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Why do coffees from 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… have such great quality potential amongst the Indonesian origins? One reason is that some coffees from South Sulawesi are grown at altitudes unheard of on other Indonesian islands, 1800-2000 meters.
Some planted varieties are older 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,… cultivars or related types like S-Linea. Although the system of trading the wet coffee before final drying can damage the cup, we have been able to work with suppliers who have mastered the elaborate coffee-collector system in the Toraja highlands. The result is a brighter, more 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” and cleaner cup flavor.
Traditionally, Sulawesi coffees have been processed using the wet-hull method, in the same way as other Indonesian coffees. This process determines much of the cup flavors – the low-acidity, full 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…, and rusticA general characterization of pleasantly “natural” flavors, less sophisticated and less refined, but appealing. : What is Rustic? This is a general term we came up with… Dried… or earthyEarthy is a flavor term with some ambivalence, used positively in some cases, negatively in others.: Sumatra coffees can have a positive earthy flavor, sometimes described as “wet… notes. We have been sourcing Sulawesi coffees processed a bit differently, where the coffee is dried to a lower moisture as you might find in Central America, and then hulled for export. This results in a cleaner, brighter flavor in the cup, while revealing flavors that are masked over by the wet-hull process.Torajan people are one of a few remaining cultures that use stone megaliths in their beliefs and burial grounds. This is a site we passed incidentally..
Sulawesi coffees will have a large dark-green bean, often with a very smooth surface appearance and little silverskinOn dried green bean coffee, the thin inner-parchment layer that clings to the bean and lines the crease on the flat side. Silverskin becomes chaff and falls off… (which comes off in roasting as chaffChaff is paper-like skin that comes off the coffee in the roasting process. Chaff from roasting is part of the innermost skin (the silverskin) of the coffee fruit…). The cup can have moderate brightnessA euphemistic term we use often to describe acidity in coffee. A bright coffee has more high, acidic notes. : A euphemistic term to describe acidity in coffee…., especially when it is not wet-hulled, but there will be unique rustic notes even in the cleanest flavor profileFlavor Profile implies a graphical impression of a particular coffee, whether it be an artistic portrait or data graph of the perception of flavor compounds. In the case…. This can be slightly herbalA flavor descriptor in coffee reminiscent of herbs, usually meaning aromatic, savory, leafy dried herbs. Usually, more specific descriptions are given, whether is is a floral herb, or…, greenish (or in a bad coffee that we avoid, too vegetal or earthy). SweetnessSweetness is an important positive quality in fine coffees, and is one of five basic tastes: Sour, Sweet, Salty, Bitter, Savory (Umami). In coffee, sweetness is a highly… is found in the best Sulawesi coffees, but will have a rustic hue, such as raw honeyIn coffee, honey-like sweetness is often found, but we use terms such as refined honey (highly filtered and processed) as opposed to raw honey rustic honey sweetness. This…, or minimally-processed sugar like muscavado and molasses.
The coffee was known as Celebes Kalossi in the marketplace; Celebes was the Dutch colonial name for the island, and Kalossi was the name for the market town where coffee was traded. While there is coffee grown in the southern districts near Makassar (Ujung Padang), the island capital, these tend to be lower quality. I saw coffee being washed in what amounted to sewer drainage ditches!
There is also coffee from the area of Enrekang as well as in the West, but the heart of coffee production is the fascinating region of Tana Toraja. Toraja is named for the people of the area, heralded in the past as fierce warriors and with an elaborately rich set of cultural traditions.Coffee outside Rantepao said to be S- Line (also called S 795) which means it came originally from India
S-795 is a variety based on the ” S-Line” coffees of India, and stands for Selection 795, It has a very fine cup, one of the best in… 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… fields.
See our current selection of Indonesian Sulawesi Coffees at Sweet Maria’s.
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While there is coffee grown at 1100-1200 meters in Toraja, it is possible to find 1800+ meter coffee in the more remote corners of the region. Coffee is still grown on small-scale family farms, which are best characterized as haphazardly-planted coffee shrubs conveniently planted near the houses and along the paths.
Coffee production is clearly not a top priority, but rather a matter of supplemental income. Livestock (water buffalo in particular) and rice farming are of a much higher order. The side benefit of the casual nature of coffee farming is that many of the old Typica-derived varieties of coffee are still grown in the region.
Each family processes their own coffee as they harvest it, and they hold it to sell to local collectors on market day. I have seen unique forms of 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…, including a kid smooshing the coffee seed out of a pile of coffee cherries on something akin to a wheel-less skateboard. Most use simple hand-crank depulpers made with a bicycle crank and the sidewall of a car tire, and with a metal-covered drum to abrade the skin off the coffee fruit.
Coffee is then fermentedAs a defect flavor, a fruit quality in a coffee that is excessively ripe, toward rotten. Fermented flavor can be the result of poor wet-processing, over-ripe cherry, or… in buckets or bags for a day or so to break down the 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… mucilage
Mucilage indicates the fruity layer of the coffee cherry, between the outer skin and the parchment layer that surrounds the seed. It readily clings to the inner parchment… layer. It is washed and then held in clean water buckets until market day approaches. The parchmentGreen coffee still in its outer shell, before dry-milling, is called Parchment coffee (pergamino). In the wet process, coffee is peeled, fermented, washed and then ready for drying… coffee is then dried for just a few hours before it is traded, with roughly 50% measured moisture content. The collector buys by volume using a standard tin can measure. The can is measured heaping full, the farmer is paid for a level can. The difference is the profit of the collector.I was comparing leaf shape, size and texture of supposed Line-S and other types that seemed to me to have Robusta
Ateng 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… genes.
The collector then delivers coffee to a larger mill, many of which can be seen along the road between the town of Enrekang and Rantepao in Toraja-land proper. These mills will either hull the coffee immediately (ie. wet-hull, called Giling Basah) and lay the green bean out to dry in the sun, or they will dry it down a bit more to about 25% moisture content and hull it, which is still wet-hulled.
Our sources do not do this, since it risks contaminating the green bean to remove it from the parchment shell and lay it out to dry, completely exposed. They dry it down to a stable moisture content around 11%, just as would happen with wet-processed coffees coming from well-run farms in Central America or most any part of the world. It is then bagged in a warehouse to rest, a kind of seasoning operation to equalize moisture content. Finally, it is hulled, graded, density-separated, hand-sorted and bagged in hermetic sacks for export. The result is a brighter coffee, more uniform, and with less defective beans that produce off flavors.
There is a tendency to over-roast Sulawesi coffees. The reason is that they don’t show as much roast color and have a mottled appearance up until 2nd crackAn audible popping sound heard during roasting. In coffee, one refers to “first crack” and “second crack,” which come from two different classes of chemical reactions.: An audible… and beyond. 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. So our opinion is to 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.
See our current selection of Indonesian Sulawesi Coffees at Sweet Maria’s.
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