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C C Story / Kat Melheim

THAILAND

WHEN COFFEE

WORLDS CONVERGE

Whereas most well-known coffee-producing countries I see Thai coffee on café menus like I do Colombian, Ethi-
export a majority of their green coffee (think Colombia, opian, or even Indian coffees? Why haven’t I tried much
Ethiopia, Brazil, and even Vietnam) and many consuming coffee grown in Thailand?
countries must import that coffee (the United States, Ger- Pack Katisomsakul, an expert and entrepreneur in Thai
man, Japan, the Netherlands), Thailand is different. coffee and founder of 50 Mill Street, explained to me that
Earlier this year I met Kaleb Jordan, a coffee produc- Thailand has a very unique situation: “All the coffee, we
er and roaster from Northern Thailand. He shared his consume in our country. We grow coffee, we roast our coffee
coffees and his incredible story with me during a week-long by ourselves, and we drink our own coffee.” Meaning, it’s not
coffee workshop we were both attending in Colombia. He that Thailand doesn’t produce amazing coffee – it’s that they
told me about building the infrastructure needed to process don’t export much of it. They drink it domestically.
coffee and bring it to market, encouraging his neighbors
Thailand is a country of vibrant culture and delectable toward specialty coffee cultivation, and experimenting
cuisine. Traditionally a tea-drinking nation, this country in with different yeasts and techniques in coffee processing.
Southeast Asia has a unique relationship to coffee, both While talking to Kaleb I realized that I knew very little
about Thai coffee. I wondered why – why haven’t I heard
in terms of production and consumption. much about specialty coffee from this country? Why don’t 85

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