Dung K’No, Vietnam

Roaster note:

We haven’t had Vietnamese coffee at Garage for a long time, but when we tried this one, we knew we had to have it. Very plummy, juicy notes with an orange sweetness, makes this a very tasty coffee.

These very special coffees come from smallholder Arabica producers living within the Central Highlands of Vietnam, known as the K’No people. Characterised by their local language, the K’No people are one of many ethnic minorities in Vietnam. Coffee was introduced to Vietnam in the 1800s and was grown on many French-owned colonial plantations.

Nonetheless, due to a variety of political and economic factors (including the civil/cold war and subsequent Communist prohibitions on private land ownership), Vietnam was slow to achieve any real relevance as a coffee-producing nation. As of 1990, Vietnam was responsible for a tiny 1% of world coffee trade. This had all changed by 1990, by which point Vietnam had reached its current place as the second-highest producing coffee country in the world (after Brazil) – a result of heavy investment in coffee production made possible by the liberalisation of land ownership under Đoi moi reforms in the mid-1980s and World Bank/IMF policy recommendations, incentivising farmers to produce coffee for export.

Farm Info

Producer: Dung K’No collaborative groups
Region: Lam Dong province, Central Highlands
Altitude: 1,500 metres