Last month, I attended an event at DMCC Coffee Centre showcasing Guatemalan coffee. This time, it was Indonesian coffee with Qahwa Coffee Trade. Adnan Al Kendi, the founder and Managing Director, and as passionate as his team about the beans from this origin, took the stage with a short presentation introducing Indonesia and the regions where they source the coffee from. Qahwa Coffee Trade is a member with the DMCC Coffee & Tea Center, connecting producers and exporters with new trading opportunities in the coffee value chain.

Indonesia has roughly 17,000 islands, out of which 3,000 are named and only 1,700 are inhabited. 90% of coffee grown in this country is robusta, and arabica is grown in Sumatra, and some parts of Java and Sulawesi. The soil is fertile thanks to volcanic ash, and coffee is grown amongst chilis and various spices, giving the Indonesian coffee its unique earthy and spicy notes

The microclimate of Indonesia is unique with volcanoes giving some of the islands very fertile ground as mentioned above. The Indonesian official present in the event highlighted the word “Kopi” to be recognized and referred to be used only with Indonesian coffee. Much of the coffee at this event was semi-washed, this is the most used processing in Indonesia and is also known as ‘giling basah’ also known as wet-hulling.

The wet and humid climate of this country make it almost impossible to effectively dry the beans for longer durations. The cherries are first de-pulped, i.e. the skin of the fruit is removed leaving most of the mucilage on the bean. The beans are then fermented overnight in sacks or tanks. This makes it easier to wash off the mucilage after a period of fermentation and the coffee is then dried, but not completely and in some cases up to 50% moisture is still present in the beans.

The bean is then wet-hulled, a wet-hulling machine removes the parchment from the green-moist bean. The bean often gets damaged and crushed during this process. It is then dried further without the parchment and then sold. The whole process takes about a month from when it was first plucked.

Qahwa had three types of coffee at this event. The Sumatra Lampung, Robusta, naturally processed with notes of dark chocolate, roasted nuts and a bittersweet after taste. This was roasted dark. I didn’t have a chance to taste this on filter or espresso.

Second was an Arabica Toraja, semi-washed process with a medium body on V60, notes of some underlying spices like cinnamon, and a sweet finish. This, I know will be nice with espresso + milk.

My favorite was from the Flores region, which was also a semi-washed process. This was very balanced on the V60, with some fruity-floral elements to the cup. On the espresso, it had a medium body with welcoming acidity and enjoyable chocolate sweetness. On the cappuccino, you are greeted once again with sweet cacao and a nice velvety mouthfeel.

Kudos to the barista preparing this drink as it was one of my favorite cup of cappuccinos I have had in the longest time. Dessert-like from start to finish. I wish I was offered another one, because it was that good.

If the birthplace of coffee is Ethiopia and the first coffee drink was consumed in Yemen, how did coffee came to be in Indonesia?

Brief history of Indonesian Coffee

Coffee made its way into Indonesia by Dutch settlers and traders dating back to the late 1600s from Yemen. Java was the first island to grow coffee, hence the name ‘Java coffee’ became popular. Indonesia at the time was colonized by the Dutch, and by 1700s coffee was exported.

Java became the one of the biggest producers of coffee and the origin of choice for much of Europe. The coffee was sent to Europe via Yemen, the Java coffee was blended with Yemen’s coffee at the Port of Mokha, and was famously known as ‘Mocha Java’ - world’s first coffee blend.

Gradually, coffee spread to the other islands in Indonesia such as Bali, Sumatra and Timor. Coffee might be an upside, but it’s also important to talk about the inhumane working conditions of the farmers in addition to poverty and starvation during the colonization period.

Robusta was also planted in Indonesia in the late 1800s after coffee rust destroyed many arabica plantations in the coffee growing regions in Asia. This species was resistant to coffee rust and other diseases.

The Dutch eventually left Indonesia for good during the Second World War, the Dutch-held plantations were nationalized and Indonesia got it’s independence.