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Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...
was the fourth-largest producer of
coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of ...
in the world in 2014.http://www.ico.org/prices/po-production.pdf Coffee cultivation in Indonesia began in the late 1600s and early 1700s, in the early Dutch colonial period, and has played an important part in the growth of the country. Indonesia is geographically and climatologically well-suited for coffee plantations, near the equator and with numerous interior mountainous regions on its main islands, creating well-suited microclimates for the growth and production of coffee. Indonesia produced an estimated 660,000 metric tons of coffee in 2017. Of this total, it is estimated that 154,800 tons were slated for domestic consumption in the 2013–2014 financial year. Of the exports, 25% are arabica beans; the balance is
robusta ROBUSTA (Radiation on Bipolar for University Satellite Test Application) is a nano-satellite scientific experiment developed by the University of Montpellier students as part of a Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES) call for student project ...
. In general, Indonesia's arabica coffee varieties have low acidity and strong bodies, which make them ideal for blending with higher-acidity coffees from Central America and East Africa.


History

The Dutch governor in Malabar (India) sent arabica coffee (Coffea arabica) seedlings from Yemen to the Dutch governor of Batavia (now
Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital city, capital and list of Indonesian cities by population, largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coa ...
) in 1696. The first seedlings failed due to flooding in Batavia. The second shipment of seedlings was sent in 1699 with Hendrik Zwaardecroon. The plants grew, and in 1711 the first exports were sent from Java to Europe by the
Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...
, reaching 2000 pounds shipped in 1717.Cramer, P. J. S. (1957). A Review of Coffee Literature in Indonesia, published by Inter-American Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Turrialba, Costa Rica Coffee arriving in Amsterdam sold for high prices, 1 kg (2 lb) costing nearly one per cent of the average annual income. Indonesia was the first place, outside of Arabia and Ethiopia, where coffee was widely cultivated.Neilson, J. (2012). Coffee (Indonesia): 1900 to present: East and Southeast Asia. In A. Stanton, E. Ramsamy, P. Seybolt, & C. Elliott (Eds.), Cultural sociology of the Middle East, Asia, & Africa: An encyclopedia. (pp. III240-III242). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. The coffee was shipped to Europe from the port of Batavia (now
Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital city, capital and list of Indonesian cities by population, largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coa ...
). There has been a port at the mouth of Ciliwung River since 397 AD, when King Purnawarman established the city he called
Sunda Kelapa Sunda Kelapa ( su, , Sunda Kalapa) is the old port of Jakarta located on the estuarine of Ciliwung River. "Sunda Kalapa" ( Sundanese: "Coconut of Sunda") is the original name, and it was the main port of the Sunda Kingdom. The port is situated i ...
. Today, in the Kota area of Jakarta, one can find echoes of the seagoing legacy that built the city. Sail driven ships still load cargo in the old port. The Bahari museum occupies a former warehouse of the VOC, which was used to store spices and coffee. Menara Syahbandar (or Lookout Tower) was built in 1839 to replace the flag pole that stood at the head of wharves, where the VOC ships docked to load their cargos. In the 18th century, coffee shipped from Batavia sold for 3
Guilders Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' " gold penny". This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Roman E ...
per kilogram in Amsterdam. Since annual incomes in Holland in the 18th century were between 200 and 400 Guilders, this was equivalent to several hundred dollars per kilogram today. By the end of the 18th century, the price had dropped to 0.6 Guilders per kilogram and coffee drinking spread from the elite to the general population. The East Indies were the most important coffee supplier in the world during this period and it was only in the 1840s that their stranglehold on supply was eclipsed by Brazil. The coffee trade was very profitable for the VOC, and for the Dutch East Indies government that replaced it in 1800, but was less so for the Indonesian farmers who were forced to grow it by the colonial government from 1830 to around 1870 under the Cultuurstelsel (Cultivation system). Production of export crops were delivered to government warehouses instead of taxes. Coffee, along with sugar and indigo, was one of the main crops produced under this highly exploitative colonial system. Cultuurstelsel was applied to coffee in the Preanger region of
West Java West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...
, as well as in West Sumatra, South Sulawesi and the Minahasa region of North Sulawesi. This corrupt system, which diverted labor from rice production and caused great hardship for farmers, was immortalized through an influential novel by Eduard Douwes Dekker (pen name -
Multatuli Eduard Douwes Dekker (2 March 182019 February 1887), better known by his pen name Multatuli (from Latin ''multa tulī'', "I have suffered much"), was a Dutch writer best known for his satirical novel '' Max Havelaar'' (1860), which denounced the ...
) in 1860 titled
Max Havelaar ''Max Havelaar; or, The Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company'' ( nl, Max Havelaar; of, De koffi-veilingen der Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappy) is an 1860 novel by Multatuli (the pen name of Eduard Douwes Dekker), which played a key rol ...
: Or the Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company. This book helped to change Dutch public opinion about the "Cultivation System" and colonialism in general. More recently, the name Max Havelaar was adopted by one of the first
fair trade Fair trade is an arrangement designed to help producers in developing countries achieve sustainable and equitable trade relationships. The fair trade movement combines the payment of higher prices to exporters with improved social and envir ...
organizations. By the mid-1870s the Dutch East Indies expanded arabica coffee-growing areas in Sumatra, Bali, Sulawesi and Timor. In Sulawesi the coffee was thought to have been planted around 1850. In North Sumatra highlands coffee was first grown near Lake Toba in 1888, followed in Gayo highland (Aceh) near Lake Laut Tawar in 1924. Coffee at the time was also grown in East Indonesia-
East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-w ...
and
Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Including the Komodo Islands off its west coast (but excluding the Solor Archipelago to the east of Flores), the land area is 15,530.58 km2, and t ...
. Both of these islands were originally under Portuguese control and the coffee was also ''C. arabica,'' but from different root stocks. The coffee in Eastern Indonesia was not affected to the same degree by rust, and even today, it is believed that some coffee in
East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-w ...
can be traced back to the 18th century. In the late eighteen hundreds, Dutch colonialists established large coffee plantations on the
Ijen Map of Ijen Crater, where sulfur is mined The Ijen volcano complex is a group of composite volcanoes located on the border between Banyuwangi Regency and Bondowoso Regency of East Java, Indonesia. It is known for its blue fire, acidic crate ...
Plateau in eastern Java. However, disaster struck in the 1876, when the coffee rust disease, Hemileia vastatrix, swept through Indonesia, wiping out most of the Arabica Typica cultivar. Robusta coffee (C. canephor var. robusta) was introduced to East Java in 1900 as a substitute, especially at lower altitudes, where the rust was particularly devastating. Robusta coffee was introduced to smallholders around Kerinci around 1915, and then spread quickly across southern Sumatra during the 1920s, where production soon eclipsed Java. The region remains the most important producing region by volume today. Dutch-owned plantations on Java were nationalized in the 1950s, soon after independence. and are now managed as state-owned plantations under PTPN - Perusahaan Terbatas Perkebunan Nusantara, and revitalized with new varieties of Coffea arabica in the 1950s. These varieties were also adopted by smallholders through the government and various development programs.


