Laos - Naga Gesha

Laos Naga coffee is a project managed by specialty coffee importer, Covoya, with the goal of elevating Laos as a player in the world of specialty coffee. Naga is grown by independent farmers in Paksong, the coffee capital of the Bolaven Plateau, one of the country’s most promising growing regions. The name “Naga” pays homage to the mythological serpent believed to live in the Mekong River—an important cultural symbol throughout Laos.

History of Laotian Coffee

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Yahern people (also: Nyaheun) came down from the Annamite mountains, which define the eastern edge of Bolaven Plateau and the border with Vietnam, to discover they were citizens of something called the Kingdom of Champasak. They were granted land by the royal family and for 120 years they farmed this land, including coffee, which was introduced to northern Laos by the French in 1915. Coffee production moved to the Plateau, where the altitude and climate are ideal, in the 1920’s. Today, villages like Nongluang, Lassasin, and Xenamnoi are part of a network of seven villages that make up the Xekatham Estate, which produces the finest coffees grown in the region. Over the last two decades, the government has promoted the transition of Laos coffee from Robusta, which was planted in the 1950’s in response to diseases like rust, to Arabica.