Robusta dried in the cherry, roasted for sweetness.
The Central Highlands grow roughly four-fifths of Vietnam's robusta, the crop that makes Vietnam the world's largest robusta producer. We buy canephora dried in the cherry, roasted for sweetness instead of the roast-driven bitterness the region is usually reduced to.
Central Highlands · Vietnam
It is October, and the harvest is under way. Picking runs to January.
A typical year for this kind of country. This farm's own dates can run a few weeks either side.
The Central Highlands span Dak Lak, Gia Lai, Dak Nong, Lam Dong and Kon Tum, a warm, humid plateau under a tropical monsoon climate with distinct wet and dry seasons. The lower robusta-growing zones, centred on Dak Lak, typically sit in the 300–600 m range — much lower than the Indian estates we buy from.
Our lot is dried whole, in the cherry, and roasted for sweetness rather than pushed dark for bitterness the way commodity robusta usually is. The result is full enough to sip slowly and to stay present in milk — dark chocolate, golden raisin and roasted cashew on filter, cocoa nibs, brown sugar and caramelised banana as espresso.
“Red Lantern exists to make the case that Vietnamese canephora, treated with real care instead of processed for bulk export, is worth a specialty shelf. It's also one of the most versatile bags we sell — moka pot, French press, milk drinks all work.”
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