Cultivation

Today, more than 90% of Indonesia's coffee is grown by smallholders on farms averaging around one hectare. Some of this production is organic and many farmers’ cooperatives and exporters are internationally certified to market organic coffee. There are more than 20 varieties of Coffea arabica being grown commercially in Indonesia. They fall into six main categories: * ''Typica'' – this is the original cultivar introduced by the Dutch. Much of the Typica was lost in the late 1880s, when
coffee leaf rust ''Hemileia vastatrix'' is a multicellular basidiomycete fungus of the order Pucciniales (previously also known as Uredinales) that causes coffee leaf rust (CLR), a disease affecting the coffee plant. Coffee serves as the obligate host of co ...
swept through Indonesia. However, both the Bergandal and Sidikalang varieties of Typica can still be found in Sumatra, especially at higher altitudes. * ''Hibrido de Timor (HDT)'' – This variety, which is also called "Tim Tim", is a natural cross between Arabica and Robusta. This variety originated likely from a single coffee tree planted in 1917–18 or 1926. The HDT was planted in Aceh in 1979. * ''Linie S'' – This is a group of varieties was originally developed in India, from the Bourbon cultivar. The most common are S-288 and S-795, which are found in Lintong, Aceh, Flores and other areas. * ''Ethiopian lines'' – These include Rambung and Abyssinia, which were brought to Java in 1928. Since then, they have been brought to Aceh as well. Another group of Ethiopian varieties found in Sumatra are called "USDA", after an American project that brought them to Indonesia in the 1950s. * ''Caturra cultivars:'' Caturra is a mutation of Bourbon coffee, which originated in Brazil. * ''Catimor lines'' – This cross between arabica and robusta has a reputation for poor flavour. However, there are numerous types of Catimor, including one that farmers have named "Ateng-Jaluk". On-going research in Aceh has revealed locally adapted Catimor varieties with excellent cup characteristics.


