The Development History of Indonesian Coffee

Coffee arrived in Indonesia very early and was brought in by the Dutch in the 17th century, when Ceylon, today's Sri Lanka, began to grow coffee because of the Dutch. At that time, Arabica coffee was grown in Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

Europeans at the time fought for Indonesian coffee, especially Java coffee, which tasted less bitter. Coffee with very low acidity has been described as follows: "Good Java coffee has the property that it exhibits a relatively dense, slightly lighter, and less acidic appearance than some other Indonesian coffees. The coffee as a whole shows rustic style and a long aftertaste, with slight hints of vegetarianism in the finish. Compared to other Indonesian coffees, the aftertaste is not as long, but often contains a slight mixture of spicy and smoky notes. Java coffee on the whole gives the impression of a sweet aroma, very soft and rich." I don't know what Java coffee tasted like in its heyday, but reading it makes my heart race.

This divine coffee was only available to Europe at that time, and it had to undergo long periods of shipping to make the coffee less acidic and taste better. By the time shipping was more developed, merchants had to sell it.

Coffee is stored for years to get better taste, storage also brings higher prices, shoddy, and smuggling of all kinds is common. By the 1880s, Java coffee reached its peak, but the delicate Arabica coffee plants could not escape the plague. A rust disease hit many areas in Java, including Java. Large areas of coffee trees died. At that time, only one tenth of Arabica coffee survived in Indonesia, mostly in Sumatra. The Dutch then brought Africa's stronger Robusta coffee, which was more resistant to pests and diseases but less flavorful than Arabica coffee, and the halo finally left Java.

The old plantations that survive to this day are now clustered in eastern Java, including Djampit, Blawan, Pancoer, and Kayumas, four plantations that you can visit, all near the Ijen volcano on the Ijen plateau, where the same coffee has been grown since the 18th century. But Java is not Java anymore, and when people talk about Indonesian coffee, they talk more about Sumatra mantinen coffee or, more miraculously, Kopi Luwak coffee, also known as civet coffee. Luwak coffee is known as the world's most expensive coffee, mainly produced in Indonesia's Sumatra, Java and other islands, but unusually rare, civets will swallow coffee fruit, after "sad intestines hundred turns", unexpectedly will dissolve most of the bitterness, leaving more delicious coffee.

This coffee was discovered because local workers were forbidden to drink coffee by the stingy Dutch planters at that time. In order to obtain this magical fruit that they had worked hard to grow, they had to find it in the excrement of civet cats. After washing and grinding, they made it into world-class coffee, which was then discovered by the Dutch and became more expensive. Bali, Indonesia's main tourist destination, is often famous for its golden coffee in tourist brochures. In fact, this is the special selection of Indonesian Mandheling coffee, also known as Golden Mandheling. Sumatra, probably free of disease, produces one of the finest coffees in the world, smooth and mellow, heavier in taste and longer in aftertaste than Java, perhaps less delicate than Java, but more ferocious. Buy can recognize the golden butterfly trademark.

There are also plantations in Bali that have been turned into resorts, such as Munduk Moding Plantation, which has been turned into a luxury resort with spa. The resort is close to Bali Central Lake and Munduk Mountain Station, the nearby hills are covered with forests, coffee trees and rice, with charming surroundings and rooms with local characteristics.