What are the flavor characteristics of Indonesian Java coffee? What are the Java coffee varieties? How to brew it for the best taste?

Professional Coffee Knowledge Exchange

For more coffee bean information, please follow the Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style).

Understanding Indonesian Java Coffee

What are the flavor characteristics of Indonesian Java coffee? What are the Java coffee varieties? How should it be brewed to taste good?

Java coffee is sometimes called Old Java. After the Old Government period, Java coffee was guaranteed to be aged for at least ten years in tropical regions, becoming a household name coffee. Old Java coffee already had a good reputation before 1915. During the long journey to New York, the coffee beans naturally released moisture, making them receive better evaluation upon arrival in New York. Java beans have a special moldy taste and a rare light brown color.

Currently, the best Java coffee is produced in the Preanger, Cheribon, Buitenzorg, and Batavia regions. Java coffee has a mature, delicate, and gentle taste, with an almost imperceptible spicy aroma, both rich and mellow. After aging, it becomes even more aromatic, though aged Java coffee is rare.

Java is the region outside the native habitat of coffee trees that has been growing coffee for the longest time. Coffee trees were introduced to Java in 1699 from Malabar at the instigation of an Amsterdam mayor.

Coffee Origin and Characteristics

Origin: Indonesia Java, Java Island.

Flavor: Sweetness of blackberry and grape, combined with slight acidity and bitterness.

Aroma: Rich and thick, with nutty sweetness and bright, balanced acidity.

Other: The coffee trees on Java Island were originally Arabica varieties, but due to pest and disease impacts, many Arabica coffee trees could not survive, so they switched to hardier Nobusta, Liberica varieties, and their hybrids.

Coffee produced from Celebes, Lombok Island, Flores, and Timor in the Indonesian archipelago region is also sold as Java coffee. These coffee beans are as good as Java beans, but fresh beans are small in size. Java Island covers 7% of Indonesia's area but has 35% of the national population, and was the first island in the Indonesian archipelago to be developed by Dutch enterprises. A coffee tragedy in the mid-1970s changed Java Island's status in the hearts of coffee lovers. Local coffee farms cut down all the excellent, low-yield, pest-prone Arabica coffee trees and switched to high-yield, easy-to-care-for robusta beans. This move made the excellent coffee that was once popular worldwide almost extinct. Today, only six state-owned farms managed by the government still grow traditional Java excellent Arabica coffee trees. Thanks to these state-owned plantations, we still have the opportunity to taste the currently existing Java Arabica coffee with extremely limited production.

Processing and Flavor Profile

All Java coffee is processed using the wet method. Java coffee is a special coffee that possesses the rich and concentrated characteristics of Asian coffees, yet lacks the earthy aromas and damp moldy smells common in Sumatran, Sulawesi, and Bali coffees. Its acidity is delicate, with natural herbal and spice aromas, a hint of sorghum fragrance, grain and syrup-like sweetness with faint tobacco aroma, and sometimes subtle herbal notes in the aftertaste.

Drinking Java coffee best illustrates the meaning of "sweetness comes after bitterness." All coffees can only taste bitter in the first few sips; once the mouth adapts to that slight bitterness, it no longer feels bitter. However, Java coffee uses bitterness to bring out sweetness - every sip's bitterness is clear, and the returning sweetness is deeper and more powerful than any other coffee. However, due to issues with the drying process during green bean processing and storage conditions, Java coffee flavors can be inconsistent, so not all Java coffee beans can exhibit the flavor characteristics described above.

The Perfect Blend

The world's only universally recognized perfect blending bean is composed of Java coffee blended with the finest Yemen Mocha coffee. Before Java was infected by that rust disease, Java beans, with their unique flavor, were blended with Yemen Mocha coffee and were praised as the most complete and perfect flavor combination. With wine-like aroma, brew-like richness, fine fruit acidity, fruit sugar-like fruit fragrance, and pure throat feel, it is an unforgettable memory for all who have tasted it. Although a destructive disaster has passed, the taste of Mocha Java is no longer as unforgettable as before, but when it comes to blended coffee, the world still unanimously recommends the Mocha Java combination, sufficient proof of how cherished they are!

Aged and Special Varieties

Java also produces a small amount of aged coffee beans. First, the green beans are exposed to warm, humid air during the rainy season, then stored for 2-3 years to age. The green beans' color changes from green to light brown, and the flavor gains concentration and viscosity while losing acidity. These aged old coffees are called Old Government, Old Brown, or Old Java.

Java is also a source of kopi luwak (commonly known as civet coffee), the world's most expensive coffee. Through the foraging of civets (also called palm civets), and the baptism of gastrointestinal fluids, it achieves a world-class specialty coffee. Due to scarce production and special processing methods, it has become the most expensive and special coffee in the world.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommended Brewing:

Dripper: Hario V60

Water Temperature: 90 degrees

Grind Size: Fuji grinder setting 3.5

Brewing Method: Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, 15g of coffee, first pour 25g of water, 25s bloom, second pour to 120g then stop water, wait until the water level drops to halfway before pouring again, slowly pour until reaching 225g total water, extraction time around 2:00

Analysis: Using a three-stage brewing method to clearly distinguish the front, middle, and back-end flavors of the coffee. Because the V60 has many ribs and drains quickly, stopping the water flow can extend the extraction time.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473