This Lotus coffee comes from the Cau Dat region of Vietnam, in the Da Lat province,in the southeastern part of the country. It was grown by about 100 smallholder farmers, 30 of whom are women owners and managers, who sold their ripe coffee cherry to the wet mill to be processed. At an altitude of 1400 - 1600 meters above sea level (about 5,000 feet), the region is characterized by year-round cool weather and volcanic soil. Vietnam is a special place. Although it’s a country of smallholder farms averaging 1-3 hectares (up to 7.5 acres), this southeast Asian country is the second largest producer of coffee in the world. Farmers don’t process their own coffee on their farms, but instead sell their ripe coffee fruit (or coffee cherries) to wet mills, which process the coffee for export. Employing the washed process method, the seeds (aka beans!) are separated from the fruit, fermented and washed, then finally dried. After drying, Lotus Washed is then stored in Da Lat, which has a lower average temperature than Ho Chi Minh, until it is ready for export, at which time the last remaining protective layer is removed (or hulled) from the dried seeds, and sent to Ho Chi Minh for export. Once in Ho Chi Minh, the coffee is stored in a climate-controlled warehouse for up to two weeks before shipping.