STiR coffee and tea magazine

STiR coffee and tea 31 The city of Kuching, capital of Sarawak state in Malaysia on the island of Borneo, hosted the inaugural Liberica Team Brewing Competition. Photo credit: ASEAN Coffee Institute lihoods and how celebrating them can elevate the voices of producers who have rarely been included in specialty conversations. Liberica and excelsa don't behave like arabica — agronomically, sensorially, or culturally — challenging the idea that specialty coffee must always conform to an ar- abica-centric framework, which is precisely why they deserve recognition. By opening the door to more species, we give the industry room to evolve: different brewing ap- proaches, new sensory languages, and broader definitions of quality. This was also why the Liberica Brewing Championships were so significant. It wasn't just a competition — it was a statement that these coffees deserve their own space, their own criteria, and their own celebration. Watching competitors adapt their brewing techniques to highlight the unusual structure of liberica, showed just how much potential exists when you stop trying to make these coffees behave like arabica and instead allow them to shine in their own way. Finally, ASEAN is leading the world in this space. No other region has the species diversity, the cultural heritage, the market demand, and now — with ACAP, the Flavor Sphere, Cpin, and Scentible — the structured tools to support these coffees in a cred- ible and consistent way. In short, liberica and excelsa are not fringe species. They are expressive, resilient, and culturally meaningful coffees that have long been overlooked simply because the frameworks to understand them didn't exist. Now that those frameworks are emerging, it's time for the global industry to recognize their place in the broader specialty landscape. STiR: ASEAN countries are some of the fastest-growing coffee markets. What excites you about the current expansion of specialty coffee production and consumption in ASEAN nations? Metcalf: What excites me most about the ASEAN coffee landscape right now is that we are experiencing something quite rare in the global industry: a region that is simul- taneously emerging as both a major producer and a rapidly maturing consumer mar- ket. That combination creates a momentum you don't see very often, and it positions ASEAN to shape the future of specialty coffee in a truly unique way. First, the growth is being driven from the ground up. Across Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos, and Myanmar, you can see farmers elevat- ing their practices, experimenting with processing, engaging directly with roasters, and investing in quality improvements that were unheard of even a decade ago. Producers are no longer just supplying raw material; they are becoming storytellers, brand build- ers, and educators within their own communities. Second, the consumer side of ASEAN is expanding at an extraordinary pace. There is a young, curious demographic across the region that is hungry to learn, to taste, and to support local coffees. Specialty cafés, boutique roasters, coffee festivals, and brewing competitions are now thriving not only in the big cities but also in regional centers. What's exciting is that these consumers are not trying to copy Western specialty culture — they are creat- ing their own version of it, shaped by local flavor preferences, brewing traditions, and cultural identity. Designed in tandem with the ASEAN Coffee Appreciation Protocol, the Scentible Aroma Kit enhances sensory development and understanding. Photo credit: Scentible Third, the absence of tariffs within ASEAN creates a level of intraregional collaboration that is unmatched. We have an entire economic bloc where coffees can move freely between countries, en- abling roasters to explore a richer variety of origins and empowering producers to access markets that were previously out of reach. This creates a dynamic ecosys- tem where innovation spreads quickly, and talent circulates more fluently. Fourth, ASEAN's species diversity is becoming an asset rather than an obsta- cle. The global industry has operated for decades with an arabica-centric mindset. But in ASEAN, robusta, liberica, and ex- celsa aren't alternative species — they're part of our identity. The more the world begins to look for climate-resilient, genetically diverse solutions, the more ASEAN's coffees become not just interesting, but essential. The region recognizes the importance of developing a sustainable growth program to meet the increasing global demand over the next 50-100 years. Finally, the development of shared frameworks like ACAP is accelerating the region's rise. One of the biggest bar- riers to recognition has always been lan- guage — how do we describe our coffees in a way the world understands, without forcing them into systems that don't fit? ACAP gives us that bridge. It allows ASEAN countries to speak with a unified sensory voice, strengthening our position both as producers and as markets.

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