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Flavor Description of Rich Java Coffee Beans: Processing Method, Taste, Varieties, and Origin

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, Mellow: Used to describe coffee with balanced medium acidity. Mild: Used to describe coffee with harmonious and delicate flavors, referring to all highland coffees except those from Brazil. Soft: Describes low-acidity coffee like Indonesian varieties, also characterized as mellow or sweet. Sour: A taste sensation primarily detected on the back of the tongue

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Introduction to Java Coffee

Java has a mild climate with humid air, and its diverse climate allows for year-round harvesting seasons, with different types of coffee maturing at different times. They cultivate unique quality Java coffee beans, and coffee made from these beans has a rich flavor and endless aftertaste, making it truly a coffee specialty. Many equate "Java coffee" with "high quality" and "good taste."

World coffee is divided into two major series: one is the "hard" coffee represented by Brazil, with a strong flavor; the other is the "soft" coffee represented by Java coffee, with a light and fragrant taste. The difference lies in the altitude of origin and cultivation methods. Coffee grown in hilly red soil is relatively extensive, while Java is produced in mountainous black soil with intensive cultivation. Java coffee offers a clear bitter experience, as clear and astringent as life itself, yet bitterness is essential in life. The lingering aroma at the root of the tongue becomes a complete recollection of the past. Looking back at the former bitterness makes one appreciate its sweetness and warmth even more, wanting to let emotions linger longer in the awakening perception. Bitterness is pain, clarity brings tranquility, and the final aroma becomes a spiritual victory.

JAVA

In Bolivia, the variety locally known as "long bean" gets its name from its elongated appearance. Its formal name should be Java. Java is a very interesting coffee variety - from its name, one can tell it has strong connections to Indonesia. However, in fact, Java originally grew in the pristine forests of Ethiopia, was collected by local peoples, and then transmitted through Yemen to Indonesia, where it was named Java. Originally, it was widely believed that Java was a branch of Typica, but after genetic comparison, it was discovered that Java is actually the coffee variety Abysinia from Ethiopia.

After Indonesia, Java first spread to the nearby Timor island group, then to Cameroon in East Africa, where it was first released for farmers to cultivate in 1980. As for its spread to Central and South America, under the leadership of breeding expert Benoit Bertrand, it was introduced to Costa Rica in 1991 through CIRAD (the Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement). The first Central American country to officially recognize the Java variety was Panama, and its introduction to Bolivia came through Nicaragua.

As its name suggests, the long bean has very long fruits and seeds, with bronze-colored young shoots. The plant is quite tall but has low yield. Due to its outstanding flavor, comparable to Geisha, and stronger resistance to leaf rust and coffee berry disease, it's very suitable for small farmers to cultivate.

Coffee Tasting Terminology

Mellow: Used to describe coffee with good balanced medium acidity.

Mild: Used to describe coffee with harmonious and delicate flavor, referring to all highland coffees except those from Brazil.

Soft: Describes low-acidity coffee like Indonesian coffee, also described as mellow or sweet.

Sour: A taste sensation mainly located at the back of the tongue, characteristic of light-roasted coffee.

Spicy: Refers to a flavor or aroma reminiscent of specific spices.

Strong: Technically, describes the quantity of various taste advantages and disadvantages, or the relative proportion of coffee to water in a specific prepared product. In common usage, describes the strong flavor of dark-roasted coffee.

Flavor: The overall impression of aroma, acidity, and body.

Acidity: The sharp, acidic quality characteristic of all coffees grown at high altitudes. This acidity is different from bitterness or sourness and unrelated to pH value. It refers to a fresh, lively quality that enables coffee to perform functions like refreshing the mind and cleansing the palate. Coffee acidity is not the acidity in pH sense or sour smell, nor is it the uncomfortable acidity that enters the stomach. When brewing coffee, the expression of acidity is very important. Under good conditions and techniques, a refreshing taste with acidity can be developed, which is an essential condition for premium coffee. The acidity of coffee describes a lively, bright flavor expression, somewhat similar to the descriptive terms in wine tasting. If coffee beans lack acidity, they lose their vitality, tasting empty and dull without depth and layers. Acidity has many different characteristics - for example, coffee beans from Yemen and Kenya have acidity characteristics with striking fruit aromas and textures similar to red wine.

Body: The mouthfeel left on the tongue after drinking coffee. The variation in body can range from watery to thin, medium, high, buttery, and even as thick as syrup like some Indonesian coffees.