Until 2010, the Akha traditionally subsisted by raising livestock and growing rice, vegetables and beans.

BBC: Thailand��s mountainous coffee journey

Akha Ama coffee is distinct for its citrus notes and acidity, and has been selected out of 2, 500 entries to be used in World Cup Tasters Championship by the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe.

BBC: Thailand��s mountainous coffee journey

If you cannot make the coffee journey, which is held in November and January each year and tends to fill up as soon as it is announced on the website in early autumn, be sure to stop by Akha Ama Coffee to sample the brew.

BBC: Thailand��s mountainous coffee journey

As such, Lee opened the Akha Ama coffee shop in Chiang Mai and twice a year, as part of the Akha Ama Coffee Journey, he takes around 20 participants from around the world to Maejantai to see how the villagers live and work.

BBC: Thailand��s mountainous coffee journey