Mae Suai, Thailand

Mae Suai is a district in Chiang Rai province in northern Thailand, known for its rich indigenous culture, history, and scenic mountain landscapes. In the early days of the Thai specialty coffee movement and the effort to make traceable coffee more commercially available, coffee from Doi Chang was among the first to bring recognition to the region, alongside its long-standing reputation for tea cultivation. Today, Mae Suai is one of Thailand’s largest coffee-growing areas, cultivated predominantly by the Akha hilltribe. Over 500 Akha households grow a mix of Catuai, Typica, and Chiang Mai varieties, the latter being a popular local hybrid named after the province.

This lot from Mae Suai comes from one specific farmer, Nawin Yaesorkoo. At 37 years old and the third generation in his family’s coffee business, Nawin is regarded as one of Thailand’s most innovative producers and has long partnered with our exporting partners, Beanspire. His brother owns one of the largest cafés in Chiang Rai, while Nawin himself runs a small café in town and one of the largest mills in Mae Suai. Deeply dedicated to growing and processing coffee, he collaborates with 20 neighbouring farmers to improve quality traceable down to each batch, applying unique processing methods while ensuring consistency across large-scale production.

The Kenya-style Washed process involves a two-stage fermentation, named for its reputation in Kenya for producing crisp and consistent cup profiles. Coffee cherries are first sorted, pulped, and fermented dry in tanks, then fermented again in water before being soaked. This year, Nawin and Beanspire experimented with extending the dry fermentation stage while reducing the wet fermentation and soaking time. The coffee was then dried for at least 14 days in the area’s lowlands on raised bamboo beds. After drying, it underwent meticulous preparation through multiple passes with a destoner, huller, size grader, and density table, followed by careful hand-sorting.

As coffee farmers around the world continue to face the challenges of climate change, unpredictable weather and harvest cycles have led to lower production yields during a time of unprecedented price fluctuations in the global coffee market. One of Nawin’s key missions is to improve soil health and moisture management, invest in better mill equipment, and continuously refine processing techniques to enhance both the quality potential and sustainability of Mae Suai’s coffee. His pursuit of excellence and innovation ensures steady progress and helps future-proof specialty coffee in the region.