Visiting a Thai Barista Competitor's Favorite Chiang Mai Cafés
On a recent visit to Thailand, I explored Chiang Mai's coffee scene through the lens of a Thai Brewers Cup competitor.
Thailand is many things for me. It’s one of the most popular travel destinations in Southeast Asia. It’s where my mom grew up before immigrating to the United States. It’s also a place whose food has made a lasting impact on the culinary scene in this country—but little is known about its coffee.
I would even argue that today, many people in the States don’t know that coffee grows in Thailand. Everyone usually thinks of Thai tea when they think about Thai beverages. However, both countries have contributed to this lack of awareness; Thailand exports less coffee internationally in general, and Thai-American restaurants tend to place their beverage focus on the tea.
So when I explored Chiang Mai’s coffee scene last month in northern Thailand, I was set on finding specialty cafés that served Thai beans since they are harder to come across at home. Thanks to some suggestions from my friend, barista competitor Peace Sakulclanuwat, that wasn’t hard to find—every single coffee shop had several types of Thai beans to choose from, along with plenty of other standout factors that made my visit memorable (and delicious).
After a late afternoon flight into Chiang Mai, the first place we headed for a pick-me-up was Brewginning. A café with an open-entry floor plan is something that simply can’t be pulled off in the States. One reason being the varying climates we have throughout the country, and second reason being the higher rate of theft that we experience. That said, it’s always a welcoming experience to take a seat at a café like this and be able to people watch a little more immersively.
Walking up to Brewginning, I was excited to see three different Thai coffee options on the menu: a Thai-Columbia-Brazil blend (dark roast), a regional Thai blend (light roast), and a single-origin Thai natural. I also noticed two drinks on the menu that I soon learned are popular drinks throughout Thailand: “The Dirty” and “Orange Espresso.” I chose the orange espresso (a shot of espresso poured over a glass of orange juice) and took my seat at a long bench, my legs dangling across the sidewalk as I watched hoards of tourists pose for photoshoots in front of some Instagram-famous woven materials shop. One thing has been made clear to me while traveling in this decade, and it’s that the most random things will end up blowing up on social media for no reason other than the algorithm worked in someone’s favor.
Akha Ama had been on my radar long before my trip to Chiang Mai. Named for and by the Akha northern hill tribe, the coffee business has been around since 2010, and was one of the first in the region to start growing and promoting sustainable Arabica coffee. Today, Akha Ama has three café locations in Chiang Mai. Walking through small alleyways to get here, I was impressed to find a large, beautiful two-story building tucked in between several other businesses. I was even more impressed to browse through a multi-page menu of beans for pour over whose options ranged from roast profile to region to processing method. I settled on the Candy Crash, an intentional blend of Thai natural coffees, as I walked upstairs to another seating area, full of clean, wood accents and warm lighting. I felt lucky to finally have made it to this space, and to have so many options for beans.
Gallery Drip may be another “Instagram famous” café, whose owner didn’t flinch as phone cameras filled his peripheral space while brewing pour overs for customers—which, by the way, was the only option at this espresso-free space. Upon entry, you’re greeted by a massive shelf that displays colorfully designed drip cones. Gallery Drip has been around since 2012, and is tucked on a corner of the bottom floor of the Lanna Folklife Centre. Being exclusively a drip coffee-focused space, there were also several beans to choose from, all of which were from northern Thailand. Although the specialty coffee scene in Thailand seems to be very much enamored with natural process, I decided to stray this time in favor of a washed coffee from Omkoi, Chiang Mai. Although the coffee was expectedly amazing, the neighboring Lanna Folklife Centre itself was admittedly disorganized and boring.
If I wasn’t already blown away by the pour over scene in Chiang Mai, Ministry of Roasters may have completed the experience, who also has a Bangkok location. There were dozens of beans that I rarely see offered for retail bags in the States, ranging from competition lots to geshas, anaerobic Ethiopian coffees, and honey processed Costa Rican coffees (an option that’s harder to come across in Thailand, specifically). A thoughtful menu of signature drinks also accompanies the pour overs, which included a Black Pink (pink guava lychee juice with cold brew) and the Dirty with a caramel waffle—prepared on a boiler-free espresso machine. I could tell the commitment to coffee as a craft has been realized there, from receiving my coffee in a wine glass with brewing ratio information to an upstairs gallery showcasing coffee art.
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