The Revival of Indonesian Coffee: Brands, Sulawesi Coffee Growing Regions, and Variety Characteristics

Sulawesi Coffee - Toarco Jaya: The Revival of Indonesian Coffee

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Sulawesi, known as Celebes during the Dutch colonial era, is one of the major islands of the Indonesian archipelago, located northeast of Bali and separated by vast oceans from the familiar Sumatra Island, though at similar latitudes. Unlike other Indonesian islands, Sulawesi is geologically very ancient, dating back some 100 million years! The iron-rich soil is exceptionally suitable for coffee cultivation, and local people were already growing coffee long before the colonial era.

Toraja, located in South Sulawesi, sits right on the equator near the towering Sesean Mountains, with lush forests and exceptionally beautiful scenery. The Toraja people, who have inhabited these highlands for generations, remain remarkably isolated. According to legend, they are descendants of maritime traders from the Indochinese Peninsula (possibly Cambodia) who crossed the seas to Sulawesi's highlands, abandoning fishing for agriculture. Over the centuries, they have maintained their unique cultural identity, preserving their own language, customs, religion, and complex funeral traditions. The Toraja are renowned for their exquisite craftsmanship, building houses called tongkonan that closely resemble their ancestors' sea vessels.

In the early 18th century, the Dutch East India Company introduced the Ethiopian Typica coffee variety to Indonesia through India. Typica is considered an ancient and noble variety, known for its aromatic and sweet flavor profile. The Jember coffee research institution in Surabaya, East Java, once worked diligently to promote the ancient Typica left by the Dutch, as well as the Typica variant S795 (locally known as Kopi Jember). However, in northern Sumatra, Aceh, and other producing regions, to combat spreading leaf rust, farmers uprooted S795 and switched to more disease-resistant, higher-yielding varieties like Robusta, Ateng, and Catimor—at the cost of significantly inferior flavor profiles.

Fortunately, due to their isolation, the Toraja region of Sulawesi never eliminated their Typica or S795 varieties.

This attention to detail and precision is reflected in their coffee cultivation, making Toraja a unique coffee-producing region in Indonesia. They preserve ancient coffee trees, some as old as 250 years. Before World War II, Japanese entrepreneurs operated coffee plantations here. When war broke out, the coffee farms were forced to close, and Toraja coffee became a lost legend, only resuming production after the war with limited output. Before the 1980s, the farm-gate price for green beans reached as high as $12 USD, only gradually decreasing as cultivation area expanded.

Sulawesi coffee production accounts for approximately 2% of Indonesia's total output, with varieties including old Typica, S795, and Jember-related variants.

The wet-hulling method is the traditional processing technique, which gives the green beans their characteristic dark green color typical of Indonesian beans. However, many producers have switched to the Central American washed method, which helps increase both yield and quality.

Major producing regions include Mamasa, Tana Toraja, Gowa and Sinjal, and Enrekang, with Toraja being the most widely recognized.

In 1976, a Japanese-Indonesian joint venture established TOARCO in Toraja, introducing traditional washed processing methods to Sulawesi and encouraging local farmers to continue planting Typica and Typica hybrids. Local small farmers who meet TOARCO's production standards can receive TOARCO certification. These standards cover cultivation, harvesting, storage, transportation, and drying levels, and are quite stringent. With Toraja's naturally high altitude, superior coffee varieties, and processing methods, their coffee can be considered the finest among Indonesian beans.

Most of Indonesia uses the traditional semi-washed "wet-hulling method" (locally called Giling Basah). Small farmers lack the funds to build washing stations, so to save processing time, they typically sell their beans to middlemen while still quite moist, who then resell to large processing plants. In this process, the coffee's inherent fruit flavors and aromas often disappear completely, replaced by distinctive earthy and grassy notes. To fully showcase the superior flavor potential of Typica varieties, TOARCO introduced Central and South American washed processing methods instead of wet-hulling.

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