No it’s not from Armani Exchange.

Despite it’s very hip-sounding name, A/X actually refers to the shiny new Papua New Guinea grading system. The A stands for a high-quality coffee with good balance and aroma. X represents a uniform bean size where the largest and smallest beans have been filtered out, to give you beans that are “just right”. I know, I was really excited about that name too.

Fortunately, even though the hip name is just a coincidence, these beans are excellent. They are sourced from a wide range of cute “coffee gardens” scattered across the Eastern and Western Highlighlands. And when we say “garden” we really mean it. Some of these gardens are really just tiny farms growing 20 odd coffee trees for extra cash between the vegetables and fruit grown to feed the family. But what they lack in scale, they more than make up for in flavour. 

Once a year, all these mini farmers sorting, picking and pack all the coffee cherries together and take it to the coffee mill. There the beans get processed, washed and dried in the sun. The result of 2,000 mini gardens? A full-bodied cup, filled with nutty walnuts and some very interesting peachy/plum notes if you try a lighter roast.