Myanmar Ga Naing Yar

Brewing recommendations: Pour-over, French press, Auto-drip

Our first coffee from Myanmar here at TCR and what a pleasant surprise it is! A uniquely clean cupping natural from a country only recently making the foray into specialty coffee.

Ga Niang Yar is roasted medium-light to let its sweet and dessert-like qualities shine. We taste rich caramel, semisweet chocolate, marzipan and hints of fresh berries with a smooth and full body. We only acquired two bags of this beautiful and interesting naturally processed offering so make sure to try it while you can!

From Atlas Coffee Importers, procurer of this coffee-

“Coffee was first introduced to Myanmar (formerly Burma) in 1885, but for the next fifty years or so, the coffee trade inched along on a fairly limited scale. Over the last several years, however, several organizations have begun to put more focus on the coffee trade as the Myanmar economy has opened up. Private entities and NGOs have been working with growers to improve agronomy and harvesting practices, and investments in milling and education have brought about the birth of a true specialty coffee business in the country. The climate in Myanmar’s highlands – hot days, cool nights – lends itself well to coffee cultivation. Given the relative predictability of very, very dry and hot weather during harvest season, it is particularly well suited to natural processing, though a significant amount of washed coffee is also produced.

Fast forward to 2019: specialty coffee roasters began competing in coffee competitions with coffee from Myanmar; Burmese youth are involved and enthusiastic about coffee production; the Myanmar Coffee Association (MCA) hosts an annual specialty-coffee competition in Yangon; and there are at least five dry mills throughout the country. Mandalay and Shan State produce the majority of the coffee in Myanmar, but recently other regions (Chin State and Kachin State) have also started growing coffee. In Mandalay, most of the farmers own large estates, and produce washed coffee. Shan State producers are almost exclusively smallholders, most of whom own less than a hectare of land.”