Thai And/or Hilltribe Coffee

[iSabai]

Greetings CM forum'ers!

First off, I'm a TV noobie living in Phuket. I'm planning a trip to CM soon and one of my trip's missions is to find some good coffee to bring back home with me. I'm looking for whole bean coffee, and good Thai or Hilltribe coffees specifically.

I've been pouring through as many of the old coffee threads that I was able to search up here for the past couple weeks, and couldn't come up with any recent posts about what I'm after. I'm not looking for huge quantities, only a kilo or so for home consumption. I am aware of the retail places selling the Bon Cafes, etc. but would rather find some native stuff at cheaper prices. For example, at a Tops Market here I found a 250 g. bag of Hilltribe coffee for ฿80. It was a decent enough coffee, and great price, but it was already ground and I prefer to grind fresh each morning.

So, not looking to debate Thai vs. other countries' coffees, or argue the atrocities of $tarbuck$ policies (and prices!), only hoping someone could point me in the right direction as to where I might find what I'm looking for. Retail shop, coffee shop, night market shop, wherever.

Thanks for any help, cheers!

iSabai

[keeniau96]

Boncafe has retail shop in Chiangmai also Bangkok, Phuket and others. They sell mostly to commercial places (hotels, shops, etc) but will do small retail sales very politely. They do own marketing and roasting of Thai coffee, also others. Their Rama is 100% Thai hill coffee from arabica beans. Excellent, I have been using them for seven years now. Learned my coffee tasting from Cargill traders in their Wall Street offices and tasting room.

[Donnyboy]

a quick google and this is what i found

duang dee

maybe try Doi Chang & Wawee coffee shops up this way for beans

[jaideeguy]

Rimping has a decent selection of hill tribe coffee in 250-500gr bags. The one that I like is 'metal drum' coffee, as it supports the Karen hill tribe and promotes growing coffee undet canopy trees, rather than slash and burn.

[esbkk]

Try

SYMPHONIES COFFE CO LTD

in Udon Thani - Tel/Fax 042 266 740.

100% Thai, three or four differnt roasts and beans.

[Asmerom]

Rimping has a decent selection of hill tribe coffee in 250-500gr bags. The one that I like is 'metal drum' coffee, as it supports the Karen hill tribe and promotes growing coffee undet canopy trees, rather than slash and burn.

I get mine from Rimping too. Can't remember the cost but its obviously a great deal cheaper than the rest. Comes in small(250) or larger (500) square cardboard boxes ;Orange for light roast, Brown for darker roast : Beans or Grounds : Duang Dee Hand Picked and Hand Roasted Hill Tribe Arabica Coffee.

http://www.duangdeehilltribecoffee.com/

[Lancelot]

Tops sells Duang Dee (ground) 250 gram packages for 85 baht each. I really like the flavor but YMMV

[Asmerom]

I really like the flavor but YMMV

For the benefit of those who just can't be bothered to google the meaning of this inappropriate acronym : it means, "your mileage may vary"

"I like the flavour but your mileage my vary." As you see, brilliantly apt. Is Lancelot challenged in the age department? ie. a bit on the wrong side of twenty five? That is "under". That would explain it. Do under 25's drink hill tribe coffee? Probably.

[wimpy]

My favorite are the beans grown and sold at the Chiang Mai University research station atop Doi Pui. Makes for a nice walk if you park at the park visitor center.

[brommers]

Doi Tung opposite the Amari Rincome hotel sells three different roasts in bean & ground form, & they are a good coffee shop too. They are one of the projects started by the Princess Mother to create alternatives to growing opium.

[prism]

Rimping has a decent selection of hill tribe coffee in 250-500gr bags. The one that I like is 'metal drum' coffee, as it supports the Karen hill tribe and promotes growing coffee undet canopy trees, rather than slash and burn.

