Taiwan Alishan Anaerobic Natural SL34
Taiwan Alishan Anaerobic Natural SL34 (Award Winning Producer)
Very limited quantity available.
- Origin: Alishan, Chiayi, Taiwan 台灣阿里山
- Producer: Melastoma Coffee Estate 野牡丹 (5th in Taiwan COE 2023)
- Variety: SL34
- Altitude: 1200m ASL
- Process: Anaerobic Natural
- Roasters: Melastoma Coffee Estate
- Roast: Filter Roasted on 29 March
Tasting: Assam Tea, Maple Syrup Sweetness, Blueberry, Plum, Winey yet Clean, Silky Mouthfeel
Melastoma Coffee Estate
Award winning producer, Melastoma Coffee Estate is located in the mountain range of Alishan, Chiayi, Taiwan. Grown at 1200m above sea level, Melastoma's SL34 Natural was ranked 16th in 2023 Taiwan COE with a score of 87.5 and auctioned for $40.5 (USD/lb). In the same year, its Geisha was ranked 5th in Taiwan COE and auctioned off for $88.5 (USD/lb).
We met with Pao-His Huang from Melastoma Coffee Estate, who used to grow tea in Alishan, has now focused on not just growing coffee trees, but raising the standards of coffee farming and processing in Taiwan. He has also been perfecting his crop of Purpurascens, a Taiwanese varietal mutated from SL34, which has purple leaves and typically low yield, but renowned for its distinctive floral and fruity sweetness.
Melastoma's SL34 Natural has gone through anaerobic fermentation at 39°C for 5 hours, mechanical drying at 38°C for 3 days, and stored at room temperature.
Alishan, Taiwan
Situated in southern Taiwan, Alishan or Mt Ali is a beautiful mountain range with an average altitude of 2500m. It is typically a tea producing region renowned for its top quality 'high mountain' tea, thanks to its climate and altitude. Interestingly coffee in this region has also been known for its tea-like sweetness resembling Assam or jasmine tea.
While Taiwan is relatively unknown as a coffee producing origin, it has started producing limited quantity of specialty grade arabica in recent years with success backed by record breaking auctions results.
In April 2021, one bag of 5kg Alishan coffee was auctioned off for a record of appx. AUD$21,000. This is on par with some of most expensive coffees in the world such as Panama COE.