One of Indonesia's Finest Coffee Brands | How is the Coffee from Indonesia's Toraja Coffee?

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One of Indonesia's Delicious Coffee Brands | How is Indonesia's [Sulawesi Toraja Coffee]? How to Brew?

The Indonesian island of Sulawesi is crossed by the equator line across its northern peninsula, spanning 170,000 square kilometers—about five times the size of Taiwan. The Tana Toraja highlands are located in the central part of the island, with rugged terrain and countless peaks reaching thousands of meters. The volcanic geological soil provides ideal conditions for coffee cultivation. Toraja is located in South Sulawesi, right on the equator, near the towering Sesean mountain range, with lush forests and extremely beautiful scenery. The Toraja people, who have lived in these highlands for generations, remain isolated from the outside world. Legend says they are descendants of maritime traders from the Indochinese Peninsula (possibly Cambodia) who crossed the sea to the highlands of Sulawesi, 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 people's exquisite craftsmanship is world-renowned, particularly their houses called tongkonan, which are built to closely resemble their ancestors' sea vessels. During the Dutch colonial era, Sulawesi was known as Celebes and is one of Indonesia's many large islands, located northeast of Bali and separated from the familiar Sumatra island by a vast ocean, though at similar latitudes. Unlike other Indonesian islands, Sulawesi is geologically very ancient, dating back 100 million years! The iron-rich soil is exceptionally suitable for coffee growth, and locals were already growing coffee before the colonial era.

In the early 18th century, the Dutch East India Company introduced the Typica coffee species from Ethiopia, East Africa, to Indonesia via India. Typica is considered an ancient and noble variety with aromatic and sweet flavors. The Surabaya Coffee Research Institute Jember in East Java once worked diligently to promote the ancient Typica left by the Dutch, as well as the Typica variety S795 (locally called Kopi Jember). However, in production areas such as northern Sumatra and Aceh, to combat spreading leaf rust disease, farmers uprooted S795 and switched to more disease-resistant and higher-yielding varieties like Robusta, Ateng, and Catimor—at the cost of significantly inferior flavor profiles.

Sulawesi island has existed for over 100 million years, so its soil's mineral content is richer than other Indonesian islands, producing coffee with brighter flavors. The most famous production comes from near Mount Tana Toraja. It has slightly spicy notes, including pepper, cinnamon, and nuts. Toraja in Sulawesi, due to its isolation, fortunately never removed their Typica or S795 varieties.

The emphasis on precision in detail is reflected in 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 people operated coffee plantations here. When the war broke out, the coffee plantations were forced to close, and Toraja coffee became a disappearing legend. Production resumed after the war, but output was limited. Before the 1980s, the farm gate price of green beans reached as high as $12 USD. Afterward, as cultivation area increased, prices gradually decreased.

In 1976, a Japanese-Indonesian joint venture established TOARCO in Toraja, introducing traditional washed processing 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 planting, harvesting, storage, transportation, and drying levels—quite strict. Toraja's naturally high altitude, combined with superior bean varieties and processing methods, makes it truly among the finest Indonesian beans.

Most of Indonesia uses the traditional semi-washed "wet-hulling method" (locally called Giling Basah). Small farmers lack funds to build washing stations, so to save processing time, they typically sell their still-quite-wet beans to middlemen at markets, who then resell them 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 exploit the superior flavor potential of Typica beans, TOARCO introduced Central and South American washed processing instead of using wet-hulling. Indonesia's popular Wet hull (Giling Basah) processing involves removing the parchment layer immediately after washing away the mucilage, without waiting for proper drying. The still-wet coffee beans contain up to 50% moisture. Middlemen collect the coffee kernels and dry them under uncontrolled conditions: sun exposure can cause organic acids to be lost, while drying on muddy ground can allow beans to absorb mud and dirt flavors.

Sumatra coffee is best known for Mandheling. This brand name, which refers to neither a bean variety nor a production region, comes from a mistranslation of a tribal name (Mandailing). In the Gayo Highlands of Aceh province, and the Lintong production area surrounding the northern volcanic Lake Toba, Mandheling is also abundantly produced. Names include "Green Treasure" and "Blue Eye," with colorful variety. Sumatran coffee generally has a smooth taste, dense body, low acidity, with earthy, cedar, tobacco, and cocoa flavors.

Toraja coffee is produced in the Toraja highlands of Sulawesi, Indonesia, and the coffee beans are named after this region. At an altitude of 1,500 meters, the Toraja highlands in the Sulawesi archipelago are located in equatorial mountainous areas shrouded in clouds and mist throughout the four seasons, with average annual rainfall of 1,000-2,000mm. The local volcanic geological soil is rich in organic matter, making it most suitable for growing high-quality coffee varieties. With high terrain, abundant sunshine, large day-night temperature differences, and constant temperatures maintained between 24°C-25°C, plus the rich nutrients of fertile tropical highland volcanic soil, this altitude provides the most suitable environment for growing high-quality Indonesian Arabica coffee forests.

Local small farmers' fields in Toraja are situated above 1,400 meters, with The Barn's batch growing at even higher altitudes. The S-795 variety is a high-quality Typica hybrid, more disease-resistant than regular Typica. This Toarco Jaya has a smooth mouthfeel, very easy to drink, and is very, very sweet. With dried plum and licorice flavors, nutmeg and winter spice notes, it's suitable for espresso or espresso-based drinks, and also excellent for pour-over.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommended Brewing:

Dripper: KONO dripper

Water Temperature: 88°C

Grind Size: Fuji Royal grinder setting 4

Brewing Method: Water-to-coffee ratio 1:14, 17g coffee grounds. First infusion with 25g water, bloom for 30 seconds. Second infusion to 238g water total, extraction time approximately 2:30 minutes.

Analysis: The KONO dripper doesn't have many ribs at the bottom, causing the filter paper to cling closely to the dripper, which restricts airflow. This allows water and coffee grounds to have longer contact and steeping time in the dripper, ensuring sufficient extraction time and rate for coarsely ground coffee. This enables the coffee grounds to be fully extracted, enhancing the rich body and making the flavor more concentrated.

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