Country: Laos
Region: Houaphan Province
Varietal: Catimor, Java, Yellow Caturra
Process: Anaerobic Natural
Altitude: 800 - 1,200 MASL
Cupping Notes: Strawberry Rhubarb, Nougat, Vanilla Wafer
Recommended Roast:City to Full City
Good For:Pour Over, Auto Drip, Espresso

Description: Nala Village Anaerobic comes from 110 families across two villages around Nala, in the Xamtai District of Houaphan. The story is the same one that runs through this whole corner of northeastern Laos: farmers here planted coffee nearly 25 years ago and had essentially given up on it as a cash crop. In 2015, buyers began to take interest and families developed a renewed interest in coffee production. New coffee seedlings are going into the ground now for the first time in years, and the villages are planting on the expectation that the industry has taken an interest in their coffee… we certainly are.

Nala sits between 800 and 1,200 meters, but at 19.5 degrees north the latitude pushes the effective growing conditions well past what those numbers suggest — cool nights, slow cherry development, and the density that comes with it. This lot screens 15+. Farmers deliver and are paid cash directly for ripe cherries.

The processing is where this lot separates itself. Cherries get an initial drying period first, then are collected and sealed into containers for anaerobic fermentation — the sequence matters, since starting the ferment on partially dried fruit concentrates it rather than simply macerating it. From there the cherry goes back onto raised beds, finishing on a covered patio, for a total of 20 to 30 days of drying. It's a winey natural in the truest sense, and that's a fair description of where it lands in the cup.

The planting is mixed — Catimor, Java, and Yellow Caturra — which is common in the region and, in a process this expressive, gives the cup more layers than a single-varietal lot would.