Indonesia's Three Major Coffee Growing Regions: Expert Recommendations & Price Guide

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Indonesian Coffee: A Comprehensive Overview

Coffee lovers must have tried Indonesian coffee. The best growing areas throughout the Indonesian archipelago are Java, Sumatra, and Sulawesi. These three islands have established three major coffee brands: Mandheling coffee, produced in Sumatra, Indonesia, with moderate acidity and an extremely heavy, rich aroma; Java coffee, produced on the island of Java in Indonesia, belonging to the Arabica coffee species; and Sulawesi Island coffee, with full-bodied beans and rich flavor. Robusta coffee accounts for 90% of the total production, with quality claimed to be world-class.

In the mid-17th century, coffee trees were introduced to Indonesia by the Dutch (some official sources suggest it was earlier). In 1712, the first batch of coffee from Java was sold to Amsterdam. However, in 1877, all coffee trees in the plantations were destroyed by coffee rust disease, and Robusta coffee trees had to be introduced from Africa to replace the original varieties. Today, only 6%-10% of coffee beans are Arabica. Indonesia is the world's major producer of Robusta coffee, producing 6.8 million bags of coffee annually, with most coffee coming from small plantations, accounting for about 90% of total production.

Java Coffee

Java produces refined aromatic coffee with relatively low acidity, delicate taste, and good balance. The aroma and acidity of Java coffee are superior to those from Sumatra and Sulawesi islands. The best Java plantations include Blawan, Jambit, Kayumas, and Pankur. Java Mocha coffee is a blend of Java coffee and Yemeni Mocha coffee.

Sumatra Coffee

Sumatra, the second largest island of the Indonesian archipelago, is Indonesia's petroleum industry center, and the island's rubber and timber are also famous export commodities. However, Sumatra's coffee is even more remarkable. This coffee is similar to Java coffee but with slightly heavier beans. Coffee beans from Mandheling and Ankola are also highly valued, with the former even praised as the world's most full-bodied coffee beans.

Sulawesi Coffee

Sulawesi, located between Borneo and New Guinea, is sometimes also called Celebes. The coffee produced on this island has full-bodied beans and rich flavor. The best coffee beans come from Kalossi and Rantepao in the southern part of the island. Among many brands, you might want to try Celebes Kalossi coffee.

Indonesian Coffee Characteristics

Overall, Indonesian coffee beans have a very strong taste, mellow flavor, slightly syrupy, with excellent acidity. Its two main export markets are Germany and Japan, which indirectly reflects the excellent quality of this coffee. What attracts consumers is its superior quality unique to Arabica coffee beans. You can add milk or cream to high-quality Indonesian coffee without worrying about affecting its taste. Indonesian coffee is divided into six grades, with the best being AP. But no one is certain what these two capital letters actually represent.

Aging Process

When steamships replaced sailing ships, coffee from these islands faced the same problem as coffee from Mysore, India—namely, consumers had become accustomed to coffee affected by long journeys, so they were unwilling to accept the taste of this "fresh" coffee. To solve this problem, the Indonesian government tried to imitate coffee affected by long journeys, "storing" coffee beans for up to a year. However, disappointingly, this wet-processed coffee was not widely accepted in taste, affecting its good reputation.

However, Indonesia's "aged" coffee or "journey" coffee is still produced today. Its sales brands are generally "Old Government," "Old Brown," and "Old Java."

Local Preferences

Despite producing so many impressive coffees, it's puzzling that local residents prefer drinking Turkish-flavored coffee rather than its long-renowned European-style coffee.

Indonesian Coffee Bean Brand Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee's roasted West Java honey-processed Indonesian coffee beans are fully guaranteed in both brand and quality. More importantly, they offer extremely high value—half a pound (227 grams) costs only about 118 yuan. Calculated at 15 grams of coffee powder per cup, one package can make 15 cups of coffee, with each cup costing only about 7 yuan. Compared to the tens of yuan per cup sold in coffee shops, this is truly a conscientious recommendation.

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