THE ORIENTAL ESPRESSO

CHIANG MAI’S CAFÉ CULTURE AND COFFEE PRODUCTION IS CREATING A BUZZ. OLIVER BENJAMIN TAKES A MEASURED GULP

WANT TO KNOW

how “developed” a country is? Don’t waste your time with confusing statistics like GDP and literacy rates. There’s a far simpler method: look at how much coffee it consumes. The top coffee-drinking countries in the world also enjoy the highest standard of living, while those who eschew the brew come in at the bottom of the list.

To be fair, this is an overgeneralisation and highly unscientific. Yet there is more than a grain (or coffee bean) of truth in it: Many scholars contend that if it hadn’t been for the rise of Coffeehouses in England in the 1800s, the industrial revolution would never have happened (workers had previously been too drunk to operate machinery). And is it a coincidence that Microsoft and Starbucks both came of age at the same time, in the same city of Seattle?

Coffee not only gets the brain going full-tilt, but it is a vehicle to connoisseurship; like fine wine, art and complex music, the humble cuppa appeals to, and inspires the upwardly mobile.

Chiang Mai Coffee
House Chiang Mai, that disarmingly quaint city in northern Thailand is certainly on a vertical vector. Aside from a breakneck boom in five-star and boutique hotels, cutting-edge restaurants and bohemian art galleries, the town is advertising its ambitions most evidently in the explosion of a domestic Coffeehouse culture.

Where five years ago, “fresh Coffee” meant you had just broken the seal on your jar of Nescafé, today you can’t wander for more than two minutes without spying a flashy new coffeehouse, or even just some humble little espresso machine at a roadside shack.

Happily, unlike some other Asian cities, Chiang Mai has steered its upward momentum with a ginger style that has come to typify what makes the town so appealing to visitors.

Voted the fifth best city in the world to visit by readers of Travel & Leisure magazine and third best in Asia by Condé Nast Traveler last year, this densely-templed town boasts a layout and an atmosphere that invites leisurely strolling through its narrow lanes, or just sitting around on the boulevard and watching the world go by.

In short, it is the perfect place for a jubilant and burgeoning café culture.

BEAN STREETS

Pick up a fancy brew at
Starbucks Years ago, the streets lining the Ping river on the east side of town were considered the place to be for Chiang Mai hipsters. Today, Nimmanhaemin Road on the west side holds the coveted crown of cool. A wide boulevard near the University and the foothills of Suthep mountain, this epicentre of the eclectic has a seemingly endless (and growing) stream of bakeries, boutiques, art galleries, chic eateries, and of course, coffeehouses. In fact, Soi 9 has become so rapidly jam-packed with cafés that it’s now known by locals as Soi Kafe or “Coffee Lane”.

In the lane’s prime location, at the corner of the boulevard itself looms the infamous Starbucks monolith. It is a well-recognised icon that can inspire both awe and apprehension; though credited with single-handedly introducing premium coffee to the world, the Seattle-based chain has often been derided for their predatory practice of locating small coffeehouses, building next to them, and eventually running them out of business.

Get your kicks from
traditional Thai oliang
coffee Nevertheless, taking western ideas and making them distinctively domestic is an entrenched Thai art form. Consequently, the hunter now finds itself the hunted. Although it has only been open for little over a year, Starbucks is already encircled by a posse of competing local café chains: Wawee, 94°, Cafe Nero, Smoothie Blues, Bake and Bite, Kopitam, with others just a few steps down the road and more surely on the way.

Moreover, the Thai establishments are full of customers while Starbucks hosts far less, primarily rich Thais from Bangkok and foreigners who are bound by brand loyalty.

ARABICA HIGH

His Majesty the King introduced coffee-growing to the hilltribes to replace opium cultivation

In truth, neither Starbucks, Wawee nor the others gave premium coffee its start in Chiang Mai, or Thailand, for that matter. Most of the credit must go to His Majesty the King of Thailand.

