Nepal coffee

[JulieJayne]

Simply a question, does anyone know of a good source for good Nepal Coffee.

[ivdp]

A good sure sure, but good Nepal??
Does good Nepal exist? Or, a Euro 20/kg coffee should be better than a Euro 10/kg ??

Ivo

[Steve]

LOL very true Ivo good Nepal is rare for sure.

[JulieJayne]

Hey guys, good Nepal does exist. In fact exceptional Nepal does exist. I bought the last of it from Jan recently.

It may not qualify for "coffee experts" as good, but I go by my own taste buds and the response of my customers. Nepal was a surprise and a hit. I am prepared to try any Nepal, as the taste is the only valid measure.

[Steve]

Ohh for sure Julie I'm sorry if it came across rude. I've also tasted great nepal, in fact we had some last year, but it is quite rare.

[phil]

Steve, do you remember that Nepalese (coffee!) I had four or five years ago, around when we first met? I think I got it from an importer in Edinburgh. I also think I sent you a sample too. The importer was a representative of the grower IIRC, not an independent. I'll see if I can dig out the details.

Like as not they're not there any more anyway.

(A little later)

I've just mounted an old Windoze disk and found the email, from July 2003. The supplier was Doi Chaang coffee and the representative was in Edinburgh (a lady called Joanna Critchley). A quick check on www.doichaangcoffee.com shows that their representation is now in the US.

Well, that didn't help did it?

However I think I remember both Steve and I thinking that this coffee was a bit summats and nowt. Admittedly both of our cupping skills have come on a ways since then, but still I think the overall impression would still be sound.

[Steve]

WOW thats a blast from the past Phil. I do remember it not being all that also remember Eward not being that keen,

As I said I have seen some ok since then but that is a blast back to a time.

[bruceb]

My wife is a fan of Nepal, Lhasa, Tibet, etc. and we've had Nepalese coffee 3 times, once roasted, twice green. The roasted was not fresh and I attributed the poor flavour to that fact, but when I roasted the greens they also were somewhere between mediocre and bad. One batch was "baggy," but the other smelled fine and looked good, but the taste was so bad I tossed the rest. I would be interested to hear if anyone has good experience and a source. However, the little I know about how they are grown, harvested and the tradition, or lack of, I am not expecting much.

[BazBean]

this one got me thinking. there is obviously small pockets of decent stuff produced but most posts seem to conclude they are far and few.

why would Nepal not have decent coffee anyhow ? it seems to have altitude and adequate climate etc ?

That region of the world seems to favour mass produced Robusta so maye thats a clue.

[Steve]

I think much is in the processing Baz and thats so vitally important (just like the roasting and the barista skills) but also it fetches a premium without that extra work to make it good, so many don't do it. the pockets I guess are those just like we have here will go that extra mile because its their passion and personal self respect.

[Sunnyfield]

I remember Joanna. She did not really appreciate the truth. Then again, people say they want to hear criticism, but what they really want is praise!

Out of politeness I even paid her 10 quid for cost of beans and P&P. Mind you... it was only 250g of beans or so!