Sumatra (Mandheling, Lintong and Gayo)

Coffee from this westernmost island in Indonesia is intriguing and complex, due to the large number of small-holder producers and the unique "
giling basah Giling Basah is a term used by Indonesian coffee processors to describe the method they use to remove the hulls of ''Coffea arabica''. Literally translated from Indonesian, the term means "wet grinding". The Arabica coffee industry also u ...
" (wet hulling) processing technique they use. At the green bean stage, coffee from this area has a distinctive bluish colour, which is attributed to processing method and lack of iron in the soil. Coffees from
Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
are known for smooth, sweet body that is balanced and intense. Depending on the region, or blend of regions, the flavours of the land and processing can be very pronounced. Notes of cocoa, tobacco, smoke, earth and cedar wood can show well in the cup. Occasionally, Sumatran coffees can show greater acidity, which balances the body. This acidity takes on tropical fruit notes and sometimes an impression of grapefruit or lime. Mandheling is a trade name, used for arabica coffee from northern
Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
. It was derived from the name of the Mandailing people, who produce coffee in the Tapanuli region of
Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
. Mandheling coffee comes from Northern Sumatra, as well as
Aceh Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a ...
.


Lintong

Lintong coffee is grown in the District of Lintong Nihuta, to the south-west of Lake Toba. This large lake is one of the deepest in the world, at 505 meters. The coffee production area is a high plateau, known for its diversity of tree fern species. This area produces 15,000 to 18,000 tons of arabica per year. A neighbouring region, called
Sidikalang Sidikalang is a town in North Sumatra province of Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including ...
, also produces arabica coffee.


Gayo

Gayo is a region on the hillsides surrounding the town of
Takengon Takengon is a town in Aceh, Indonesia. The town itself sits on three administrative districts of the Central Aceh Regency - Bebesen, Kebayakan, and Lut Tawar, and acts as the seat of Central Aceh Regency. The town is in the highlands of western Su ...
and Lake Laut Tawar, at the northern tip of Sumatra, in the region of Aceh. The altitude in the production area averages between 1,110 and 1,600 meters. The coffee is grown by smallholders under shade trees. Gayo coffee is registered as a
Geographical Indication A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g., a town, region, or country). The use of a geographical indication, as an indication of the product's source, ...
as ''Kopi Arabika Gayo'' in Indonesia, the EU and the UK. Coffee from this region is generally processed at farm-level, using traditional wet methods. Due to the giling basah processing, Gayo Mountain coffee is described as higher toned and lighter bodied than Lintong and Mandheling coffees from further east in
Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
.


Sulawesi (Toraja, Kalosi, Mamasa and Gowa)

The Indonesian island of
Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu ...
, formerly called the Celebes, lies to the east of Borneo island. The primary region for high altitude Arabica production covers the
Toraja The Torajans are an ethnic group indigenous people, indigenous to a mountainous region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Their population is approximately 1,100,000, of whom 450,000 live in the List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, regency of ...
highlands, and the district of Enrekang to its south, where coffee is commonly traded through the town of Kalosi, which is a well-known brand of specialty coffee. The regions of Mamasa (to the west of Toraja) and Gowa (further to the south near Makassar), also produce Arabica, although they are less well known.
Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu ...
coffees are clean and sound in the cup. They generally display nutty or warm spice notes, like cinnamon or cardamom. Hints of black pepper are sometimes found. Their sweetness, as with most Indonesian coffees, is closely related to the body of the coffee. The after-taste coats the palate on the finish and is smooth and soft. Most of Sulawesi's coffee is grown by smallholders, with about 5% coming from seven larger estates. The people of Tana Toraja build distinctively shaped houses and maintain ancient and complex rituals related to death and the afterlife. This respect for tradition is also found in way that small-holders process their coffee. Sulawesi farmers use a unique process called "giling basah" (wet hulling).


