As you probably know, the root stock for the coffee plantations of Papua New Guinea was taken from the Jamaican Blue Mountains, but none of the coffees in Papua New Guinea that we have tried would ever be confused in a blind tasting with Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee.  This isn't to say the Papua New Guinea coffees are poor, indeed some are very good, and I personally like the taste of Papua New Guinea coffee a lot.  The coffee from the Sigri Estate is instantly recognisable from standard Papua New Guinean coffees even before you roast it as the grading is so much higher.  You don't have to be a 'coffee expert' to detect that.  The beans are larger, exhibit a high degree of uniformity in size and shape, are greener (fresher), and have fewer markings and defects (black spots, typically moisture damage) on the beans.

Sigri Estate coffee, as with most estate coffee to be fair, is brighter and cleaner than the standard (Y1) grade Papua New Guinean coffee.  That said it is not as sweet, nor as complex or balanced as genuine Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee.  It really is the balance of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee that sets it apart.  As we have remarked before, a lot of the expensive coffees have now gained a bad reputation as people invariably by them from vendors whose coffee is not fresh.  Whatever coffee you are buying it must be fresh.  You've seen me write about this often enough in the past to know what is coming next; buying ground coffee is a waste of money, buying expensive exotic ground coffee is a colossal waste of money, regardless of how 'fancy' the retailer.

Once you have put yourself in a position to buy coffee beans you then need to determine when the coffee was roasted.  Many roasters are a little oblique about this as life is a lot easier to roast in large batches and leave it lying around until customers arrive to buy it.  They will often say that coffee isn't best immediately after roasting anyway, which is true, but why not disclose the roast date so the customer can decide for themselves when they consider the optimum date after roasting to be for their palate.  Personally I think it is around the 7 day mark for most coffees, but those that express their acidity very brightly can benefit from up to 3 weeks resting after roasting if you are using it for espresso, and those with less acidity can be deployed a little sooner, perhaps as little as 2 days after roasting for something like our Columbian Supremo.  Still, some of our customers like to drink it before the beans have barely cooled; each to their own.  In clearly stamping the roast date at the top of each bag Londinium Espresso provide you with the information to decide on your own optimum number of days after roasting to consume any given coffee.

Papua New Guinea Sigri Estate now available.