol, who applies them to this day.

Over the years, some minor adjustments have been made as Colbran Coffeelands has grown and increased its production. More shade trees have been planted to reduce fertilizer requirements and also to keep weeds under control. With more shading, of course, come lower yields. Therefore, Colbran Coffeelands has implemented renewal and planting programs to be able to meet future demand.

According to Nichol, the high quality of coffee from Colbran Coffeelands is partly due to the "old-fashioned" systems that have been used since the late 1960s. Careful sorting for quality control helps maintain high coffee quality. After careful sorting, the cherries are placed on raised beds for screening. Thanks to cooperation with Baroida Estate and Colbrans, we obtain the highest quality lots, which are separated before peeling, sorting, and preparing for export and assigned specifically for our supplier.