Java

West Java West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...
was the region where the earliest coffee plantations were established by the VOC. The Dutch began cultivation and exportation of coffee trees on Java (part of the
Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, whic ...
) in the 17th century. Agricultural systems in Java have changed considerably over time. A
rust Rust is an iron oxide, a usually reddish-brown oxide formed by the reaction of iron and oxygen in the catalytic presence of water or air moisture. Rust consists of hydrous iron(III) oxides (Fe2O3·nH2O) and iron(III) oxide-hydroxide (FeO( ...
plague in the late 1880s killed off much of the plantation stocks in the
Sukabumi , nickname = id, Kota Santri en, City of Learners , image_map = Map of West Java highlighting Sukabumi City.svg , map_caption = Location within West Java , mapsize = , pushpin_map = In ...
area before spreading to
Central Java Central Java ( id, Jawa Tengah) is a province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogyakart ...
and parts of
East Java East Java ( id, Jawa Timur) is a province of Indonesia located in the easternmost hemisphere of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean border its northern and ...
. The Dutch responded by replacing the Arabica firstly with Liberica (a tough, but somewhat unpalatable coffee) and later with
Robusta ROBUSTA (Radiation on Bipolar for University Satellite Test Application) is a nano-satellite scientific experiment developed by the University of Montpellier students as part of a Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES) call for student project ...
. Java's old colonial-era plantations provide just a fraction of the coffee grown on the island; they produce primarily the higher-valued Arabica variety. The Paniis coffee planters cooperation in
Sumedang Sumedang (former spelling: Soemedang) is a town in Western Java, Indonesia, approximately 46 km northeast of Bandung. It is the capital of Sumedang Regency. The town is just south of the volcanic Mount Tampomas, which is 1,684 m (5,52 ...
can produce 15 tonnes, 2.5 tonnes of them are produced as kopi luwak.
Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...
's arabica coffee production is centred on the
Ijen Map of Ijen Crater, where sulfur is mined The Ijen volcano complex is a group of composite volcanoes located on the border between Banyuwangi Regency and Bondowoso Regency of East Java, Indonesia. It is known for its blue fire, acidic crate ...
Plateau, at the eastern end of
Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...
, at an altitude of more than 1,400 meters. The coffee is primarily grown on large estates that were built by the Dutch in the 18th century. The five largest estates are Blawan (also spelled Belawan or Blauan), Jampit (or Djampit), Pancoer (or Pancur), Kayumas and Tugosari, and they cover more than 4,000 hectares. These estates transport ripe cherries quickly to their mills after harvest. The pulp is then fermented and washed off, using the wet process, with rigorous quality control. This results in coffee with good, heavy body and a sweet overall impression. They are sometimes rustic in their flavour profiles, but display a lasting finish. At their best, they are smooth and supple and sometimes have a subtle herbaceous note in the after-taste. This coffee is prized as one component in the traditional " Mocha Java" blend, which pairs coffee from
Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast and ...
and Java. Certain estates age a portion of their coffee for up to five years, normally in large burlap sacks, which are regularly aired, dusted, and flipped. As they age, the beans turn from green to light brown, and their flavour gains strength while losing acidity. Aged coffees can display flavours ranging from cedar to spices such as cinnamon or clove, and often develop a thick, almost syrupy body. These aged coffees are called Old Government, Old Brown or Old Java. The popular
Java programming language Java is a high-level, class-based, object-oriented programming language that is designed to have as few implementation dependencies as possible. It is a general-purpose programming language intended to let programmers ''write once, run anywh ...
was named after the Java coffee.


