How is Indonesian Java Coffee? Are Java Variety and Java Coffee the Same Thing?

Regular readers of FrontStreet Coffee know that the term "Mocha" has three meanings: it refers to the Yemeni port city "Mocha Port"; the coffee variety "Mocha variety" produced in Mocha Port; and the chocolate milk coffee "Mocha coffee" that simulates the flavor profile of Mocha variety. In recent years, the increasingly popular "Java" also has triple meanings like Mocha! It refers to a growing region, a coffee variety, and exists as a collective term! Let FrontStreet Coffee explain this to you step by step. First, let's start with the "Java" growing region!

Java Island

Java is an island belonging to Indonesia, located between Bali and Sumatra. It is Indonesia's fifth largest island, bordering the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north, and is one of the most densely populated islands in the world. Not only that, it is also Indonesia's second largest coffee producing region! (First is Sumatra, accounting for 60% of Indonesia's total production). Perhaps when we directly mention Java Island, everyone is not very familiar with it, so let's look at it from a different perspective! This volcano featured in "Lonely Planet" magazine is one of Java Island's characteristics!

(Image sourced from the internet)

Java Coffee

The coffee cultivation history on Java Island can be traced back to the seventeenth century, when the Dutch, known as the "sea coachmen," planted the Typica plants they had seized through force on the Indonesian island of Java, which they had also seized through force. Unexpectedly, it was this action that not only enabled Java Island but also allowed the world's coffee industry to flourish. Java Island's excellent climate provided an excellent growing environment for coffee, so the cultivation of Typica naturally succeeded! The Dutch gained great wealth from harvesting coffee. Not only that, while conducting coffee trade, they also spread coffee to various parts of the world, significantly weakening Yemen's control over coffee. Therefore, Java holds a pivotal position in the world's coffee history.

These coffee varieties planted on Java Island, with their distinct flavor characteristics, were collectively known as "Java coffee." Initially, the coffee varieties planted on Java Island were mainly Arabica, but with successive attacks by diseases and pests, the disease-susceptible Arabica varieties fell one after another. As a result, not only Java Island but the entire Indonesia began planting varieties with Robusta genes, or even pure Robusta varieties!

Java Variety

Finally, let's talk about the Java variety. I'm guessing many friends might think: "Since this variety is named after the island, it must have been discovered in this place, or named after some varieties were transplanted here and mutated, right!!" The answer revealed: neither is true~ Java is not a local Indonesian genetic mutation, but an Ethiopian local variety selected and bred in Ethiopia and then introduced to Indonesia!

In 1928, botanist P.J.S. Carmer brought the coffee varieties he selected in Ethiopia to Indonesia and named them the "Abyssinia series." Because one of these varieties had strong disease resistance and excellent flavor, it quickly gained widespread cultivation in Java. Not only that, it was also gradually introduced to coffee producing regions such as Africa and Central America. Therefore, when it was later introduced to Cameroon, it was named after the island—"Java." The Java variety also has long-form and short-form distinctions. Long-form Java has a slender shape, pointed at both ends, with prominent flavors, resembling Geisha. Therefore, many people often compare it with Geisha; short-form Java has an oval shape, full and plump, resembling Typica. The reason why coffee farmers growing Java might mistakenly think Java is a member of the Typica family largely stems from its appearance.

According to Teacher Huanizong's writings in "The Fourth Wave: Specialty Coffee Studies," people in the past did not know this history (the history of Java migrating from Ethiopia), mistakenly thinking Java was a variation of Typica! It was only in recent years that genetic testing confirmed it is indeed an Ethiopian local variety. Besides Java's appearance, its plant characteristics are also factors that easily lead to misunderstandings.

The Java variety's plants are taller than typical Arabica coffee plants, but their yield is relatively much lower. The top leaves and young shoots are bronze-colored, which is very similar to Typica plants! Moreover, the initial Arabica variety widely cultivated when introduced to Indonesia was Typica, combined with the appearance of short-form Java, which led people to mistakenly think Java was a member of the Typica family. In recent years, Java transmitted from Indonesia to Nicaragua has gained renewed attention due to its excellent flavor, bringing the Java variety back into the spotlight! However, we need to know that the Java variety can be called Java coffee, but Java coffee does not necessarily refer to the Java variety~

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