Indonesian coffee
One of the world's great coffee archipelagos: the earthy wet-hulled Sumatrans, bright highland Sulawesi, and the way Indonesians actually drink, from tubruk to es kopi susu.
Overview
Process
Regions
- Flores Bajawa Flores, East Nusa Tenggara Volcanic highland arabica from Bajawa in central Flores, East Nusa Tenggara: smallholder-grown, often wet-hulled, with a thick syrupy body, deep chocolate, dark fruit, and warm spice.
- Gayo (Aceh) Aceh, Sumatra Highland arabica from the Gayo region of Aceh in northern Sumatra: mostly organic, smallholder-grown, and one of the cleaner, more aromatic faces of Sumatran coffee.
- Java (Preanger highlands) West Java The original 'cup of Java': historic estate-grown arabica from the Preanger highlands of West Java, mostly washed, increasingly honey and natural, with a nutty, herbal, well-balanced cup.
- Kintamani (Bali) Bali Bali's highland arabica from the volcanic slopes around Lake Batur, grown beside citrus under the subak abian cooperative system, and usually washed for a bright, clean, citrusy, light-bodied cup.
- Mandheling and Lintong North Sumatra The classic North Sumatran arabicas, grown around Lake Toba: earthy, full-bodied, low-acid coffees of cedar, tobacco, and dark chocolate, and the face of wet-hull processing.
- Toraja Sulawesi Highland arabica from the Toraja region of South Sulawesi: full-bodied and earthy like Sumatra, but typically cleaner and brighter, with warm spice and dark fruit. Often sold under the old grading name Kalosi.
- Wamena and the Baliem Valley (Papua) Papua Remote highland arabica from the Baliem Valley around Wamena in Papua: often organic by default, with a sweet, clean, floral and chocolatey cup that stands apart from Sumatra's earthier style.
How we drink it
- Kopi luwak: the honest take Indonesia What civet coffee actually is, the welfare problem hiding behind the hype, and why it is one of the most overpriced cups in the world.
- Kopi susu and es kopi susu kekinian Indonesia From the old glass of strong coffee with sweetened milk to the iced es kopi susu wave (espresso, milk, and palm sugar) that put modern coffee in front of millions of Indonesians.
- Indonesia as a robusta giant Indonesia Most Indonesian coffee is robusta, grown in the southern Sumatra lowlands and beyond, feeding the country's huge instant-coffee habit. Here is why it matters and how fine robusta is changing the conversation.
- Tubruk: how Indonesians actually brew Indonesia Kopi tubruk is the everyday Indonesian cup: coarse-to-fine grounds steeped straight in the glass with sugar, related to Turkish-style and cowboy coffee.