What Are the Flavor Characteristics of Indonesia's National Treasure Toraja Coffee Beans? The Story of Indonesian Coffee

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An Indonesian National Treasure Coffee Bean Hidden in Deep Mountains

Classic Toraja Indonesian Coffee

Sulawesi Island is one of Indonesia's renowned coffee-producing islands, blessed with exceptional natural conditions and a long history of coffee cultivation. The unique smooth texture characteristics of Toraja Indonesian coffee have gradually gained acceptance and love from countries worldwide in recent years.

However, due to the limited production of Toraja coffee, it has been defined as a specialty bean since the Dutch colonial era.

Compared to Sumatra Island, Toraja farmers possess a strong concept of quality, selecting only ripe coffee cherries for harvest, which consequently extends the harvesting season.

In Sulawesi's Toraja region, coffee is also processed using the Giling Basah method. Combined with Sulawesi Island's rich iron ore deposits and high iron content in the soil, these two factors create the unique flavor profile of Toraja Indonesian coffee.

PS. (Giling: grind; Basah: wet)

In recent years, some traders have begun importing Toraja coffee to Taiwan, gradually building recognition for Toraja Coffee in the market.

However, knowledge about Toraja is mostly limited to terms like Toraja Kalosi Celebes, causing some confusion among coffee shops using Toraja green beans regarding price and quality definitions.

Are you buying Toraja, Kalosi, Toraja Kalosi, or Celebes?

Here's a simple explanation: Previously, people commonly referred to it as Toraja Kalosi because after Toraja coffee was harvested by farmers, it was sold to local middlemen, who then transported it to coffee processing facilities in the so-called Kalosi region. Therefore, Toraja coffee was often associated with Kalosi. In reality, Kalosi primarily serves as a distribution center for green coffee beans rather than being famous for coffee cultivation.

Therefore, it's nearly impossible to determine from which high-altitude mountain coffee region the commonly purchased Toraja green beans actually originate.

Aside from the 2009 collaboration between the Forestry Bureau and Toarco Jaya Company to cultivate fifty hectares, most Toraja region consists of small-scale farmers who grow their own coffee and sell it to middlemen, without developing what could be called large plantation models.

In recent years, Toraja coffee's fame has increased significantly while production remains scarce, leading some green bean purchasers to go directly to Toraja's mountain regions to acquire coffee beans. Gradually, Toraja has begun to establish its own reputation.

A young man from Taiwan, after months of research and testing in the deep mountains of Toraja, finally decided to begin acquiring coffee beans from the Toraja - Sapan mountain region in central Sulawesi.

Sapan's coffee forest region sits at an altitude of 1,300-1,500 meters, which is the ideal height for growing high-quality Indonesian Arabica coffee forests, with an average annual temperature of approximately 22-28 degrees Celsius.

This area possesses optimal soil quality, with a humus layer exceeding 30 centimeters in thickness, consisting entirely of black soil. The coffee here not only receives sufficient nutrients to grow large but also offers exceptional flavor!

Furthermore, unlike the Toraja coffee sold by other traders, we maintain complete control from the moment farmers harvest the cherries, cooperating with farmers through semi-contractual arrangements and requiring the harvest of absolutely ripe cherries.

The typical coffee processing method in Toraja mountain regions is quite primitive. After pulp removal, the beans undergo a simple washing process to remove fruit pulp, while simultaneously filtering out unripe or diseased coffee beans, followed by 2-3 days of direct sun drying.

However, mountain regions receive minimal sunlight, so most beans are simply air-dried before being bagged and awaiting middlemen's purchase. Consequently, the Toraja coffee beans (in parchment) commonly seen in the market remain extremely moist and often develop mold.

To prevent such occurrences, after removing the coffee husk, we immediately bag the beans and transport them directly to Rantepao's parchment removal factory for 2-3 days of sun drying before removing the parchment. The beans are then transported to Makassar for sun drying (due to Makassar's high sun-drying temperatures) and hand-picked grading.

Origin: Sulawesi - Sapan Mountain Region

Characteristic: Surface color doesn't easily darken during roasting

Variety: Non-Jember variety

Harvest Period: July 2010

Toraja Cultural Knowledge Sharing

The local ethnic group in Toraja differs significantly from neighboring regions, comprising the unique Toraja people. The cultural uniqueness of the Toraja people includes:

1. Architecture

The unique Tongkonan houses exist because locals believe their ancestors came from the sky, arriving here by boat. To commemorate this or perhaps to return to their ancestors' dwelling place in the future, they build their houses with boat-shaped roofs.

2. Funeral Customs

Toraja people do not bury their dead.

a. People of status (not necessarily wealthy) who can approach heaven can have holes carved into rock faces to create hanging coffins. For people of status, after death, locals carve wooden sculptures of their likeness and place them outside their coffins as memorials.

b. Ordinary people: Build cemeteries in their own fields, shaped like regular houses but without windows.

c. Children: If infants under one year old pass away, traditional customs dictate binding the child to a sacred tree, allowing the child to return to heaven along the sacred tree.

d. Those unable to afford burial: The deceased are first placed in their original living room at home, waiting for burial until funds become available.

e. Funerals: These are more expensive than weddings. During funerals, cattle must be slaughtered because cattle are regarded as protective deities locally. They must invite these protective deities to escort the deceased back to heaven.

f. Most cattle in Toraja are water buffalo, with very few yellow cattle. Cattle are not primarily for consumption but rather for sacrificial purposes. Therefore, a typical water buffalo costs approximately 25 (around 80,000 NT dollars), while those with white spots on their heads start at 70 (approximately over 200,000 NT dollars), and those with completely white heads start at 200 (approximately over 600,000 NT dollars). Believe me, you read that number correctly.

This is why when someone in an ordinary family passes away, they often have to wait three to five years before holding funeral services for the deceased.

g. Funeral record: In 2005, when the county magistrate's mother-in-law passed away, the magistrate rented out the local stadium and held continuous funeral banquet services for seven days. It was reported that 500 pigs and 500 cattle were slaughtered, with total expenses exceeding 5 billion Indonesian rupiah (please calculate yourself; I'm not good at math, divide by the exchange rate of 300). However, at that time, the KPK (Corruption Eradication Commission) had no jurisdiction over Sulawesi, so he got away completely.

3. Harvest Festival-like Celebration

Every December after the final rice harvest, the local community holds harvest festival-like activities to thank heaven for its care throughout the year. The harvest festival includes bull fighting, but with "water buffalo"...

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse bean varieties, where you can find various famous and lesser-known beans, while also providing online store services. https://shop104210103.taobao.com

Important Notice :

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