Java Coffee Overview

East Java Government Estates and a focus on volume

When I started out in coffee, Java meant East Java, and the large estates.

As far as the flavor profile, those East Java coffees have moderate-to-low acidity; for a wet-processed coffee it can taste a little flat in that regard. It sometimes can lack complexity, which can make a basic Java fall into the “blender” category more often than being spotlighted as a single-origin brew.

These standard coffees are “Government Estate” Java, and they come from 4 old farms (Kayumas, Blawan, Djampit, Pancoer) that date back to Dutch colonialism. These farms are in the process of privatization, and in the past they were consistent, but rarely outstanding coffees.

These large farms are located in East Java in the vicinity of the Ijen volcanic complexThe co-presence of many aroma and flavor attributes, with multiple layers. A general impression of a coffee, similar to judgments such as “balanced” or “structured”. The Government bodyAssociated with and sensed by mouthfeel, body is sense of weight and thickness of the brew, caused by the percentage of soluble solids in the cup, including all… (called the PTP XXVI Plantation) grows about 85% of the coffee in East Java, close to BaliCoffee from the Indonesian island of Bali was formerly sold mainly to the Japanese market. Perhaps it is the changing face of world economics that finds the first… in 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 HectaresWe use this metric term often to discuss the size of coffee farms. 1 Hectare = 10000 Square Meters = 2.471 acres: We use this metric term often…, and Kayumas is 725 Hectares. Blawan is huge: 2268 Hectares.

Back when Sweet Maria’s started, these large farms only shipped large lots, full container loads. Java traded more on it’s name, synonymous with coffee itself, rather than cup quality. It was used for posterity, in blends, for body. That was about it. But things have indeed brightened and for the past 15 years we have carried many wonderful coffees, mainly from the Sundanese part of Java, West Java. More on that later …

Java Coffee Varieties

There is an old cultivar that can be found called Java Typica. But there is a lot of catimor-derived cultivars such as Kartika and Ateng. There’s an older Typica type called “USDA”, named after those who developed and endorsed it. But I have found old TypicaA coffee cultivar; a cross between Typica and Bourbon, originally grown in Brazil: Mundo Novo is a commercial coffee cultivar; a natural hybrid between “Sumatra” and Red Bourbon,… coffee plants in the west of Java that could plausibly be from the original seedstock that came to Java from YemenYemen has a coffee culture like no other place, and perhaps some of what we enjoy in this cup is due to their old style of trade…: Technically,…, with a stop in India. There is also Jember, which is named for the location of the coffee researchThe study of the agronomy of coffee, its chemistry, or other improvements: The study of the agronomy of coffee, its chemistry, or other improvements. There are coffee research… center in East Java.

Most of what I see planted is AtengAn improved Ateng selection of Timor variety with Bourbon reportedly. The specifics are a little doubtful (Timor x Bourbon) as it is not the result of a plant… type as well as some Timor varietyHibrido de Timor abbreviated HdT is the interspecies hybrid of C. Arabica and C. Canephora (Robusta) that was found in Timor Leste in the 1940s. This was presumed…, which both have robustaAteng is a common name for Catimor coffees widely planted in Sumatra and other Indonesia isles.: Ateng, with several subtypes, is a common name for Catimor coffees widely… inputs. TimorTimor-Leste (East Timor) is a tiny island between Australia and Sulawesi, annexed by Indonesia and liberated in a referendum several years ago. Small scale coffee farming was jump-started… is the natural arabica-robusta cross. The problem with Ateng is that once a farm or farmer can grow and process a coffee well, once there is no overlay of process flavors as you would find with wet-hull coffees, then you start to taste the cultivarCultivar is a term used interchangeably with Varietal in the coffee trade to indicate plant material, although there are distinctions.: The naming of a cultivar should conform to… more. And in the case of Ateng, this is not a good thing. It doesn’t create outright bad coffee, as a processingThe removal of the cherry and parchment from the coffee seed.: Coffee is either wet-processed (also called washed or wet-milled) or dry-processed (also called wild, natural or natural… defectIn coffee, a defect refers to specific preparation problems with the green coffee, or a flavor problem found in the cupping process. Bad seeds in the green coffee… or a black beanA coffee bean whose interior is totally back (endosperm), due to fungi, mold, yeast, pest. This happens with over-mature coffee cherry where the bean falls to the ground… does, but there is a perceptible woodyGenerally a taste defect from age; old green coffee, perhaps yellowing in color. This is due to the drying out of the coffee over time, and as the… note or drying aspect in the aftertasteAftertaste refers to lingering residual sensations in the mouth after coffee has swallowed. It might be distinguished from “finish” which is the final sensations of the coffee while…. For wet-hulled coffees, Ateng is fine, but for wet-processed, it’s an issue.