Tasting Notes

Red grape, maple syrup and sweet milk chocolate.

Origin Details

• Region: Lufa and Okapa
  
• Variety: Arabica - Typica, Arusha
  
• Process Method: Washed
• Altitude: 1,450-2,000m
  

"A" Grade from the Eastern Highlands

The Eastern Highlands is a rugged, fertile region shaped by the soaring Kratke and Bismarck Ranges, rainforest valleys, and river systems like the Asaro and Lamari. Home to an extraordinary range of plant and animal life, it offers ideal conditions for producing high-quality coffee. Since its introduction in the late 19th century, coffee has thrived here under careful farm management with little to no fertiliser inputs. Yet despite this potential, progress in specialty coffee has been limited by poor infrastructure and economic instability.

In the remote villages of Okapa and Lufa, which inspired the name of this Okalu blend, coffee is a vital cash crop. Smallholder farmers, often with as few as 20 trees, cultivate it alongside subsistence crops. With limited access to equipment or reliable buyers, many have had to undersell their coffee to anyone able to transport it, making investment in quality difficult and limiting the true value of their harvests.

Maureen Ken is a local businesswoman with a mission to build confidence and long-term relationships with rural producers. She established Lass Malo Coffee (LMC) in 2015 with her husband, Ken Dumudi, to focus on accessibility and quality support in the region. Locally led with the prosperity of remote farming communities at heart, LMC provides a bridge for producers to sell their coffee at value-added prices. These premiums have made a significant impact, both in improving farmers' livelihoods and elevating the quality and consistency of coffee across all export grades.

Farmers hand-pick ripe cherries, wash and float them, then pulp and ferment for 24 to 36 hours. After washing, the parchment is dried on raised beds under shade for 3-4 days. LMC trucks collect the dried parchment free of charge and transport it to their dry mill facility in Goroka. There, at LMC's expanded dry mill facility established in 2022, the coffee undergoes further sun-drying or mechanical drying before being finished with colour sorting and gravity separation, increasing quality and returns for the farming community.