Organic Coffee Tour at Suan Lahu
One of the top activities that I wanted to do while exploring SE Asia was to visit a coffee farm. We booked a tour with Green Trails. (They also hosted our food tour in the Old Town which I mentioned in a previous post). Our tour guide, Narung, arrived with a smile on his face and told us we were going to have an educational and relaxing trip to the Suan Lahu Organic Coffee farm which is about an hour and a half north of Chiang Mai. Lo-Ue, one of the co-founders of Suan Lahu, greeted us with a warm welcome and a fresh cup of coffee when we arrived at the farm.
History of Coffee Farming in Thailand
To start off our experience, Lo-Ue first shared a bit about the history of coffee farming in Thailand. In 1969, a Royal Project was initiated by King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the 9th king of Thailand who saw the need to shift away from opium production and towards the production of crops with higher economic and environmental sustainability. Coffee was one of the crops that this project focused on. Coffee production continues to grow as a result of the Royal Project and Thailand is now one of the top producers of coffee beans in Asia.
Learning about Suan Lahu Organic Coffee Farm
Lo-Ue told us that Suan Lahu started roasting coffee beans back in 2009. The main goals of their coffee business are to maintain environmentally sustainable coffee production as well as to provide support for the local Lahu community. He also shared an interesting story of how he met one of his business partners, Carina who visited the farm to do research for her thesis which focused on indigenous cultures and communities in SE Asia. (She definitely got to drink way better coffee than I did when I was writing my thesis!).
Suan Lahu even has a visitors program and also internships for individuals or groups that are interested in learning more about their organic farming practices and Lahu culture. Definitely something I will consider coming back and doing :)
Picking, Processing, Drying, Roasting, and Packaging Beans
Lo-Ue was kind enough to show us the whole process of preparing a packaged bag of roasted coffee beans. We were visiting towards the end of the coffee cherry picking season which usually runs November to February so we were lucky we found some ripe cherries during our trip.
Picking: Our hunt for coffee cherries in the forest
We took a nice hike through the shaded forest of the farm. Lo-Ue has been planting the coffee trees throughout the forest and they grow naturally amongst the other trees and plants. He helped us gather a few ripe Arabica red cherries during our hike which we brought back for the next step of the process.
Processing coffee cherries
Lo-Ue showed us the machine he uses for a wash process where the beans are removed from the fruit. The beans sit in water for about 24h to help remove a slimy film (not the scientific name but that is what it looked like). They also have 2 other processes, honey (skin removed but beans are not washed before drying) and natural (leaving the beans in the fruit while drying). The different processes bring out different flavors of the beans. If you are interested, read more about processing methods here!
Drying the beans in the sunshine
Lo-Ue then showed us where the coffee beans are set in the sun to dry (usually for about a week). You can see the differences in the colors of the beans that have undergone wash, natural or honey processing. After drying, the beans are hand sorted and the broken beans are removed from the batch.
Lunch Break!
After a nice morning of “working” on the coffee farm we were rewarded with a tasty lunch of an omlet and fresh fruit and veggies. This meal might not look that impressive but this was one of Zach’s favorite meals on our trip so I wanted to highlight it!
Preparing the perfect medium roast
Roasting was my favorite part of the production process. The farm has an industrial size roasting machine and you can see Zach was super pumped to load the machine with our beans. There is a small metal tube in the machine that you can take out during roasting to check what the color of the beans are. The smell of the freshly roasting beans was intoxicating especially for a coffee lover like me. With the coaching from Lo-Ue we made a wonderful batch of medium roasted beans.
Packaged and ready to go!
Packaging was also super fun. They have a machine that seals the bag through heat and pressure. We haven’t tasted the fruits of our labor so hopefully the coffee tastes as good as it looks.
Visiting the Lahu Village
The Lahu people are one of the indigenous tribes of Northern Thailand. Lo-Ue ended our tour with a visit to his village of about 120 Lahu people. It is about a 20 minute walk from where the roastery is located. Overall, we had an amazing day at the Suan Lahu Organic farm learning about both coffee and the Lahu people.
Our Favorite Coffee Shops in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Now that you are super jazzed about the process of preparing coffee beans, we wanted to share the joy of drinking coffee! I highlighted some of the best coffee spots that we visited in Chiang Mai so far. If you are a coffee lover you must visit Chiang Mai at some point in your life. I am not exaggerating when I say that they have some of the best coffee I have ever tasted! Going out for coffee is also very affordable and the average cost for a latte is about $2.50. I will post more coffee stops that we take on our trip on my instagram page @kristyheppner which is essentially my digital coffee diary.
Nine One Coffee
The Nine One Organic Coffee Farm is located about a 45min drive north of Chiang Mai. There are two Nine One shops located in Chiang Mai that are in the Nimman area. Both have excellent drinks and friendly service. The unique aspect of Nine One is that their coffee shops source their beans exclusively from their organic farm in northern Thailand.
Roast8ry
This is by far the best tasting coffee we have ever experienced. If you like delicious coffee and artistic presentations then this is the spot for you. They have three locations in the Nimman area- Ristr8tro Original, Roastr8ry Lab and Roastr8ry Flagship Store (FYI, many of the coffee shops that we visited don’t have a website so I will share their social media pages). All three are fantastic but the Ristr8tro Original is our favorite because we think the shop has a super chill vibe.
KLĀY Cafe
KLĀY Cafe is a lovely local spot for a nice coffee and light breakfast which you can enjoy while relaxing on their peaceful outdoor patio. It recently opened and is set a little bit further back from the road so it is a bit of a hidden gem.
Basecamp Cafe
Basecamp Cafe is a great place to grab a coffee before or after you hike the Monk’s trail at the base of Doi Suthep. It is located at the bottom of the trail so it has a fresh outdoor vibe away from the city.
PHOX Studio
PHOX Studio is a minimalist style coffee shop with excellent coffee. The baristas are super knowledgeable and help you pick out the best coffee beans for the type of drink that you want.
ENP Coffee Co.
We came across ENP Coffee Co on our trip out to the Elephant Nature Park, an elephant sanctuary. The coffee is delicious and my favorite part is that the profits help support the operations of the elephant sanctuary.
I hope your cup of coffee got you through to the end of this post! I will share more about our fantastic adventure to the Elephant Nature Park in next week’s post. Be sure to subscribe to our Newsletter so you don’t miss our updates!