Back in 1969, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej travelled extensively throughout his Kingdom so that he could help identify the problems of his far-flung subjects. One pernicious problem that had troubled the northern hills for ages was the illegal growth of opium. While hard-line politicians espoused draconian measures to get them to stop, the King pushed for more humanitarian methods such as crop substitution, education and training.

His Serene Highness Prince Bhisadej Rajani, a trusted relative and himself a fervent champion of hilltribe needs, invited His Majesty to a high-altitude village an hour and a half from Chiang Mai where he had helped them to start growing fine arabica Coffee.

Doi Pui Coffee
PlantationThough massive amounts of coffee were already being produced in Thailand’s south, it was of the robusta variety, an inferior-tasting bean used primarily in instant coffee. And though it grew more slowly and only at high altitudes, arabica fetched far higher prices on the international market. Plus, the same soils which were ideal for opium were well suited for the arabica plant.

Subsequently, without any help from the government, His Majesty used his own funds to initiate what would come to be known as “The Royal Project”. Teaming up with the United Nations Development Programme and Chiang Mai University, they worked to help arabica flourish in northern Thailand.

Thus, the success of coffee and other non-traditional crops allowed opium production to wane to the point that it has become nearly wiped out today.

In the 1990s, problems with volatile arabica coffee prices and competition from better-equipped middlemen caused progress to falter. However, recent changes in the market, coupled with honest, forward-thinking entrepreneurs have breathed new life into Thailand’s Coffee commerce. Local bean production is booming and the landmark success of domestic chains has ensured that the lion’s share of coffee commerce has not been totally lost to brands from overseas.

Now that people are willing to pay four times as much for a speciality espresso drink as they do for a regular Coffee, the market has found new legs. Particularly in the arena of the chilled coffee – served plain, with flavoured syrups, on the rocks, or ice-blended. Gourmet grande iced caramel latte, anyone? What was gibberish a decade ago is a gold mine today!

THE DAILY GRIND


Wawee Coffee’s Kraisit Foosuwan is thrilled that his cafés have taken off with locals and foreigners alike

Easily the most popular of Chiang Mai coffeehouses is the local Wawee Coffee (www.waweeCoffee.net). With nine stores in town, and on the cusp of opening two in Bangkok, Wawee boasts the most rabid followers among local coffee connoisseurs, many coming in every single day to sample the strong Coffee, sweet “boom” shakes, use the wireless internet and socialise.

Students of entrepreneurial business would do well to study the chain and dissect the reasons for its success. A famous architect once said, “God is in the details” and mild-mannered owner Kraisit Foosuwan surely has an impeccable eye for the particulars.

Whereas its famous multinational neighbour off ers counter service, employees at Wawee open the door for you, off er hearty greetings and graciously shuttle drinks to your table. Most noteworthy of all, however, is the price point. Wawee arguably offers the same quality coffee as Starbucks at half the cost. Yet Kraisit doesn’t see his neighbours as competitors.

“Every day, we only compete with ourselves,” he says. “We never stop thinking about how to please the customer.”

While the customer may be crucial in all considerations, both brands also recognise the importance of supporting the local producers and communities. Wawee donates a percentage of its profits to a special hilltribe charity they have set up called the “Northern Coffee Fund”. Under the fund’s auspices, various projects have already been undertaken, such as building wells and supplying blankets during freezing winters.

Similarly supportive, Starbucks recently introduced a fair-trade brand of coffee grown in Thailand called Muan Jai (meaning “happy heart” in Thai), which pays a farming cooperative three times the market price and helps to set up social programmes.

THE COFFEE CRUSADERS


Expats like Uwe Bellmann (left) and Joyce Dee (right) helped pioneer the local coffee scene

Of course, it is important to remember that Starbucks and Wawee were not the first on the coffee scene and they are largely able to succeed due to the earlier support of local producers and ongoing investment by other organisations.

The Royal Project has continued in its mission, enhancing its operations to develop an even higher quality coffee that brings top baht – profits which are funnelled to the growers themselves. By teaching the farmers methods like wet processing (where Coffee cherries are soaked in water to remove their pulp), organic farming (done without the use of pesticides) and shade-growing (Coffee crops near shady trees require little to no chemicals as they have mulched leaves for fertiliser and foraging birds for pest control), they can ensure an environmentally-sound, higher-quality bean and a greater return.

