Brewing Dreams

Having transformed his father’s coffee farm into an award-winning producer of Liberica beans, Jason Liew of My Liberica has set his sights on greater things.

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WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS

Coffee was never a big thing for my family. We didn’t grow it. We didn’t drink it. I didn’t
even like it. Too bitter, I felt.

It was for practical reasons that my father started growing coffee trees. We used to have lemon trees but people kept stealing our fruit. So we got rid of them and planted coffee trees instead for one simple reason − coffee cherries are tiny and much harder to steal. Of course, it doesn’t feel good when people steal your things. I could accept it if they stole and ate them, but those who stole to sell? That’s another matter.

We planted the Liberica variety because it is the only one that can grow here. Most people have not heard of Liberica coffee. The reason again is simple. It has a much smaller yield than its two famous cousins, Arabica and Robusta, so it isn’t as commercially viable. Still, we made it work for us.

I suppose it’s quite apt that my father chose coffee. Coffee beans are unobtrusive little things. But put them through adversity and they will transform hot water into an aromatic brew and fill the whole house with their fragrance.

Our farm is unassuming like our coffee. Tucked away in a cosy corner of Simpang Renggam, Johor, it is a place you’re unlikely to find unless you go looking for it. When we were young, my brothers and I would go there with our parents. As they toiled under the blazing sun, we would play with the dogs and fish at the lake. As we got older, we would join in the harvesting, weeding, fertilising or one of the thousand other things needed keep the farm running.

My father never pressured us to work. So we took it easy, half-working, half-playing. It wasn’t until I finished high school that I got a real taste of farming. I had nine months to kill before I left for further studies in Taiwan, so I worked there full time. Life slows down on the farm. Crops grow at their own pace. Watching them evolve and fruit under my care, I realised each one has life. It awakened the joy of farming in me.

Even so, taking over the farm was never part of my plans.

DEVELOPING A CRAVING

I left for Taiwan when I was 18 and spent the next six years there. Initially, I didn’t give coffee another thought. It was just something my father grew to support the family. It wasn’t until my third year in university that it started to mean a whole lot more. As part of my agronomy course, my teacher conducted a session on coffee sensory. Watching the water turn a deep golden brown in the siphon brewer and spill from flask to flask like a chemistry experiment, I was intrigued.

I started researching, brewing and sampling different types of coffee and methods. To my surprise, I discovered that coffee when done right actually isn’t bitter and has health benefits. I began to appreciate the complex flavours that a good brew could produce. Inspired, I took up coffee roasting under my degree programme.

MORE THAN A HOBBY

I returned to Malaysia in 2009 armed with my newfound passion for coffee. At the time, no one really made Liberica coffee well. It’s a variety with a 150-year history in Malaysia. Although it wasn’t popular then, I felt strongly that there had to be something unique about it to have lasted so long.

But it wasn’t a specialty coffee…yet.

For Liberica to be welcomed in the specialty coffee scene, there had to be a clear record of coffee production and processing technology, among other things. It was an uphill battle. No one had done it before as they didn’t think much of the Liberica bean. All I had then was my father’s small 20-hectare farm that only grew and sold coffee cherries. It fulfilled the basic requirement, but my dream demanded that we do much more.

However, coffee processing didn’t come cheap. Initially, my father baulked at the high costs. But wanting to support me, he threw his weight behind my dream and My Liberica, our processing outfit. I began life cultivating and roasting coffee, working side by side with my father — the two of us in a tiny corner of Malaysia trying to take on the world.

WNNING THE WORLD OVER

People underestimate the Liberica coffee bean as it doesn’t have a strong aroma. But if you know how to roast it, it can give off flavours and aromas that can rival the finest beans.

I knew it. But I still had to prove it. As luck would have it, the winner of the 2015 World Barista Championship approached me. Together, we developed a new coffee processing method with plans to enter the 2021 Australian Barista Championship. Going into the competition, we were the underdogs — an unknown Malaysian coffee producer with a misunderstood bean. When they announced My Liberica as the champion, it was a validation of my long-held belief in the Liberica bean.

We had won over Australia, but we had yet to convince everyone else. With renewed confidence, we entered the World Barista Championship 2021. This time, we came in third, but for me, it was a huge victory. It marked not only the first such win for Malaysia but also the first time in history that Liberica coffee had shone on the international stage. I felt both had finally gotten the recognition they deserved.

At home, my family was celebrating, but I was just relieved. I had insisted on this path and had dragged them along with me for the roller coaster ride. There were many times I felt like giving up. Now, I showed that their faith in me was not unfounded. We had punched through our challenges and were slowly changing the way people viewed Liberica beans and our brand of coffee.

With the wins, Liberica is one step closer to joining the speciality coffee club. My dreams have also grown bigger. Coffee production is a twilight industry in Malaysia and the costs are very high. In my perfect world, our industry is a vibrant one with people around the globe appreciating the beauty of our Liberica coffee.

A lofty dream perhaps. But with a whole lot of hard work, family support and a little luck, dreams sometimes do come true.