Introduction

At this point, it has been years since I first met Vikram of Benchmark Traders. Our mutual friends (Deeper Roots Coffee out of Cincinnati, OH) invited us both to dinner at an SCAA event in Seattle, and we talked. Vikram had a compelling story, and though I had never had the chance to taste his coffees, I knew that since Adam at Deeper Roots was buying it was of good quality. Years before, when I was first starting my work as a coffee roaster at Tazza Mia in Cincinnati, OH we carried a coffee from PNG that was (in my opinion then) outstanding, so I had always had a positive association with coffees from Papua New Guinea. However, since I was buying for Nossa Familia Coffee when meeting with Vikram, there was no possibility of working together soon.

Flash forward to the beginning of the Iteration.Coffee project. I was chatting with Ethan Hill, formerly of Victrola Coffee in Seattle (where we had met). Ethan now runs Origin Exchange as well as Emissary Sourcing. I was asking Ethan about sourcing coffees from Asia as I feel like some amazing coffees are not well highlighted coming from this region. He then suggested I speak to Vikram of Benchmark Coffee Traders. As you can imagine, everything came full circle.

Vikram and I worked together on the third Iteration box set, where I was lucky enough to feature the peaberry from Sigri Estate. When I was preparing the set, Vikram also sent over a sample of something new that they were experimenting with… a Maragogipe from Papua New Guinea on the Sigri Estate. My notes on it were floral and Hawaiian Punch. I was floored and thought it was an exceptional coffee.

As the harvest in PNG was finishing this year, Vikram and I were talking again about featuring a coffee from his lineup, and it was an opportunity to feature “Big Red” as the focus of the boxed set. I know that, for past me, roasting larger bean types has been a challenge. I never find myself quite as satisfied with them as I ought to be.

Vikram arranged for this coffee to be airfreighted to me straight from the farm so we could have it as fresh as possible, and it ended up being one of the best Maragogipes that I’ve ever had the pleasure of tasting.

Name: SIGRI ESTATE

Location: Wahgi Valley, Western Highlands Province

Altitude:1600 MASL

Processing: Washed

Drying: Raised Beds

Soil type: Volcanic

Predominant Varietal: MARAGOGIPE

Main crop period: April to September

Harvested August to September 2021

Moisture Content: 11%

Density: 854 g/L Sinar | 730 g/L EQMR | 1,213 g/L H2O Disp.