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Indonesia: Sulawesi


 
Map of the Indonesia

Current Crop Comments:

We await new crop coffee in August or September. In 2008 we have offer both super-clean, bright, non-traditional wet-process coffee from the Toarco estates, and traditional Semi-Washed, rustic type Sulawesi Toraja. We had a special lot of the later type too. I am referring to the Mount Alla coffee from Enrekang. In 2006 and 2007, Sulawesi offers have been brighter and cleaner in general, which throws a few cuppers for a loop since they look to Sulawesi to have no brightness/acidity. I think a good coffee needs the liveliness of some amount of acidity, and welcome this cup profile. The preparation of the green coffee, the absence of defects, has been fantastic. And now we have a wet-processed Sulawesi to offer alongside the traditional dry-process (well, semi-dry-processed). This is the first time I have cupped a wet-process Sumatra or Sulawesi, the most rustic of Indonesian coffees, and been impressed ... well, actually, blown away! It's fantasic stuff. Those looking for a more natural, earthy cup, head to the Sumatra Classic Mandheling or Gayo Mountain.

 

Sulawesi coffees are low-acid with great body and that deep, brooding cup profile akin to Sumatra. The coffee is sometimes known as Celebes, which was the Dutch colonial name for the island. Indonesians are available as dry, semi-washed and washed coffees. While a fully washed coffee may appear to have less defects, it may be inferior in the cup to a ugly, dry-processed coffee. (A recent Sumatra sample I cupped that was perfect & polished was probably the most flavorless, dull Mandheling I have ever had!) Dry processed, wild coffees will have more body and often more of the character that makes Indonesians so appealing and slightly funky: grading seems to often ignore percentage of weird looking beans. The fact is, most dry processed in Indonesia are truly semi-washed: the coffee seed, encased in its outer parchment layer, is pulped out of the outermost fruit skin while on the farm, then the coffee is either fermented a bit and washed, or just washed, and laid out to sun dry. Later, the coffee seed is milled out of the parchment layer, as done with wet-processed coffees. I have heard this called a "miel" or "dulce" coffee in Central and South America, although this is very rarely done since the results are often poor: if the coffee is exposed to rain while on the patio it is quickly ruined. Even without added moisture, the fruity mucilage layer can ferment into a very undesirable off cup flavor. (True dry-processed coffee is simply laid out to dry with the fruit intact, then skin and parchment layer are striped in one step, and hand-sorting begins).

There is a tendency to over-roast Indonesians. The reason is that they don't show as much roast color, and have a mottled appearance up until 2nd crack and even a bit into it. Don't let this make you think you have to roast them dark (although they can be nice this way too). Great Indonesians will be wonderful roasted just to the verge of 2nd crack but NOT into it at all. So ignore the weird beans you see green, and ignore the mottled appearance of lighter roasts, and focus on the what you get in the cup!


Our Sulawesi Offerings: (You will need to read the reference page to interpret terms and numbers used below)


We are in that "window of time" where the current crop has sold out, but new crop is due in August-September.

We choose to run out of this coffee and wait for new crop offerings rather than offer old coffee.

So the review below is FYI. -Tom 6-11-08

Sulawesi Grade One Toraja
Country: Indonesia, Sulawesi Grade: One Region: Torajaland, Sulawesi Island(formerly Kalossi) Mark:
AEG
Processing: semi-washed Crop: April 2008 Arrival Appearance: .8 d/300gr, 17-18 screen Varietal: Sumatra-based Typica Cultivar
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 3.4 Notes: It's a bit like Prince: The coffee formerly known as Celebes Kalossi, but it no longer goes by that name. Don't call it Kalossi, at least not while traveling the island. They will scowl. Kalossi was the colonial Dutch name for Toraja, an incredible mystical, densely-forested region with weird giant bats hanging from trees, and ancestral homes shaped like ships. The cup character of the best Toraja rivals the best Sumatran coffees. The deep-toned flavors and maple-syrupy body sets it apart, and results in a stunning, clearer taste profile (but less sheer power and earthiness) that a Dry-Processed Mandheling. My choice for Moka-Java Blends, with 50% Yemeni and 50% Sulawesi, or 50% Sulawesi and 50% Ethiopian Dry Process (Sidamo or Harar). This coffee is the highest grade of preparation I have seen from a Grade One Sulawesi. It is basically without chaff! So the added perk is that you will have very little chaff come off the coffee during the roast process. Sulawesi makes a great single-origin espresso too. It has such a solid balance and baritone-weighted flavor profile that, roasted to a light Vienna, makes for a great Indonesian espresso. The supply of Sulawesi is tight this year and prices are up. Unfortunately, quality is more scarce too. Early in the Sulawesi crop, I cupped some of the worst samples I have ever had the misfortune of tasting. I thought maybe this year would be a total bust. But along came a new offering from a different source, and I was saved from explaining over and over why we don't have Sulawesi this year. And we are back to where we were a few years ago in terms of cup character. This is a traditional semi-washed lot as defined in Indonesia. It's something between a Brazil-type dry-process and a pulp-natural coffee. It is not dried in the skin, but is dried with all the fruit on the parchment layer of the coffee, giving the same effect as a intact dried coffee cherry process. Often, the small farmer will pulp the coffee, and half-dry it, delivering to the mill to finish the drying. Here we have a low-acid, deep, intense Sulawesi, with just a tad of brightness to balance the flavor. This is a rustic cup, and in a way it needs a FC+ roast to tame it a bit. There are subtle notes of roasted macademia nut, and fruit, but it is pungent, foresty, earthy, bold. At this FC+ roast stage, the coffee has a dark chocolate roast taste with nut hints, and outstanding body. There's a strong tobacco note, which folds nicely into the pungent roast flavors of a Full City + roast. There's a mossy, foresty aspect here, wet earth, humus, a walk in the woods. Sounds corny but it is true! But all in all, this is more of a dry process, classic, Sumatra-type cup than we have had in recent years, and Sulawesi fans everywhere should be pleased about that!
Wet Aroma (1-5) 3.4
Brightness - Acidity (1-10) 8.2
Flavor - Depth (1-10) 8.5
Body - Mouthfeel (1-5) 3.8
Finish - Aftertaste (1-10) 8.5
Cupper's Correction (1-5) 0 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Bold intensity / Deep body, rustic and foresty cup flavors.  sulawesi
add 50 50 Roast: Full City+ is ideal for the cup I describe. This coffee needs a heavy roast treatment.
Score (Max. 100) 85.8 Compare to: A rustic, natural, dry-process Indonesian cup profile. Fans of natural dry process coffees love it, fans of the clean cup will find disagreeable wet-earth/mossy hints.


 
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