I get mine from Rimping too. Can't remember the cost but its obviously a great deal cheaper than the rest. Comes in small(250) or larger (500) square cardboard boxes ;Orange for light roast, Brown for darker roast : Beans or Grounds : Duang Dee Hand Picked and Hand Roasted Hill Tribe Arabica Coffee.

http://www.duangdeehilltribecoffee.com/

You can buy Duang Dee Whole Bean Coffee at their guesthouse for 270 baht per kilo. It's in a small soi off of Maneenopparat Rd. that runs along the north side of the moat. Check out their link above for their address and phone #.

Edited February 17, 2010 by prism

[Pikey]

I have bought hilltribe coffee at source out in the sticks NE of Chiang Mai, close to the monkey canopy swing setup. It's a little difficult to explain on here how to get there but if you have wheels when you come to town, PM me and I'll give you specific directions. Alternatively, if you have GPS, it is N 18'55.309 E 099'19.985

Don't ask me what it tastes like as I am British and drink tea dammit! ;-)

Cheers,

Pikey.

[SM7WGP]

If you coffee lovers dont know Thailand has the worlds best coffee, not many people know that

Edited February 17, 2010 by SM7WGP

[elektrified]

Duang Dee gets my vote as well. It is available in whole bean and ground.

[mcgriffith]

Also Hillkoff. Google it, they're located in Chiang Mai.

[el jefe]

I'd go with Hillkoff too.

They roast their own beans and have a dozen different roasts and blends.

Just north of Chiang Puak Gate

http://hillkoff.com/

053.213.078

[realthaideal]

Anybody with some accurate directions to the DuangDee Guesthouse ? I'd ike to go there n grab a kilo, but don't wanna drive all up n down like yet another lost villager going slow n trying to read every sign I can find. Is Soi Insuan closer to the SriPhum Corner, or to the Hua Rin (Kad Suan Kaew) corner ? What are the landmarks immediately before I have to turn up the soi ? How far up the soi to the guesthouse ? Amazingly I can find no map of the/ to the guesthouse, or with this soi listed on it. Thanks for helping.

[cm das]

You can buy Duang Dee Whole Bean Coffee at their guesthouse for 270 baht per kilo. It's in a small soi off of Maneenopparat Rd. that runs along the north side of the moat. Check out their link above for their address and phone #.

Thanks for this tip. I've been a fan of Duang Dee for years. Though their prices at Rim Ping are relatively low, 270 per kilo for coffee that good is a steal.

[iSabai]

Some great stuff here folks and much appreciated, thanks. Exactly the kind of info I'm looking for, and quite a bit of it for just one day!

I've been buying $tarbucks here. Not bad coffee, but at ฿495 to ฿545 a pop (1/4 kilo) it's a real drag on the wallet. They've got a deal where you buy 4 bags and get one free, but it's still works out expensive. Everyone tells me I'm crazy to buy it, but nobody here can tell me where to buy as good or better coffee anywhere else. The Bon Cafe available at Carrefour is around ฿165 to ฿200. Good for the price, but not quite as good taste-wise as $tarbucks. I buy it sometimes just to offset my overall coffee costs.

I'm quite sure the Duang Dee coffee was the one I found here at Tops for ฿80. Good coffee, but they only had the pre-ground when I bought it and it had a bit if a stale taste to it. You just can't beat fresh-ground for full flavor! And at ฿270/kilo, that's a steal!

And you've given me a few others to look into as well. The Hillkoff looked particularly interesting, but their website was all in Thai. I'm going to make it a point to locate them in the city while I"m there. And judging from everything else I've read here, I think I'll have quite a variety to bring back home. May in fact end up having to bring back a bit more than I figured on.

As I won't be in CM until shortly after Songkran, I will have plenty of time to figure out how to store all this info onto the iPhone to reference while I'm up there.

Thanks again and keep it coming, khap!

[heybruce]

If you coffee lovers dont know Thailand has the worlds best coffee, not many people know that

I don't know about the world's best, but Thailand definitely produces excellent coffee, and few people outside of the coffee lovers in north Thailand seem to know this. Don't waste your money on Starbucks, try the local coffee.

