Thailand Sirinya Ripasso

Goh and Oye are the proud owners of Sirinya Coffee Farm, a roastery, and shop in Chiang Rai province. They are an exemplary couple who look after many in the Doi Chang communities. For the past decade, they have been striving to bring sustainable farming practices to the regional farms and actively work to address human migration and trafficking issues in their community.

Our connection with Goh and Oye began in 2015. We first visited the farm before they had built their processing station and we journeyed with them through the process. This has not been an easy ride for them, navigating unbelievable struggles to get to where they are. We have wanted to bring this coffee to you since those very early days and finally, the day has come when their coffee can now be enjoyed in the UK. 

We are sure you will love this coffee as much as we do!

Coffee Facts

Farmers / Producer - Sirinya Coffee Farm

Agro method - Shade-grown

Region: Doi Chiang, Chiang Rai

Altitude - 1450m above sea level

Variety - Bourbon, Caturra Catimor

Process Type - Anaerobic Honey

Flavour notes

This will depend slightly on the method of brewing, so please refer to our flavour map image for our general flavour description. 

As a pour-over (using a V60 or home filter machine) you’ll taste a complex array of nuts and spices with a slight touch of fruits such as pomegranates. The body is very smooth and full, but the most dominant taste is rich hazelnut and dark chocolate. There are also some tea-like flavours that come through particularly in the aftertaste. Overall this is a rich sweet coffee that is very different from its counterpart Anaerobic Natural from the same farm.

As an espresso, we recommend dosing the shot as much as you can! The spices, tea-like notes, and rich nutty flavour make a very yummy espresso that really is so so yummy. This also can be a GREAT match with oat milk or nut milk alternatives as the flavours blend really well.

Thailand Coffee History

Coffee has been grown commercially in Thailand for a relatively short period of time – only really since the early 1960s.  It mainly took off in the late ‘70s when the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) championed the growing of coffee as a potential alternative crop to opium (the Arabica growing regions in the Greater Mekong correspond fairly closely to the notorious Golden Triangle). This policy of ‘alternative development’ (the current UN term) can be seen to be the key driver behind Thailand becoming an Arabica coffee-growing country. It’s also been a remarkably successful policy – between 1998 and 2006, opium production here fell by more than 80%. 

More recently, the production of coffee in the north is also seen as a valuable weapon in the fight against deforestation – Thailand has lost nearly 50% of its forests in the last 30 years. Naturally shade-grown coffee can be a vital element of permaculture with more and more farmers beginning to plant native trees at the same time as coffee plants. Coffee cultivation has had a profound effect on this part of Thailand, providing long-term, sustainable, and safe livelihoods for thousands of farmers, helping the environment, and in recent years producing specialty lots that are enjoyed by the booming domestic specialty coffee scene.

Most of the coffee grown in Thailand is robusta, grown in the southern states while arabica is grown in the northern highlands, specifically the provinces of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai as well as to a lesser extent in Nan, Mae Hong Song, and Lampang. The people who call this area their home are part of an intense ethnic and cultural mix of, predominantly, hill tribes (or ‘highland Thais’, or Chao Khao). The main groupings are Akha, Karen, Lahu, Tien, Mien, and Hmong (among many others).

The Process

This Coffee is an Anaerobic Honey 'Ripasso' process which is also referred to as a Film Yeast Fermentation process method.

Cherries are floated before undergoing anaerobic fermentation inside plastic barrels mixed with local yeast until the PH is about 3.5-4.0. This helps control the level of microbes rather than standard honey processing techniques. The cherry skins are then removed and the beans with the cherry mucilage still intact are moved to outdoor drying racks to be sun-dried until the moisture content reaches around 15 - 20% before moving inside to a temperature-controlled drying station for a slow dry until moisture reaches 10-12%.

Brew Recommendations 

V60 pour-over

Espresso - a double shot of 19g dry weight to 38-42g wet weight shot.