LAOS / CHAMPASAK
Coffee grows on a plateau that may hide a meteorite's scar.
A tableland that may hide the trace of something that fell from the sky 790,000 years ago. On top of it is the plateau that grows much of Laos's coffee.
Origin ·
In the south of Laos, on the eastern side of Champasak province, lies a tableland called the Bolaven Plateau. It sits at roughly 1,000 to 1,350 metres, and the town at its heart is Paksong. Much of Laos's coffee is grown on this plateau.
Beneath it, there may lie the trace of a visitor from space. About 790,000 years ago, a large meteorite struck the Earth. The glassy fragments it scattered have been found across a wide area, from Southeast Asia to Australia. A study published in 2020 proposed that the impact site is buried under the lava of the Bolaven Plateau. Gravity measurements hint at a crater some 13 to 17 kilometres across.
This is not yet an established fact. Settling the question would take drilling into the ground below. Still, if it is right, lava that flowed after the impact covered the scar, and coffee grows on top of it today. It is quite a story.
The plateau's appeal is not only geological. On basalt ground laid down by volcanoes, rain falls often, and it is cooler than the lowlands around it: conditions well suited to growing Arabica.
Coffee has a long history here too. The first trees are said to have been planted around 1915, in the early twentieth century, when Laos was under French rule. Today both Arabica and Robusta are grown, and across Laos as a whole, Robusta is the larger crop. Producers of every size, from small family plots to large estates, keep the plateau going.
Among highland coffee towns, Vietnam's Da Lat is also known as a tourist town; Paksong is a farming town, surrounded by fields.
From an impact 790,000 years ago to the cup in front of you, Paksong's coffee carries both the long time of the Earth and the lives of the people who work this land.
A lot from this plateau
EAST COMMON COFFEE is preparing a Typica (Fully Washed) grown at 1,200–1,300 m in Paksong. We will publish the price and launch timing once they are confirmed.
NEWCROP 16
Typica Paksong
- ORIGIN
- Paksong, Champasak, Laos
- VARIETIES
- Typica
- ALTITUDE
- 1,200–1,300 m
- PRODUCER
- —
- PROCESS
- Fully Washed
- FLAVOR NOTES
- Green apple / Lemongrass / Green tea
Sources
- Sieh et al., “Australasian impact crater buried under the Bolaven volcanic field, Southern Laos” (PNAS, 2020)
- Phys.org, “Evidence suggests ancient impact crater buried under Bolaven volcanic field” (2020)
- Wikipedia, “Bolaven Plateau” (elevation, beginnings of coffee)
- Wikipedia, “Coffee production in Laos” (around 1915, Arabica and Robusta volumes)
Altitude and rainfall are figures for the whole area from the geographical indication documents, and vary from farm to farm. The illustration conveys the feel of the landscape and does not depict a specific farm.