Green Coffee Offerings : Indonesia : Java |
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View Our Current Javanese Coffees
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Upcoming Crop CommentsI am back from my trip to Java - which was great not just for coffee but surfing in the Indian Ocean too! Very salty water. Look for better Java offerings from the next crop (from the late fall 2010/early winter 2011 crop). |
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About Java's Coffee
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Java is a clean cup for an Indonesian, a fully wet-processed coffee that has the Indonesian body and thickness in the cup without earthy or dirty flavors. Our experience is that early lots of Timor and Java can be the finest while in Central Americans you usually need to hold out for the mid-crop to late-crop samples. In the case of Sumatra and Sulawesi, it seems that the second to third wave of arrivals can be the best. Of course, these truisms are made to be broken... that's why samples and cupping are always the key. The problem is that a low acid coffee can taste quite flat, or incomplete. It's no wonder that an average quality Java is considered a "good blender" and not a true, stand-alone single origin coffee. We don't look for average quality though - we look for stand out coffees. The Government Estate coffees are quite mild, but I usually find a lot that has a bit more going on, usually a Djampit or Blawan lot. In the past we liked the Kayumas best since it exemplifies both the thick oily body of a Java with some other nice flavors. "Government Estate" Java comes from 4 old farms (Kayumas, Blawan, Djampit, Pancoer) that date back to Dutch colonialism, and "Private Estate" Java. Government Estate is invariably preferred as higher quality coffee. I usually have a strong preference when I get all the Gov't. Estate samples in and blind cup them. All main estates are located in East Java in the vicinity of the Ijen volcanic complex. The arabica coffee plant was brought to Indonesia around 1696 and has been commercially cultivated until today. The Government body (called the PTP XXVI Plantation) grows about 85% of the coffee in East Java, close to Bali on the Ijen area. The range of altitudes suitable for coffee production is 3,000 to 6,000 feet with most growing in the plateau region at 4,500. Djampit and Blawan are the largest estates, while Pancoer is 1110 Hectares and Kayumas is 725 Hectares. Blawan is huge: 2268 Hectares. The main cultivars are a Typica that has grown in isolation long enough to display its own character, called Java Typica. But there is a lot of catimor-derived cultivars. One is ironically called USDA, named after those who developed and endorsed it, as well as Kartika cultivar.
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Our Javanese Offerings:
(You will need to read the reference page to interpret terms and numbers used below). Check out the Sweet Maria's Coffee Home Roasting Forum for more conversation about home roasting this and other coffees.We are currently out of stock. The review below is provided for your reference.
This coffee hails from the Kajumas area in East Java, and is the first certified Organic Java coffee we have seen, or offered. We received the samples alongside the standard "Government Estate" lots, and it was far better than those old standards. Private Estate Java farms are supposed to be inferior to the 4 Government Estate plantations. They are supposedly lower-grown, not processed or prepared as well, for those who want to save a few pennies. But this is the 3rd time I have picked a Private over the PTP (Government) estates. Unlike the Govt estates which offer wet-process coffees, this is a wet-hulled coffee (note the difference in terms), the same process used in much of Sumatra and Sulawesi. You can see by the appearance of the green bean this is a wet-hulled lot, and you can see the dark opal green color, so similar to Sumatra wet-hulled coffees. Wet-hull processing means the coffee is picked, the skin pulped, and then the seed is partly dried. When it still has 25-30% moisture it is hulled out of the parchment, and laid out in the sun for final drying. Much of that low-toned Indonesia flavor (as in Sumatra coffees) is due to this unique process. The dry fragance has a sweet woody quality, a foresty wet earth note, and a bit of syrup to it. It is definitely Indonesian in character. On my first round I was cupping this alongside some really clean wet-processed coffees, and thought it was a little musty. But when I cupped it with other Indonesians it had a definite humus aspect, but sweet too. Yes, context matters in cupping, and some coffees are difficult to consider alongside others. Anyway, it still definitely has strong Indonesian character, with natural herb and spice indications in the wet aroma. There's a bit of sweet sorghum, light corn syrup, and smoke. The cup has huge body and earthy chocolate flavors. The cup has a touch of butterscotch sweetness, sweet tobacco, and a slight smokey finish. It's all about body here. This has a thick body, almost oily in mouthfeel. Java coffees are unbalanced by nature, extremely low acidity means they are all tenor-to-bass range, no bright notes. This may be exactly what you are looking for in the cup, low acid, mild flavors, or you might want to use it as a backdrop to add body to a bright and wild dry-process Ethiopia coffee, or a classic Mohka Java with a Yemeni lot. And it makes a very interesting if not rather funky espresso.
View Cupping Scores
We are currently out of stock. The review above is provided for your reference.
Archived Reviews
To view reviews for out of stock coffees, visit our Java Coffee Archives.
2005-2006 | 2004 -2003 | 2001-2002 | Pre-2000 Tom's Sample Cupping Log | Moisture Content Readings This page is authored
by Thompson Owen and Sweet Maria's Coffee, Inc. and is not to be
copied or reproduced without permission
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