West Java Indonesia Correct Brewing Method West Java Indonesia Coffee Bean Price

Honey Processing

Honey processing, also called the Honey Process or Miel Process, produces what is known as honey coffee, and plantations in Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala and elsewhere have adopted it. In practice, honey processing means drying the raw bean with its mucilage still attached. Once the outer pulp has been stripped from the cherry, a sticky, gelatinous layer remains. Traditional washed processing rinses that layer away with clean water, but in some high-altitude growing areas water is scarce, and this direct-drying approach was born from that limitation.

Honey processing is comparatively complex, time-consuming and difficult. The first step is selecting top-quality fruit, then removing the pulp while leaving the endocarp intact, for that endocarp is the heart of the method. It is rich in sugars and acids, which slowly seep into the bean as it dries. The second step, drying, is also the single most important condition for a high-quality result.

Honey processing lets the coffee keep the clarity of a washed lot. Brightness drops somewhat, while sweetness and caramel notes rise. Depending on how much mucilage is left behind, honey coffees are divided into yellow, red and black honey. The great advantage is that the method preserves the natural sweetness of ripe fruit most faithfully, giving the cup elegant brown-sugar and fruity sweetness, with berry notes underpinning a red-wine-like aromatic base, a style widely regarded as very elegant.

Product Name: FrontStreet Coffee Indonesia West Java Honey Processed Coffee

Varieties: Jember, S-795

Altitude: 1400-1600 meters

Flavor: Fruity, plum, jackfruit flavors, clean sweet aftertaste

Cherries are picked from the branch and separated from the fruit, then rinsed and dried immediately. The beans are turned every hour to dry evenly, midnight included. "This is very important at night due to high humidity," said Ariev of Transform Coffee (August 5, 2014), translated from the Indonesian original.

Processing takes 25-26 days, which explains why Aromanis beans cost a little more than ordinary ones. The Coffee Farmers' Cooperative sells raw Aromanis green beans for 130,000-150,000 rupiah per kilogram, while Transform Coffee retails them at 80,000 rupiah per 200-gram package.

Manufacturer: Coffee Workshop
Shelf Life: 90 days
Net Weight: 227g
Packaging: Bulk coffee beans
Roast Level: Roasted coffee beans
Sugar Content: Sugar-free
Origin: Indonesia
Roast Degree: Light roast

Hand-poured FrontStreet Coffee West Java: 15g of grounds, medium grind (small Fuji ghost-tooth blade setting #4), V60 dripper, water temperature 88-89°C. First pour 30g of water for a 27-second bloom, then pour to 105g and stop. Wait until the water level in the coffee bed drops to halfway, then pour again slowly to 225g. Avoid the tail end. Coffee-to-water ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

Product Name: FrontStreet Coffee Indonesia West Java Aromanis Honey Processed Coffee
West Java Honey Processing Aromanis

Country: Indonesia

Estate: Aromanis

Region: Mount Tangkuban Perahu

Roast Level: Light roast

Processing Method: Honey processing

West Java Province is a first-level administrative region of Indonesia, on the western end of Java. It borders the Java Sea to the north and the Indian Ocean to the south, and includes offshore islands, covering 46,300 square kilometers. Java has a tropical rainforest climate, hot and humid year-round. The northern coastal plains are the hottest, while the mountains are far cooler. High humidity often produces an enervating climate.

From November to March the northwest monsoon brings more rain and cloud; from April to October the southeast monsoon brings more sunny days and less rainfall. Jakarta's average annual rainfall is about 1,760 millimeters (69 inches). Its average daily high is 30°C (86°F) and its low 23°C (74°F). In the highland area of Tosari (1,735 meters [5,692 feet]), the average temperature is 22-8°C (72-47°F). Because volcanic ash periodically renews the land, Java's soil is very fertile.

"Aromanis" is a traditional Indonesian sweet made from flour and sugar. Here the name is borrowed for the coffee, suggesting a cotton-candy-like texture. The beans themselves come from Ciwidey and Garut in West Java. No special seed is involved; it is simply coffee given a natural drying treatment, which can present this distinctive flavor. That flavor, admittedly, is not widely recognized within West Java itself.

Region: Mount Tangkuban Perahu, Indonesia

Altitude: 1400-1600 meters

Roast Degree: Light

Processing Method: Honey processing

Taste Description: Strong fruity aroma, with plum and jackfruit flavors, clean and sweet aftertaste.

Flavor: Complex floral notes on entry; the palate meets tropical fruit flavors such as mango and jackfruit, with a smooth, thick mouthfeel and a long-lasting aftertaste.

FrontStreet Coffee Indonesia West Java Honey Processed Coffee - West Java Honey Processing

FrontStreet Coffee Indonesia West Java Aromanis Honey Processed Coffee scores as high as 92 points in cupping. The bean's English name, Aromanis, is Indonesian for sweet mango.

At the estate we tasted a completely different side of Indonesian coffee.

The farmers brewed the coffee they had grown for us using the simplest hot-water immersion method.

Careful cultivation and processing

allowed the coffee's flavor to break free of the established framework of Indonesian coffee.

Fruit sweetness, lemon fragrance and even floral notes

were all strongly present across the different varieties,

truly overturning our perception of the traditionally bitter, heavy Indonesian profile.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If the honey-processed, tropical-fruit style described above is what you enjoy, FrontStreet's green bean range covers the same flavor territory across several origins. A natural starting point is FrontStreet Panama Boquete Washed Geisha, an estate-level entry into Geisha grown at 1,600 meters in fertile volcanic soil. Mist often veils the mountains of Boquete, keeping days humid and nights cool, and the elevation gives the fruit a longer ripening window and more nutrients to draw on. In the cup you find Geisha's signature jasmine, green tea, honey, citrus and orange.

FrontStreet Panama Washed Butterfly carries half Geisha lineage, a blend of Geisha, Caturra and Catuai planted in the Baru Volcano area of Boquete. The local microclimate brings plentiful rain, wide day-night temperature swings and the volcanic rock soil that, together with careful picking and processing, gives the coffee impressive body, citrus acidity and Geisha's jasmine aroma. It suits both pour-over and cold brew.

For the top of the range, FrontStreet Esmeralda Red Label Geisha is a single-plot Geisha harvested above 1,700 meters, with a cupping score that must reach 91 and a refined orange-blossom and honey character. FrontStreet also offers Esmeralda Diamond Mountain, an estate brand built mainly on Caturra and Catuai from the Jaramillo and Canas Verdes farms, where volcanic soil and old-growth shade deliver abundant fruit aroma and sweetness.