![](https://winrock.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Burmalogo.jpg)
Slow Boat From Burma
On June 19, a large container ship left the port of Rangoon, Burma (also known as Myanmar), with the first shipment of specialty Burmese coffee beans destined for a North American market. These aren’t just any beans. Years of hard work went into their production, and the pride of a new coffee market rides with them.
![Burmacoffee (6 of 8)](https://winrock.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Burmacoffee-6-of-8.jpg)
Burma has been growing coffee for more than a century, but growers have only recently aimed for the exclusive specialty market. The journey from commodity to specialty grade was a surprisingly swift one brought about by well-run farms and eager farmers (including many women smallholders) willing to embrace new production methods.
![Burmacoffee (5 of 8)](https://winrock.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Burmacoffee-5-of-8.jpg)
Now Burmese coffee has made its world debut at a recent tasting in Atlanta. You can read more about its success — and Winrock’s part in it — in articles published in Roast Magazine and on Devex.com and the Atlas Coffee Importers website.
When the coffee bean cargo arrives later this month, the 36-ton shipment will be split between East Coast and West Coast markets, says Tim May, a communications and outreach specialist with Value Chains for Rural Development, a USAID-funded project run by Winrock International. There it will take its place among other prized Arabica beans.
![Burmacoffee (8 of 8)](https://winrock.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Burmacoffee-8-of-8.jpg)
May and his team have been heavily involved with Burmese coffee, even helping farmers design a logo for the new brand. It’s a profile of a female Myanmar farmer wearing a native hat. Her face is marked with thanaka cream, a distinctive yellow paste made of ground bark.
“There aren’t many ‘undiscovered’ coffee growing places left; most of them are already known,” says May. But you might have to search to find a fine cup of java in the country itself. In Burma, most people drink tea.
https://winrock.org/video/first-ever-coffee-cupping-competition-in-rangoon-burma-may-2015/
Stay tuned for more stories on Burmese coffee.
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![Burmese women at drying table](https://winrock.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/UsingdryingtablesafterprojecttrainingMyaZeDiMyanmar_Myanmar.jpg)