Papua New Guinea Nebilyer Valley

Nebilyer Valley: April Subscriber Exclusive Coffee of the Month

Stellar single origin lots like Papua New Guinea Nebilyer Valley cry out to be showcased on their own as part of our Small Batch coffee subscription series. When we featured a lot from this region in March of last year, subscribers loved it. We’re thrilled to have another spectacular offering from this superb origin. 

From one of the most diverse origins

This incredible dark roast comes from an elevated plateau in Papua New Guinea’s western highlands, surrounded by lush peaks and protected by dense cloud coverage. Papua New Guinea is one of the most diverse nations in the world, with hundreds of ethnic groups indigenous to the country, living and farming on land their people have occupied for thousands of years. Many smallholder farmers grow on one- to two- hectare plots, farms so small that the big, plump, fully ripe cherry is harvested in small batches. As each batch is layered in a collection tub it ferments, imparting a savory flavor which anchors the high-elevation beans’ pristine citric brightness, hallmarks of the region. 

It all comes together

Some of the best smallholder farmers in the area bring their crops to Bryan Leahy’s mill to be fully washed and dried. Bryan was born to coffee. He’s descended from the Australian Leahy brothers, who arrived at the island in the 1930s looking for gold and—to their surprise—ended up pioneering Papua New Guinea coffee farming instead. With so many batches of coffee coming together in one place, the skillful receiving of cherry is the way to control quality, and a good mill is worth 1,000 feet in elevation. This lot is a testament to the beauty of the landscape, the diversity of the people, and the places it all comes together: at the mill and in your cup. 

The good stuff

Together over the years, the mill and the farmers’ capabilities have grown and advanced. Mr. Leahy, who runs his business like a co-op profit share, has taken a special interest in education, calling it his “community passion project.” He shares farming techniques—like pruning best practices and the benefits of planting saplings before older trees age out of productivity—and even provides saplings to the farmers. (And he grows the saplings using his own compost, made from residual cherry skins and fruit—it’s the ciiircle of [coffee farm] life.) They’ve also worked together to build a few schools for the farmers’ children, starting with a primary school and then adding a high school. And if you know Peet’s, you know we love a coffee story that aligns with our values.

Savory, fruity & sweet

On the cupping table, Nebilyer Valley had a pungent break, savory and fruity like we’d expect, with sweet notes of molasses. On our second, darker test roast, it was still sweet, juicy, and bright, with classic Papua New Guinea herbal notes coming out on the break even more than in the cup. Initial impressions of baked red apple made way for notes of apricot and vanilla custard with rose hip aromatics.

“The Papua New Guinea of the Year”

While Papua New Guinea coffee is an important component of several of our blends, upon tasting this lot, we found it to be particularly vibrant and complex. When we refer to a lot as “the Papua New Guinea of the year,” it says a lot because we buy a lot of coffee from this region. For those who aren’t as familiar with this aspect of the coffee world, when we say we taste, try, and buy a lot of Papua New Guinea coffee, you might think, “Oh, isn't all Papua New Guinea the same? What makes this different than another lot from Papua New Guinea?” As with most standouts, it’s a combination of factors: the terroir, the weather, the timing of the season, the unique harvesting done in batches by smallholder farmers, the impeccable processing at the mill. All these elements contribute to a particularly good lot of New Guinea that distinguishes itself from all the other exceptional lots of New Guinea, and we're even more thankful. We could say, "It's the land, it's the processing, it's the time of year, it's the harvesting," but really, it’s the magic of all of those things coming together in one spectacular cup.

_{FRESH FROM THE PEET'S ROASTERY} 

Out of the bag, the beans were overall small and uniformly shaped. They were very clean and light olive-green in color with no visible defects (a great sign). When the bag was first opened there was a bit of a surprise—a winey aroma present that dissipated and didn’t come back. It was replaced by a dry grain and grass smell.

Roasting went consistently well. We were able to get four good roasts out of four tries. First and second crack were both loud; the popping could be heard easily from outside of the roaster and signaled when to cut back on the burner. Throughout the roasting process, aromas of sweet fruit skins and herbs were present. Maybe even a little black pepper in the background.

Seven tasters evaluated all four profiles in a blind, randomized cupping. It was a spirited session, to say the least! The tasters found themselves cupping for over an hour as the coffees evolved significantly as they cooled. Discussion centered around two very different profiles, and after much back and forth (and plenty of enthusiasm), we reached a unanimous decision. While all options were fantastic when hot, this roast’s complexity truly shined as it cooled. It showcased everything we love about Nebilyer Valley—juicy with soft pear-like acidity, plus notes of tobacco and grapefruit. Over time, it developed notes of sweet basil and aromatic wood. Such a wonderful cup.

-John Nicolini and Michael Madden, Roasters; Jamie Smith, R&D

 

LIMITED RELEASE PEET’S COFFEES

You might think that a monthly coffee subscription sounds amazing in and of itself, but Peet’s Small Batch coffee-of-the-month takes it a step further. These are microlot coffees, which is why you can only find them at peets.com and you can only access them if you have a subscription. They’re special—their rarity means they can sell out—fast. Subscribing ensures you get to taste each one of these remarkable lots. And if you’re a tried-and-true fan and subscribe to of one of our other coffees or subscription series, not to worry: you can do an add-on of this limited release to your next shipment. At least, while it lasts.