Amuliba Estate Peaberry Washed

Some of the first coffee trees at Amuliba Estate were planted in the 1950s by the aptly named Australian expat-farmer, Norm Plant. In that decade, which was a significant period for coffee development in ( Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) highlands, Norm also planted the first trees at Amuliba’s neighbor, Sigri Plantation.  

The Karkopi company purchased the estate in 1978. Today, the plantation continues to produce coffee and serves as a centralized processing facility for nearby smallholders.  

The Karkopi company is owned by 48 shareholders in the Philip Kapal’s clan in the Tsekaka language group. PNG is home to more than 800 languages. With such linguistic diversity, it makes sense that villages are formed around shared languages. Within those villages, tribes, clans and house lines further delineate kinship and community.  

Amuliba also offers wet and dry milling services for neighboring farmers who can sell their harvests to the estate as cherry or parchment.

Generous shade cover helps minimize the number of inputs needed to maintain plant and soil health. 

Coffee is selectively handpicked and then pulped, fermented and washed in clean water. Wet parchment is then laid to dry in the sun. Once dry, parchment is prepared for export at the estate’s dry mill.

PB stands for peaberry. Peaberry is a name given to a very specific shape of coffee bean. In Spanish, peaberries are called “caracol”, which means “snail”. The name aptly describes the shape of the peaberry bean, which appears slightly curved in on itself.   

Peaberries are the result of a natural mutation in the coffee cherry. Whereas there are usually two beans nestled together in each fruit, a cherry with a peaberry mutation only forms one bean. Thus, peaberries are a single, rounder bean.

Peaberry mutations occur in approximately 5% of all coffee. The beans are known for being rounder, smaller and denser, which can contribute to a more even roast color when handled correctly. Many people find peaberries to have a sweeter flavor profile, as well.

Since peaberries are a natural mutation that is not visible from the outside of the cherry, peaberries must be sorted out during the screen grading stage of dry milling. The peaberry screens have the smallest holes, which are oblong to allow the rounder beans to fall through.