Flores Coffee Overview

Background of Flores Coffee

Predominantly Catholic, the people of Flores have retained several aspects of the Portuguese culture, such as the Easter parade held annually at Larantuka, and the Royal Regalia of the former King of Sikka. The coffee areas are modest in altitude. 

The highest peak is just 1736 meters above sea level (MASLMeters Above Sea Level … altitude that is…: Meters Above Sea Level, altitude that is…). Much coffee comes from areas around 1000 -1200 meters. The milling tradition is wet-process, so this coffee bears some resemblance to the coffees of Timor-Leste, and JavaThere are several types of Abyssinia variety coffee, but they are not from Ethiopia but rather Indonesia. Abyssinia 3 = AB3.  PJS Cramer, a Dutch plant researcher, introduced this variety…, more than to the semi-washedAn uncertain term to describe a coffee processing technique somewhere between wet-process and dry-process: Semi-washed has been used, most commonly in Brazil, to describe a hybrid coffee process…. coffees of SumatraIndonesians are available as a unique wet-hulled or dry-hulled (washed) coffees. Giling Basah is the name for the wet-hulling process in Bahasa language, and will have more body… and SulawesiSulawesi 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…. 

Processing issues of the past

But there are historically some issues with the processing practices used here, and consistency of the lots. Coffee might be picked on day, but not immediately processed until 1 or 2 days later. This results in off, fermentyA defect flavor, a fruit quality in a coffee that is excessively ripe, toward rotten. This often takes the form of vinegar-like aroma and flavor. Fermenty or vinegar… flavors. The farmers also fermentAs an aroma or flavor in coffee, ferment is a defect taste, resulting from bad processing or other factors. Ferment is the sour, often vinegar-like, that results from… coffee in inconsistent batches on an irregular basis, not a bad thing in itself if it was only done to the same standards each time. 

Fermenting times depend on temperature, in some cold, high-altitude locations 36 hours is needed, whereas lower, hotter climates can require just 8-12 hours. Flores can be quite warm, yet they ferment coffee sometimes for 3-4 days! This also results in off fruityIn some coffee taster’s lexicon, “fruity” means the coffee is tainted with fruit, and “fruited” means a coffee is graced by positive fruit notes. We don’t exactly see… notes.

But on the cooperative level there has been much more training in better processing methods in recent years, a focus on quality. Now we do consistently find good batches of coffee from Flores, and we are working with a group who provides farmer training in hopes of better quality processing, and more consistent quality.