'Dangerous Grounds': Borneo

by Sue Richter

November 29, 2012 04:05 PM EST

This week on Dangerous Grounds Todd Carmichael, coffee expert, travels to Borneo to investigate the edgy world of coffee growing. The world of coffee is a $60B industry second only to oil as a commodity with the highest demand.

Borneo is home to one of the largest coffee beans, elephant or liberica coffee. Liberica beans were original to West Africa. Today most of this coffee is grown in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Todd casts off for the jungle on a dugout canoe and then hikes through the jungle up the mountain to find the coffee plantations. As he boards the canoe he points out that the river has lots of parasites in it that can infiltrate the body through openings like the nose and mouth.

They team makes their way up the river on the outboard motor canoe. They stop at a small village but the chief does not seem overly happy to see Todd. Todd presents a gift of turtle meat hoping to warm up the village. The cook is happy but no one else seems to be over joyed. The cook offers Todd a sample of snake and he tries it seemingly liking it.

The men sit down to eat the huge spread of food: rice, beans, snake, turtle and leafy products. The chief does not want to speak to Todd. He tells the interrupter that his tribe was headhunters until he was 9 years old. Todd doesn't feel welcome and he leaves the village - probably a good move.

Todd finds another farm and speaks to the owners. They agree to show him the coffee plantation. They cross over a river by foot and Todd whines about the dangers of the river. He says the river may have crocs, alligators and parasites. Meanwhile, the two workers get way ahead of him.

They finally find the coffee plants. The leaves are at least two times larger than an Arabica coffee plant. The leaves are flat green rather than waxy and shiny. There are no beans on the plants though. They are new plants and won't be ready to bare fruit for a couple of years. The men tell Todd of a place that has the coffee beans and so he heads off to find it.

Todd and his camera man head out by car until the road ends and then they hike in a few miles. They each have backpacks with overnight gear including wood bundles to smoke-off dengue carrying mosquitoes, food, water, and sleeping bags. They cross over a bamboo bridge made with only two bamboo poles and a bamboo handrail. It's only large enough for one person at a time to cross. It gets dark so they start a fire and set up camp. He mentions that the jungle comes alive at night with insects, spiders, and snakes.

The next morning they find the elephant coffee plants. The fruit is about 25 feet up in a huge tree. He meets with the chief of the coffee plantation. He explains that he has only 2-acres of coffee but doesn't harvest it. He tells Todd to go to Siniawan or Bidayuh, an area occupied by the Chinese. It's far so he needs to get back to the truck and drive. The search continues.

Todd finally finds ripe liberica coffee beans. He grabs some of the beans to sample. The beans have a grassy and tobacco smell. The beans are so large that it takes twice as long to roast them and they are more difficult to grind. He sets up his roaster, and grids and perks a sample. He likes that the flavors are different. He grabs a small amount of coffee to bring home, about 10 pounds.

Todd returns to Philadelphia and roasts the liberica coffee at his coffee company, La Colombe Torrefaction. He invites coffee experts to come and taste the coffee. They all agree it's not delicate and not for everyone. But they all do like the difference in flavors and aromas.

How much would you pay for exotic coffee?

Dangerous Grounds airs on Tuesday's on the Travel Channel 9/8 C