Bali

The highland region of Kintamani, between the volcanoes of Batukaru and Agung, is the main coffee-growing area on Bali. Many coffee farmers on
Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and ...
are members of a traditional farming system called Subak Abian, which is based on the Hindu philosophy of "
Tri Hita Karana Tri Hita Karana is a traditional philosophy for life on the island of Bali, Indonesia. The literal translation is roughly the "three causes of well-being" or "three reasons for prosperity." The three causes referred to in the principle are: # Harmo ...
". According to this philosophy, the three causes of happiness are good relations with God, other people and the environment. This philosophy, specifically 'happiness with the environment' favors the production of
organic Organic may refer to: * Organic, of or relating to an organism, a living entity * Organic, of or relating to an anatomical organ Chemistry * Organic matter, matter that has come from a once-living organism, is capable of decay or is the product ...
coffee, or at least the use of organic fertilizers and the lack of use of agrochemicals. The Subak Abian system is ideally suited to the production of
fair trade Fair trade is an arrangement designed to help producers in developing countries achieve sustainable and equitable trade relationships. The fair trade movement combines the payment of higher prices to exporters with improved social and envir ...
coffee production because the Subak organizes smallholders, which is often a requirement of
fair trade Fair trade is an arrangement designed to help producers in developing countries achieve sustainable and equitable trade relationships. The fair trade movement combines the payment of higher prices to exporters with improved social and envir ...
certification. Stakeholders in
Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and ...
, including the Subak Abian, have created Indonesia's first Geographic Indication (G.I.). Issued in 2008, the G.I. establishes legal protection for coffee produced in the Kintamani region under the name ''Kopi Arabica Kintamani Bali''. It also serves as a marketing tool to differentiate Kintamani coffee from coffees produced in other regions. Generally, Balinese coffee is processed using the wet method. This results in a sweet, soft coffee with good consistency. Typical flavors include lemon and other citrus notes. Unlike other parts of Indonesia, such as Sumatra, Bali coffee has a single harvest season each year—typically around July to September. Coffee production in Bali, much as Indonesia, is mainly performed by smallholders. Coffee production in Bali lacks significant backing from the government at either the provincial or national level and is therefore in need of support and professionalization. Kopi tubruk is a traditional way to prepare coffee in Bali. It consists of finely ground coffee powder steeped in water and left to settle. Once the powder has settled the coffee is drunk while trying to avoid drinking the 'mud' from the bottom of the glass.


Sumbawa

The western slopes of
Mount Tambora Mount Tambora, or Tomboro, is an active stratovolcano in West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. Located on Sumbawa in the Lesser Sunda Islands, it was formed by the active subduction zones beneath it. Before 1815, its elevation reached more than ...
in Sanggar peninsula is the main coffee-growing area in
Sumbawa Sumbawa is an Indonesian island, located in the middle of the Lesser Sunda Islands chain, with Lombok to the west, Flores to the east, and Sumba further to the southeast. Along with Lombok, it forms the province of West Nusa Tenggara, but th ...
island. Coffee production in the region goes back to at least the early 19th century, before the eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815.


Flores

Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Including the Komodo Islands off its west coast (but excluding the Solor Archipelago to the east of Flores), the land area is 15,530.58 km2, and t ...
(or Flower) Island is 360 miles long, and is located 200 miles to the east of
Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and ...
. The terrain of
Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Including the Komodo Islands off its west coast (but excluding the Solor Archipelago to the east of Flores), the land area is 15,530.58 km2, and t ...
is rugged, with numerous active and inactive volcanoes. Ash from these volcanoes has created especially fertile Andosols, ideal for organic coffee production. Arabica coffee is grown at 1,200 to 1,800 meters on hillsides and plateaus. Most of the production is grown under shade trees and wet processed at farm level. Coffee from Flores is known for sweet chocolate, floral and woody notes. A traditional style of processing, known as pulped natural, where parchment coffee is dried in its mucilage without fermentation, produces a floral coffee that has been found to be highly sought after by some buyers.


Papua

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torres ...
is the second largest island in the world. The western half of New Guinea is part of Indonesia. The Indonesian half of the island was formerly called "Irian Jaya". Today, it is known as Papua, and it is divided into two provinces – Papua and West Papua. There are two main coffee-growing areas in Papua. The first is the
Baliem Valley The Baliem Valley ( id, Lembah Baliem; also spelled Balim and sometimes known as the Grand Valley) is a valley of the Central Highlands in Western New Guinea. Specifically in Highland Papua, Indonesia, which is inhabited mainly by the Dani peo ...
, in the central Jayawijaya Highlands region, surrounding the town of
Wamena Wamena is a town and the capital of the Indonesian province of Highland Papua. It also serves as the seat of Jayawijaya Regency. It is the largest town in Indonesian Papua's highlands, in the Baliem Valley and had a population of 64,967 at the ...
. The second is the Kamu Valley in the Nabire Region, at the eastern edge of the central highlands, surrounding the town of Moanemani. Both areas lie at altitudes between 1,400 and 2000 meters, creating ideal conditions for Arabica production. Together, these areas produce about 230 tons of coffee per year. This is set to rise, as new companies are setting up buying and processing operations. One of them is Koperasi Serba Usaha Baliem Arabica or commonly known in Indonesia as Koperasi Serba Usaha Baliem Arabica. These companies are assisting farmers to obtain organic and
fair trade certification A fair trade certification is a product certification within the market-based movement fair trade. The most widely used fair trade certification is FLO International's, the International Fairtrade Certification Mark, used in Europe, Africa, A ...
, which will significantly improve incomes. The area is extremely remote, with most coffee-growing areas inaccessible by road and nearly untouched by the modern world. All coffee is shade grown under '' Calliandra'', ''
Erythrina ''Erythrina'' is a genus of plants in the pea family, Fabaceae. It contains about 130 species, which are distributed in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. They are trees, with the larger species growing up to in height. The generic n ...
'' and ''
Albizia ''Albizia'' is a genus of more than 160 species of mostly fast-growing subtropical and tropical trees and shrubs in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae. The genus is pantropical, occurring in Asia, Africa, Madagascar, America and A ...
'' trees. Farmers in Papua use a wet hulled process. Chemical fertilizer pesticide and herbicide are unknown in this origin, which makes this coffee both rare and valuable.


