Page 53 - Thirst Magazine Issue No. 3 Coffee & Tea

BUT WHAT WE SEE IS A REVIVAL
OF AN UNDER-APPRECIATED

TRADE AND THE COMEBACK OF
A FARMING INDUSTRY RUN BY

A YOUNG GENERATION.

HOW DO WELL-CARED FOR LIBERICA
BEANS TASTE LIKE?

Well processed Liberica beans typically
produce flavours that are fruity and sweet,
nutty, with a long but clean aftertaste.
A unique feature of Liberica beans is that
their cells are like a sponge with the capacity
to absorb and store flavours from external
influences, particularly during pollination and
during fermentation. Pollination is affected by
nature, and we have tasted coffees with hints of
banana. During fermentation, the producer can
introduce flavours to the beans, such as what
Jason has done, by spraying the juice of limau
kasturi (lime) to his beans which adds a citrus
note. Above: Coffee from beans fermented with limau kasturi.
Opposite page: Sundried cherries
UTILISING EVERY PART OF THE PLANT

My Liberica Coffee has now expanded to 4
outlets in Johor Bahru and one in Cheras, NEW APPROACH TO AN OLD TRADE
Kuala Lumpur. A franchise model has allowed After 8 years of trials and errors, My Liberica
Jason to keep control of over 90% of the Coffee is starting to create traction with the
brand quality from growing to roasting and coffee industry. Tours, both from consumers
packaging, with the last stage of brewing left and within the industry, are coming to
to the baristas whom they train in My Liberica My Liberica’s farm to learn about Malaysia’s
Coffee’s facilities. unique coffee variety, and a new visitor’s
The cafés’ menus constantly include new centre is now being built next to the milling
recipes to keep up with the coffee drinking plant in the coffee plantation. This is an old
trend. They recently introduced Stout Coffee, a business that has been injected with a modern
cold brew coffee infused with nitrogen and CO2, approach, renewing the value of a commodity
creating a texture similar to stout, a popular that was deemed too inferior to gain from.
black ale style. Alongside this new creation is If you ask any businessman, what My Liberica
Cascara Champagne, a fizzy tea brewed from Coffee has done takes too long and returns
cascara, the shells of the coffee berries. too low a profit for those who want a fast
Other than the beans and cascara, Jason is profiting business. But what we see is a
also developing tea using leaves and flowers revival of an under-appreciated trade and
from the coffee plants. The outer shells of the the comeback of a farming industry run by a
beans that are discarded to retrieve the green young generation. What we believe as a dying
beans are used to make fertiliser, making sure farming industry are replaced with the belief
nothing goes to waste. of going back to the essentials.

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