Spotlight on...New Guinea Kimel AA

This week, we're shining a spotlight on one of our favorite single estate coffees, New Guinea Kimel AA.

The Kimel estate is in the Wahgi Valley Highlands of Papua New Guinea. The estate was created in 1974 by an Australian expatriate, but is now owned by the residents of the island, most of them from the Opai tribe. Over 430 people work and live on the estate and the estate provides a school and healthcare facilities for their workers.

The estate is not organically certified, but it follows many of the best organic practices, including recycling the coffee cherry pulp into natural fertilizer and reusing the processing water on the estate to minimize waste.

New Guinea Kimel was one of the first coffees we bought when we started roasting coffee in 2003. Our first importer recommended it, and we fell in love with the coffee's flavor and versatility. We also loved the story behind the coffee. How the plants on the Kimel estate were started from cuttings from Jamaica. How the rich, volcanic soil of the Waghi Valley Highlands results in a coffee that has the best of both worlds, the lively, smooth and sweet flavor of Jamaica Blue Mountain with the full body of an Indonesian.

We also love how consistent this coffee is. The particulars may change a bit, this year the coffee is a little less floral and has more sweet barley malt notes than in past years. Our cupping team also noticed a lively red currant note instead of the more common citrus. Season after season, though, year after year, we can count on New Guinea Kimel to be a lovely, big and balanced coffee.

New Guinea Kimel AA makes a great brewed coffee at whatever roast level you choose. A light, City roast level brings out the lively topnotes. A medium or medium-dark roast level, Full City or Vienna, brings out more balancing richness. Go even darker, and the high grown beans just get bigger, blacker and sweeter. With its deep, dark chocolate notes, New Guinea Kimel also makes an interesting single origin espresso.

Have you tried New Guinea Kimel AA? How do you think it compares to other coffees from the Indonesian Archipelago? If you have an opinion, please join the conversation and share it on the Facebook thread or in a comment on this blog. Or, if you'd like to share your thoughts with the wider world, leave us a coffee review on Google or on your favorite review site. Not only do we value your opinions, but reviews help more people find us. Help us connect coffee lovers to fresh, quality coffee!

Thanks!

~ Carrie, Paul and all of us at Coffee by the Roast