Harvesting and processing

All arabica coffee in Indonesia is picked by hand, whether it is grown by smallholders or on medium-sized estates. After harvest, the coffee is processed in a variety of ways, each imparting its own flavours and aromas to the final product. A small number of Arabica farmers in Sulawesi, Flores and Bali, and almost all Robusta farmers across Indonesia, use the most traditional method of all, dry processing. The coffee cherries are dried in the sun, and then de-hulled in a dry state. Most farmers on Sulawesi, Sumatra, Flores, and Papua use the "giling basah" (or wet hulling) process. In this technique, farmers remove the outer skin from the cherries mechanically, using rustic pulping machines, called "luwak". The coffee beans, still coated with mucilage, are then stored for up to a day. Following this waiting period, the mucilage is washed off and the coffee is partially dried for sale. At least one U.S. manufacturer, soft drink producer Bai, purchases the non-bean remnants of coffee cherries for use in their products. Otherwise, these remnants are discarded. Collectors and processors then hull the coffee in a semi-wet state, which gives the beans a distinctive bluish-green appearance. This process reduces acidity and increases body, resulting in the classic Indonesian cup profile. Larger processing mills, estates and some farmers' cooperatives on Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi and Bali produce "fully washed" coffee. The most unusual form of coffee processing in Indonesia is " kopi luwak". This coffee is processed by the
Asian palm civet The Asian palm civet (''Paradoxurus hermaphroditus''), also called common palm civet, toddy cat and musang, is a viverrid native to South and Southeast Asia. Since 2008, it is IUCN Red Listed as Least Concern as it accommodates to a broad rang ...
(''Paradoxurus hermaphroditus''). The animals eat ripe coffee cherries and their digestive process removes the outer layers of the fruit. The remaining coffee beans are collected and washed. Coffee experts believe that the unique flavour of kopi luwak comes, at least in part, from the extraction of naturally occurring potassium salts from the beans during the digestive process. This results in a smooth, mild cup, with a sweet after-taste. Kopi luwak is very rare, and can retail for more than $600 per kilogram.


Coffee research

The Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute (ICCRI) is located in
Jember Jember Regency is a regency of East Java province, Indonesia. The population was 2,332,726 at the 2010 census and 2,536,729 at the 2020 Census. Its administrative capital is the urban area of Jember, which with 359,184 inhabitants in 2020 is t ...
, East Java. Current activities of ICCRI in the coffee sector include: * Land mapping to identify new areas for coffee production * Research on coffee diseases and identification of resistant planting material * Farmer training on improved production and processing techniques * Supply of coffee seedlings for improved varieties * Supply of coffee processing and testing equipment The Agribusiness Market and Support Activity (AMARTA) conducted research on the effectiveness of the Brocap Trap technology in Toraja, Sidikilang and Gayo. This trap is designed to catch the coffee berry borer (CBB) insect, a major pest in coffee. It was developed by CIRAD, a French agricultural research institute. Brocap traps have been extensively adopted by coffee farmers in Central America.


Coffee associations

Indonesia's coffee industry is represented by three associations. The Association of Indonesian Coffee Exporters (AICE), also known by its Indonesian acronym "AEKI", is composed of Arabica and Robusta coffee exporters. AICE was founded in 1979 and was responsible for managing export quotas under the International Coffee Agreements up until 1989. A second association, Gabungan Eksportir Kopi Indonesia (GAEKI) was established in 2011. The Specialty Coffee Association of Indonesia (SCAI) formed in 2008. SCAI members focus exclusively on the production, export and marketing of Indonesia's arabica coffees. This includes farmers' cooperatives with 8,050 members, exporters, roasters, importers and coffee retailers in the Arabic coffee industry.


