Region :            Waghi Valley, Western Highlands
Altitude:           1,600-1850 masl
Process:            Washed
Variety :            Arusha, Bourbon, Typica
Grade :               A15+
Q Score:            84.25

Very good soft citric acidity, delicate body, high sweetness. Notes of brown sugar and red berries.

Coffee Bio:

The vast Waghi Valley runs through the Jiwaka and Western Highlands provinces. It has the highest density of (former) plantation blocks in Papua New Guinea (PNG). During the country’s colonial era, this valley was the home of well managed and immaculately manicured plantation estates. Our Kunjin coffee is named after cherry purchased in the Kunjin region; a specific catchment area in the Waghi Valley. Central GPS coordinates of our sourcing efforts: 5 50’38”S 144 31’49”E

After PNG’s independence in 1975, most estates returned to the original landowner groups. Estates were divided into smaller blocks that were individually managed. Either as a medium sized block or split up even further as smallholder portions. Each coffee grower in this area nowadays typically manages anywhere between 1 to 12 ha of planted coffee.
Over time, the absence of commercial milling capacity led to the ‘risk’ of this excellent coffee being blended into anonymous batches of parchment that tend to exchange ownership at through many smaller parchment buying operations. These parchment trades feed the large quantities of Y grade that PNG has to offer.

Provenance:

New Guinea Highlands has taken an approach in which we are able to support easy market access for coffee growers, while maintaining the high quality of the Kunjin characteristics. Through partnerships with strategically located cherry-buying points and a commercial sized milling operation, coffee growers do not need to individually process small batches of cherry into parchment. Through our network, local coffee growers in this region have convenient market access to sell their cherry. Our processing facilities ensure uniformity and maintain the amazing quality of the coffee from the Kunjin area.
Although the era of large privately owned plantation estates in Papua New Guinea is behind us, our Kunjin blend is a prime example of how a classic estate quality remains available year-on-year. At the same time, this means the Kunjin coffee grower is supported with a premium price for their product.

Variety and process:

Varieties grown in the area are multiple. Our Kunjin coffee is therefore a blend of Typica, Arusha and some Bourbon. These are all grown on the rich, loamy and clay soil of the Waghi Valley between 1450 and 1750 masl.
Kunjin coffee undergoes a fully washed process and is exclusively sun-dried. The dried parchment gets transported to our own dry-milling facility in Goroka. This is a 180 km road trip over the Highlands Highway.

After final processing, careful lot separation and quality control procedures are maintained before each lot is temporarily stored in our state-of-the-art warehouse facilities in Goroka. This is where each batch of Kunjin stays -in the relatively cool highlands environment- before its final leg of its PNG coffee journey comes to an end; a 300km road-trip to the port of Lae in preparation for shipment to its new home.

KUNJIN  LOCATION