Plus, by roasting their own coffee under their new Doi Kham brand (www.doikham.com), they are uniquely positioned to enter a growing market. Today, a third of the arabica coffee grown in Thailand comes from Royal Project sites.

Karen villagers plow the fields
at Hillkoff Interest and investment by expatriates have also helped to improve the local coffee market. German Uwe Bellmann was among the original pioneers in Chiang Mai to produce speciality coffee beans. A motorbike aficionado, he spent much of the early 1990s exploring northern Thailand’s unpaved roads and continually came upon farmers in need of offloading Coffee crops that they had been unable to sell.

Generously purchasing the green beans at well above market price, he began to roast Chiang Mai’s first domestic brand – Duang Dee Hill Tribe Coffee (www.northernthailand.com/duangdeecoffee).

Thirty-six years ago, Wright Dee emigrated from Malaysia to help ethnic Karen (pronounced “Care-enn”) hilltribes struggling in Thailand’s north. By establishing a series of hostels next to the Thai government schools, he hoped to make it easier for them to receive an education.

Enjoy a stay at the Angkhang
Nature Resort His daughter Joyce has recently established an organisation called Karen Organic Coffee (www.kocth.com) to help Karen farmers as well as secure funds to support the hostel programme.

Distributed in roasted form under the brand Dee’Or, they presently have only one outlet in the Galare Centre at the Chiang Mai Night Market, but are looking to expand, selling beans to various other cafés and stores in the meantime.

Hillkoff (www.hillkoff.com) is another association that not only works with farmers, but the other side of the business as well – acting as a one-stop-shop for entrepreneurs looking to start up their own coffeehouse or even entire brand. Manager Nareumon Taksa-Udom says the best way to benefit everyone is to expand the market, and the best way to do that is by training the baristas (coffee makers) as well as the farmers.

Speciality coffee in Thailand is still a small market, and it is up to those on the front lines to drum up public interest. Sponsoring a host of projects, from barista scholarships to well-publicised “Barista Jam” competitions, Hillkoff aims to unleash a veritable army of coffee evangelists upon Thai society.

With such a group of committed individuals and a growing thirst for high quality, aff ordable coffee, Chiang Mai’s booming café culture is only set to expand and spread. While speciality Coffee still remains very much a niche market in Thailand, the future looks bright. The boom in bean production and successful launch of local brands is certainly undeniable.

Which makes you wonder: how long it will be before Wawee opens a store in Seattle? Not long now, surely.

IPICK ME UP

To get your fix, here are three caffeine hot spots in and around Chiang Mai:

Soi Kafe (Coffee Lane)
Also called Nimmanhaemin Soi 9, this is a veritable warren of coffeehouses. Wawee Coffee offers top local brews at low prices in a friendly atmosphere. For something local, nearby Kopitam offers traditional oliang-style iced coffee, while 94° is a bit more upscale.

Royal Angkhang Station Project
Take a day to visit Doi Angkhang, and see first-hand the work of The Royal Project (tel +66 (0)53 450107-9). Gorgeous fields of exotic vegetables, flowers and fruits (as well as coffee and tea!) provide an unforgettable panorama.

Visitors can stay next door at the eco-friendly Angkhang Nature Resort (tel +66 (0)53 450110, www.amari.com/ angkhang). The hotel’s general manager, Khun Makoo is an excellent source of information and somewhat of a legend in these parts, having started up a trekking guide training programme for local hilltribe children.

Doi Pui
Check out the gorgeous Chiang Mai University-run coffee plantation here and sip excellent coffee while enjoying mountain views. Visit by rented motorbike (between 100 and 200 baht a day), red-truck taxi (about 500 baht) or on a mountain bike tour (about 1,450 baht) offered by Chiang Mai Mountain Biking (tel +66 (0)81 024-7046, www.mountainbikingchiangmai.com).