Thailand is the land of smiles and the Thais really know how to do hospitality. On the few occasions that I visited the country during the course of my 40 years on this planet, Thailand always managed to impress me. Bangkok, the capital, is a pulsating metropolis with super vibrant retail and cultural sector which is often highlighted in the magazines and blogs I read. No wonder then that the likes of La Cabra decided to set up foreign dependences in the city.

But it’s the homegrown specialty coffee industry that is the most interesting. For me, who was born in Mexico and always raves about Mexico’s fabulous domestic specialty coffee scene, Thailand is a great example of yet another country that grows its own high quality specialty coffee and consumes it too. Other countries like Ethiopia primarily export their finest coffees, thereby depriving the local population from ever getting a taste of them. But in Thailand, local pioneering roasters like our first Thai partner Rise can build meaningful relationships with their local growers and then showcase these coffees to a local population.

Last year, we featured our first-ever Thai coffee, a Cup of Excellence runner up that was roasted by Cloud Picker for our GEMS series of limited edition micro lots. This coffee got rave reviews from our customers and this encouraged me to looking for our first Thai roaster.

Rise was founded by Kasidis Laoboonmee who first began roasting in his garage before setting up his own café in the Thai capital with the intention to offer “coffee-for-everyday”. In other words, coffee that tastes amazing but perfectly fits into peoples’ busy lifestyles. As a leader in the domestic third wave coffee culture, Rise wants to build a community that appreciates coffee as a special beverage and also understands how it is produced. The fact that much of Rise’s coffee is from Thai producers allows them to create a particular level of awareness, especially since the primary growing regions in the northwest of the country might seem very remote to most urbanites.

The roastery, also referred to as Rise LAB, aims to showcase the roasting process in an open and approachable form so that customers be a witness and learn about how coffee is transformed from its green state into the brown nuggets that we crush to enjoy.

I was drawn to Rise’s beautiful packaging, friendly branding and commitment to showcasing the finest Thai coffees. For their Coffeevine debut, they will roast a really exceptional coffee from producer Goh Chaosuwanwilai whose Sirinya Coffee produces coffees in the Chiang Rai region of Thailand. I passed through there many years ago before boarding a slow boat down the Mekong River towards Luang Prabang in Laos but don’t remember much of the countyside to be fair.

This coffee did cause some stark reactions during our cupping in Barcelona the other week. Participants were very enthousiastic about its outspoken cup profile with very strong notes of sweet and sour cherry, Sangria, pineapple and forest honey. This might be one of those love it or hate it situations but rest assured, you’ve never had a coffee like this.

To receive this outstanding coffee and its companion coffee from Loveless in Brooklyn, order our Global roasters selection or the Total Package with all coffees including our European roasters selection for March.

Pre-orders close on 15.03.2024 / Ships globally on 20.03.2024