Current status of the industry

The Indonesian coffee sector is large, internally diverse and scattered. Production is dominated by an estimated 2 million smallholders living in often remote villages located right across the archipelago—with different coffee regions showing variations in terms of production systems, environmental conditions, product quality, post-harvest processing, and value chain structures. This distinctive geography poses challenges for logistics, for supporting improved technologies, and for developing cohesive industry organizations. Common to most of the coffee-producing regions are circumstances of low yields, weak farmer organization, and limited government support—as coffee has hitherto not been regarded as a crop of strategic importance. Coffee is often grown as a forest margin crop in Indonesia and, in January 2007, the
World Wide Fund for Nature The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the W ...
(WWF) reported that land was illegally cleared for coffee farming in
Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park is a national park in Sumatra, Indonesia. The park located along the Bukit Barisan mountain range, has a total area of 3,568 km2, and spans three provinces: Lampung, Bengkulu, and South Sumatra. Together w ...
on the island of
Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
. The protected park is home to endangered tigers,
elephants Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...
and rhinos, and WWF predicts that these species will be extinct in a decade should the clearing and farming continue. These claims were further supported by the use of remote sensing imagery in the region. WWF states that the illegal coffee is sold to Western companies such as
Nestlé Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other me ...
and
Kraft Foods The second incarnation of Kraft Foods is an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. in 2012 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz in 2015. A merger with Heinz, arran ...
.


Robusta coffee

;Growing areas ''Coffea robusta'' is grown at lower altitudes than ''Coffea arabica''. The island of
Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
is the largest producer, with the provinces of
Lampung Lampung ( Lampung: ), officially the Province of Lampung ( id, Provinsi Lampung) is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the southern tip of the island of Sumatra. It has a short border with the province of Bengkulu to the northwest, and ...
,
South Sumatra South Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Selatan) is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the southeast of the island of Sumatra, The province spans and had a population of 8,467,432 at the 2020 Census. The capital of the province is Palembang. The prov ...
and
Bengkulu Bengkulu is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the southwest coast of Sumatra. It was formed on 18 November 1968 by separating out the former Bencoolen Residency area from the province of South Sumatra under Law No. 9 of 1967 and was fi ...
accounting for 50% of total national coffee production and up to 75% of Robusta production. Smaller volumes are also grown in
Kalimantan Kalimantan () is the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo. It constitutes 73% of the island's area. The non-Indonesian parts of Borneo are Brunei and East Malaysia. In Indonesia, "Kalimantan" refers to the whole island of Borneo. In 2019, ...
,
Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu ...
,
Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and ...
and
Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Including the Komodo Islands off its west coast (but excluding the Solor Archipelago to the east of Flores), the land area is 15,530.58 km2, and t ...
. ;Production and processing Robusta is grown on small farms that average one hectare. The crop is harvested by stripping off all the fruit on the branch, resulting in a mix of ripe and green cherries. Farmers dry the coffee cherries whole, for up to three weeks. After the drying, the dry cherries are hulled. Farmers sell the cherries to collectors, who sell them to both exporters and for sale on the domestic market. The exporters dry the crop to 12 to 13% moisture, and it is then sorted and graded. Exports are usually made in break bulk shipments, rather than in
containers A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The ter ...
as with ''C. arabica''. A small portion of the crop is harvested and processed was washed coffee as with Arabica coffee. ;Markets Most of Indonesia's robusta is used in
instant coffee Instant coffee is a beverage derived from brewed coffee beans that enables people to quickly prepare hot coffee by adding hot water or milk to coffee solids in powdered or crystallized form and stirring. Instant coffee solids (also called sol ...
and other manufactured products. The domestic market consumes about 150,000 metric tons of robusta annually. The main markets are the United States,
western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
and Japan, although demand from emerging markets such as Russia, China,
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...
, South Korea and
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...
is increasing. Robusta is also an important part of traditional
espresso Espresso (, ) is a coffee-brewing method of Italian origin, in which a small amount of nearly boiling water (about ) is forced under of pressure through finely-ground coffee beans. Espresso can be made with a wide variety of coffee beans a ...
blends, where it adds characteristic flavours and the all important crema on top of the coffee.


See also

* List of Indonesian beverages


References


External links

* {{Coffee production Agriculture in Indonesia
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...
Coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of ...
Indonesian drinks History of the Dutch East India Company