Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants)

“Coffee was originally introduced to farmers by the Thai Royal Family… This relatively unknown region of the coffee world has blossomed into one of the top 20 coffee producers worldwide…. 100% Arabica beans, Mae Kha Jan, Chiang Mai small lot coffee is medium roasted producing a coffee with full body and notes of cherry and dark chocolate.”

“This relatively unknown region of the coffee world has blossomed into one of the top 20 coffee producers worldwide”.

“Relatively unknown”? To me, unknown for sure as I don’t think I’ve ever come across a coffee Thailand before, and I am pretty sure this is the first Thai coffee I’ve tasted.

Here’s my honest review of this new Thai coffee.

Is this latest TJ’s Small Lot coffee find any good? Is it worth you’re buying?

I answer with a huge, “YES” to both questions. Color me very impressed.

I don’t know if most of the coffee from Thailand is anywhere near this good, but all I can say is I found Trader Joe’s newest small lot coffee, Thailand Mae Kha Jan Chiang Rai really tasted fabulous.

One of our readers, commented that, “it’s divine” and I agree. This small lot coffee is right up there with the very best of all those Trader Joe’s has come out with. Sure, I think they had a few clunkers here and there, but the coffee finders at Trader Joe’s who travel the world looking for good coffee made by small producers, have from time to time, brought back some really excellent finds over the years to us coffee lovers, and this is one of them.

I ground up the beans, which smelled lovely, then brewed the coffee up, as usual, in my Moka pot. The aroma of it brewing smelled great. It even produced some crema too as you can see.

My cup of coffee was smooth and full bodied, well rounded with no off notes anywhere. Yes one can easily detect subtle notes of cherry and dark chocolate, as they describe on the package. I found this coffee just so pleasant to drink. I think it’s my new current favorite at Trader Joe’s.

It is quite accurately described as being a Medium Roast, which in this case it is exactly and I found perfect for it’s flavor profile.

Here’s some more of what Trader Joe’s has to say about this Thai coffee:

https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/thailand-mae-kha-jan-chiang-rai-small-lot-coffee-061388

“Thailand has become a rising star in the coffee world over the past few decades. Much of this coffee production happens in the northern Thai border region, commonly called the Golden Triangle. It’s from this region that we get the small lot Trader Joe’s Thailand Mae Kha Jan Chiang Rai blend.

As part of our Small Lot Coffee Series, these beans are sourced from the Mae Kha Han Mill, one of the top dry coffee mills in Thailand. Although the mill is in the lowlands, the coffee is grown in the high mountains around it, at elevations between 1,100 and 1,500 meters. This Coffee is fully washed with a 12- to 24-hour wet fermentation process where the pulp is removed and the beans are fermented in water. This method, common in Thailand and Indonesia, results in a clean, consistent flavor. Each sip offers tasting notes of dark chocolate and cherry.”

This is just so good you can’t stop drinking it. As you know the Small Lot coffees are “limited editions”, they won’t be around forever. If you see this, I’d offer up this Small Lot coffee is well worth trying, as long as you can find it. $9.99 (12 oz) For this level of coffee quality, that’s not bad.

I went back and bought another bag of this for my pantry.