Best Cuppa at the End of the World

Hill tribes in the Golden Triangle ( the tri border region of Thailand Laos and Myanmar) were once cultivating opium as a cash crop.

In 1984, with the encouragement of the Thai monarch, King Bhumibol, they switched to Arabica Coffee.

So successful was this initiative that some of the best coffees in the world are to be found growing in this region.

In Doi Chaang or Elephant Mountain in Northern Thailand, the Akha hill tribes have been a role model for successfully cultivating, processing and marketing of their coffee worldwide.

Here, in the cool highlands, amidst pear, peach and macadamia nut trees, the Arabica coffee thrives best, producing coffee cherries that have a more complex and intense flavour, low in caffeine and therefore less bitter.

The Akha hill tribes together with other hill tribes have been living along the borders of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar for the past 2000 years. Recently they have settled in
Northern Thailand to avoid persecution and harassment from other neighbouring Governments.

After 20 years of successful cultivation, the Akha villagers have established themselves as independent coffee producers building their own processing, R & D facilities and marketing outlets, selling their coffee throughout Thailand, Asia and America.