Naga Coffee wins gold at Aurora International Taste Challenge 2023 in South Africa

By Sarah Konyak

In a proud moment for Nagaland, Naga Coffee was awarded gold for ‘Nagaland Washing Station Natural Coffee’ during the Aurora International Taste Challenge 2023 held on June 9 at South Aftrica.

The coffee is produced by the local farmers in the state’s capital, Kohima.

This year, Naga coffee was experimented with a new drying process method. Ripe coffee cherries were brought from a few local farmers and dried in a polyhouse during the winter season in Kohima.

Before the final processing, it was sundried for three days in Dimapur. This double-drying process produced amazing sweetness.

Even though only 120kg of this quality were produced this season, it is great news that Nagaland, for the first time, produced a coffee that scored above 85 points on the Speciality Coffee Association scale.

After 5 years, a method has been discovered that works for Nagaland’s climatic conditions.

As coffee is produced in other districts across Nagaland, there is much scope for it to also produce award-winning coffee if they follow the right harvesting and processing methods.

In October 2021, Nagaland Coffee was awarded silver for Nagaland Coffee Tribal Blend during the AITC.

The Aurora International Taste Challenge (AITC) was established to recognize and award food and drink excellence internationally while helping consumers purchase award-winning, expertly rated products with confidence.

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