Sawbwa Coffee စော်ဘွားကော်ဖီ

Our coffee is expertly roasted in small batches at our Yangon roastery, then blended and delivered fresh to customers and clients - direct from farm to cup.

Our Farms

Following an initiative of Winrock International, the small communities that we work with in Southern Shan are now amongst the first farms in Myanmar to produce internationally renowned world-class coffee.

Last year, SCAA tasters graded one of our beans (Pway Na Phar) as the finest in the whole of Myanmar. This year, another of our beans (Bant Sawk) received the highest grade. Our farmers receive some of the highest global prices per kilo of green beans sold.

F&B

Since launching with Sharky’s in September 2018, Sawbwa have become exclusive suppliers a number of Yangon’s most exclusive hotels and restaurants chains; including The Pegu Club, Excelsior, The Penthouse bar and 57below - some of whom have been invited to have their own special blend, roasted to their tastes and specifications under Sawbwa’s “Icons of Yangon” series.

Retail

Our premium coffees are designed to celebrate the tastes and tales of Myanmar, rewarding consumers with branding to match the quality of the coffee contained within.

Each Sawbwa retail coffee is supported by imagery from a classic and relevant myth of Myanmar, with a panoramic original artwork on the reverse of each packet, and a version of the story on our website.

From Poppy To Coffee

Our most treasured bean, Bant Sawk, comes from remote Hobong, high in the Shan Hills.

The villagers of Bant Sawk derive the majority of their income from the farming of poppies, characteristic of the ‘Golden Triangle’s’ illicit trade in opiates.

In line with regional developments, the village is committed to ending their reliance on the cultivation of poppies. Following the lauded example of Thailand, the community have begun transitioning to the farming of specialty coffee.

For the past two years, Sawbwa has invested in the village to help develop specialty-grade processing infrastructure. We feel Hobong is one of Myanmar’s most promising coffee growing regions. In 2019, our pre-financing of the Indigo Mountain Cooperative allowed the group to establish a new office in Hobong, and vastly increase processing facilities - seeing the cooperative grow from two to six farms.

This year - at the village’s third coffee harvest - SCAA tasters graded Bant Sawk’s beans the best in the entire country - a score of 89.25 is the highest ever awarded to a Myanmar bean. With this progress, Myanmar coffee has quickly been elevated to some of the most interesting and highly sought after in the world - the remainding harvests of our partner farms have been purchased by specialty coffee shops the world over.

Next year, many more poppy fields will be converted to coffee plantation.