Java Sunda Cimara

This wet process Javanese coffee is a small producer blend from farms near the mountain area of Gunung Tilu ("gunung" is the Bahasa word for a mountain peak). Farmers in this region grow coffee at an average altitude of 1500 meters, producing a mix of coffee cultivars. Here amongst the Ateng and Jember coffees are some old Typica trees, the original Typica, which is quite amazing. (Java was the first destination for coffee from Yemen, with a stopover in India). This lot was made up from coffee of 33 farmers in Tilu, who collectively pool their harvest together, and deliver it to a mill for processing some 200 km away in Tenjolaya Ciwidey. Java Sunda (West Java) was the original coffee area, but you would find few trees here of late. Most Java coffee is grown in the East, where the big estates are. But farmers in Java Sunda always kept small coffee plots, although they mainly grown rice, onions, cabbage, carrots and other food crops for local markets in Bandung and Jakarta. It's nice to see small lots from the different mountain villages in the region rather than the typically large, full-container blends.