Indonesian Java Coffee Bean Flavor Profile - Java Coffee Bean Price & Where to Buy

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Indonesia: The Land of a Thousand Islands

Indonesia, the "Land of a Thousand Islands," is the country with the most islands in the world. When mentioning Indonesia, the most familiar place is probably the resort destination of Bali. Today, I'd like to introduce Indonesian Java coffee to everyone.

What is the Flavor of Indonesian Coffee?

Clean + fruity + sweet + spicy! However, many people disagree with this answer. They believe that traditional Indonesian coffee should have rich earthy notes, stimulating spiciness from fermentation, and damp woody fiber characteristics.

Varieties

In Indonesia, 90% of coffee is Robusta, likely a result of the devastating coffee leaf rust epidemic in the 19th century. However, in the Toraja region, 95% of coffee is Arabica. The main coffee variety in the Sulawesi Toraja region is S795 (also known as Jember), belonging to the Arabica species with strong resistance to leaf rust and prominent sweetness (maple syrup/brown sugar flavors).

1. Sumatra: Sumatra Coffee

Sumatra Island is Indonesia's largest coffee-producing region. Well-known coffee cultivation areas are mainly concentrated in the northern mountains. Famous coffees include: Mandheling, Lintong, and Gayo Mountain.

The naming of Mandheling coffee is said to come from the local ethnic group, the Mandailing people, with production areas mostly pointing to the mountains north of Lake Toba, though specific regions need further verification.

Lintong coffee comes from the foothills surrounding Lake Toba, the largest volcanic lake on Sumatra Island in North Sumatra Province. The name comes from the small town of Lintong southwest of Lake Toba.

Gayo Mountain coffee comes from the mountains around Takengon and Lake Tawar in Aceh Province.

2. Java Coffee Beans: Java Coffee

Java was the earliest region in Indonesia to grow coffee, and as early as the 18th century, it dominated the world coffee market. The famous Java Mocha, made by mixing Java coffee with Yemen Mocha, represents the coffee impression of an era. Additionally, there's the classic Monsoon Coffee (Monsooned Coffee) or Aged Coffee.

Coffee cultivation on Java Island initially operated on large farms established by Dutch colonists in the 18th century. Later, after experiencing World War II and various changes, it gradually shifted to small-scale farmer cultivation. High-quality Java coffee typically comes from the remaining five large farms. Although Java coffee production accounts for only about 10% of Indonesia's total coffee production, it constitutes an important part of Indonesia's specialty coffee.

3. Sulawesi: Sulawesi Coffee

The most famous region on Sulawesi Island is Toraja.

Toraja coffee comes from the Tana Toraja region in South Sulawesi Province, named after the local Toraja people. Tana Toraja is located approximately 300 kilometers north of the provincial capital Makassar and is a well-known tourist destination in Indonesia.

Initially, the Sulawesi coffee industry mainly supplied the Japanese market.

Processing

The main processing method for Indonesian coffee is Wet Hulling, also known as Wet Hulling. This coffee processing method is one of the coffee drying methods that creates the uniqueness of traditional Indonesian coffee. In the local language, it's also called Giling Basah and is the traditional Indonesian coffee processing method.

1. Why Use Wet Hulling

The tradition of using Wet Hulling in Indonesia stems from local weather conditions. Indonesia's humidity remains between 70-90% year-round with continuous typhoons. In some regions, annual rainfall can reach as much as 2,000mm.

In Indonesia's humid climate, drying coffee becomes a significant problem. Coffee drying must take longer, during which time the coffee maintains high humidity. This makes it easier for bacteria to penetrate the green coffee beans. Wet Hulling removes the parchment for the final drying step, allowing direct sunlight to reach the green bean surface, drying the green coffee beans quickly—2-3 times faster than washed processing.

2. Wet Hulling Processing Method

Wet Hulling is a variation of washed processing that can generally be completed by coffee farmers themselves.