Edited February 18, 2010 by heybruce

[heybruce]

My favorite are the beans grown and sold at the Chiang Mai University research station atop Doi Pui. Makes for a nice walk if you park at the park visitor center.

For us lazy SOB's who live near CMU and don't want to travel that far, do you know if this coffee is available anywhere else? Like maybe CMU?

[wimpy]

My favorite are the beans grown and sold at the Chiang Mai University research station atop Doi Pui. Makes for a nice walk if you park at the park visitor center.

For us lazy SOB's who live near CMU and don't want to travel that far, do you know if this coffee is available anywhere else? Like maybe CMU?

I have never seen it anywhere other than atop the mountain. Anyone else?

[prism]

Anybody with some accurate directions to the DuangDee Guesthouse ? I'd ike to go there n grab a kilo, but don't wanna drive all up n down like yet another lost villager going slow n trying to read every sign I can find. Is Soi Insuan closer to the SriPhum Corner, or to the Hua Rin (Kad Suan Kaew) corner ? What are the landmarks immediately before I have to turn up the soi ? How far up the soi to the guesthouse ? Amazingly I can find no map of the/ to the guesthouse, or with this soi listed on it. Thanks for helping.

It's tricky to find. Head east on Manneenopparat towards the SriPhum Corner. Pass Wat Pa Pao and it's the last soi before the intersection. It's VERY hard to see and it's close to the intersection. Turn left and it's at the end of the soi, about 100 meters in.

[prism]

Oops, I lied. It's 260 baht per kilo of Duang Dee Coffee. The soi is immediately after a shop that sells pumps and some used appliances, TV sets, microwaves, etc.

Edited February 18, 2010 by prism

[brennanstimpy]

I know a guy who has a coffee business up in Chiang Rai and he is growing Kona coffee. If I am not mistaken this is the only guy doing this here. His name is Derek. If you ever go to Tuskers on a Friday night you will see him there. Unfortunately I have no contact info except about Tuskers. He is a really tall young guy with red hair and a beard, you can't miss him. I'm just trying to help a brother out. I think he would give a good deal too because his business is still getting on its feet.

[sabaijai]

I like Doi Chaang best, so does Coffee Review. Hillkoff also very good. I find Duang Dee pretty flavourless by comparison to either of these.

[iSabai]

If you coffee lovers dont know Thailand has the worlds best coffee, not many people know that

I don't know about the world's best, but Thailand definitely produces excellent coffee, and few people outside of the coffee lovers in north Thailand seem to know this. Don't waste your money on Starbucks, try the local coffee.

$tarbucks does offer a Thai coffee, Muan Jai, which is quite good IMO. But at ฿495/250 g. it's not THAT good!

[spirit47]

Maybe the beans of Thai-coffee very good, but I don't like black beans with a lot of oil. My coffegrinder get closed by the oil and the taste is not that what I love.

Next week I go to Laos and come back with a backpack of coffee.

Is there anybody who roast coffee by himself?

I'am interested in green beans, washed.

[iSabai]

Thought I'd blow the dust off this old thread. Having just finished my trip to CM, I'm happy to say I was able to find a great variety of northern Thai coffee to bring back home to Phuket. Many thanks to those who have posted here with some great info. I had a real problem controlling myself from buying too much (Air Asia weight limits and all!) to bring back!

But I was able to get Doi Tung, Lanna, Doi Chaang, Yellow Bean, Metal Drum, Hillkoff, Duang Dee, and a couple of bags of no-namers from Wararot Mkt. And I'm looking forward to trying them all! By the way, the Cafe de Siam (Loi Kroh) serves Lanna coffee, and (IMO) it is a great tasting cup of coffee. They serve a big Americano for ฿50, and being close to my room, was a regular stop for a morning coffee for me. Tasty stuff!

Thx again CM forum'ers, had a great trip and a successful coffee hunting experience.

[simoncnx]

i am getting set up to roast coffee on a semi commercial basis - just trying different beans atm

Edited May 17, 2010 by simoncnx