Java – Sunda

This wet hulled Javanese coffee is a small producer blend from farms near the village of Laspada, Garut Regency. Farmers in this area grow coffee at an average altitude of 1450 meters, and cultivate a mix of coffee varieties like Catimor and Typica types. This lot was made up from coffee of 47 farmers in Laspada, who collectively pool their harvest together, and deliver it to a mill for processing. Java Sunda (West Java) was the original coffee area, but you would find few trees here of late. Most Java coffee is grown in the East, where the big estates are. But farmers in Java Sunda always kept small coffee plots, although they mainly grown rice, onions, cabbage, carrots and other food crops for local markets in Bandung and Jakarta. It’s nice to see small lots from the different mountain villages in the region rather than the typically large, full-container blends.

This is a pleasantly sweet smelling wet hulled coffee, earthy notes are on the mild side, and well balanced. The aroma had a nice sweet-spiced scent, cinnamon and sugar, coffee cake crust, with balanced roast tone. The cup sweetness is quite nice, and rides the line between dark sugar syrup, and malted caramel. Top note accents of pungent spices come through, such as clove and star anise, and the brew shows medium body that seems to thicken as it cools. The finish was where I picked up most on process flavors, with complex notes of green herb, umami savory aspect, and a slight foresty note. Dense bittersweet cocoa flavors, like smoked chocolate, roasted cocoa nibs, with a bit of sage in the finish. This roasts make a creamy, bittersweet espresso shot, with rustic dark chocolate tones accented by aromatic pipe tobacco in the long finish.