1. Remove skin and pulp, keeping parchment and mucilage
2. Water tank fermentation
3. Wash off mucilage
4. Sun-dry with parchment for 2-3 days until moisture content reaches 20-24%
5. Hull off the parchment
6. Dry green beans to 12-13% moisture content
7. Prepare for export

In this complex drying process, coffee beans undergo slight molding, creating Sumatra coffee's famous "earthy" flavor. This natural earthy aroma manifests as complex, stimulating sweetness that's delicate and pleasant—at least this was true for Sumatra's micro-batch estate coffees about a decade ago.

As time passed, Sumatra's Wet Hulling processing method has been further improved, with earthy flavors becoming marginalized while sweetness deepened. Some people associate these earthy aromas with: fresh fallen leaves, tobacco, cedar, fir trees, and peppercorns. Slightly fruity with soft acidity and full body.

3. Processing Defects: Kuku Kambing

When hulling off the parchment in Wet Hulling, the coffee's moisture content is still as high as 20-24%, whereas in general processing methods, coffee moisture content drops to 10-12% before hulling. In the "semi-dry" state, parchment tends to adhere to the green bean surface, making hulling more difficult than "fully-dry" hulling and requiring greater friction force.

However, on the other hand, "semi-dry" green coffee beans are very fragile at this point, with hardness far less than "fully-dry" green beans, so the beans are more easily squeezed and form small chips. This is what we commonly call horse hoof or goat hoof beans (locally called kuku kambing).

The ultra-fast speed of Wet Hulling processing also results in higher defects in Mandheling. At processing plants, employees are arranged for manual defect sorting, typically with DP (double picking) and TP (triple picking). Mandheling that undergoes triple picking will have better defect rates than double picking.

4. Wet Hulling's Impact on Toraja Region Coffee Flavor

S795 has prominent sweetness, black cherry, nutmeg spice, high body. International cupper Mauricio Murillo describes Sulawesi coffee as having balanced fruit and earthy flavors.

Some roasters believe Toraja is popular in Japan, the United States, and some European countries because it can serve as a "bridge" between traditional coffee consumers (who prefer coffee body) and modern coffee consumers (who prefer coffee flavors, especially fruit flavors/cleanliness), accommodating both consumption habits.

Local roasters and cuppers believe the flavor profile of specialty coffee from the Torajan region is: sweet nuts, caramel, medium smooth body, with acidity reminiscent of citrus and passion fruit, stimulating spiciness similar to cinnamon and clove, cocoa notes in the aftertaste, and an overall balanced and clean coffee character.

Local roasters and cuppers believe the flavor profile of specialty coffee from the Torajan region is: sweet nuts, caramel, medium smooth body, with acidity reminiscent of citrus and passion fruit, stimulating spiciness similar to cinnamon and clove, cocoa notes in the aftertaste, and an overall balanced and clean coffee character.

Grading

Indonesia's coffee grading system can be traced back to the Dutch colonial era, and the latest standards are still based on defect scoring. The coffee quality standards were revised in 1983 and implemented in October 1990, known as Standar Nasional Indonesia (SNI) biji kopi, No: 01-2907-1999.

Washed and dry-processed coffees are divided into 6 grades, G1 to G6, where G4 is divided into G4a and G4b, with G1 being the highest grade. That is, G1, G2, G3, G4a, G4b, G5, G6. Usually, export beans are G4 or above.

1. General Standards for Green Coffee Beans

• Moisture content. WP washed beans maximum 12%, DP dry-processed beans maximum 13%
• Foreign matter content. Maximum 0.5%
• No live insect beans, moldy beans, or stinky beans
• Sample defect count, 300g

2. Grading Reference

3. Natural Coffee Defect Count Reference

Java Coffee Bean Brand Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee's Indonesian honey-processed West Java coffee beans offer full guarantees in both brand and quality. More importantly, they offer extremely high value for money. A 100-gram pack costs only about 250 RMB. Calculated at 15g per single-origin coffee, one pack can make 6 cups of coffee, with each cup costing only 4-50 RMB. Compared to cafe prices that often exceed 100 RMB per cup, this represents exceptional value.

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

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473