From the Field, New Arrivals
Monday, February 3, 2020
Rethinking Indonesian Coffees
This year’s lots from Koerintji Barokah Bersama Cooperative in Kerinci are all-star outliers. Indonesian coffees can get pigeonholed due to their reputation for prominent earthiness, spiciness and complexity. But that doesn’t mean they can’t continue to surprise us. And this year, boy did they.
The juicy, bright, fruit notes in these coffees are the product of months and years of focusing on quality improvement. “It’s not a coincidence that scores have improved,” says Daniel Shewmaker, Manager Indonesia and East Timor for Sucafina. “It’s been a deliberate effort.”
We’re proud to be purchasing coffees from the cooperative for the second year running. Daniel and his team have been working closely with the cooperative for three years. Lead by Triyono, Cooperative manager, “they’ve improved quality control,” Daniel explained. “[Together] we’ve been working, changing and tweaking little things.”
Another major step has been moving milling, sorting and packaging operations to Kerinci. This helps improve quality by not only shortening the time it takes to ready coffee for export but also by minimizing any exposure to excess heat and humidity, which is common in Medan, a main milling and shipping center.
The end result is undeniable: these coffees, which open doors to all manner of possibilities for coffee production in Indonesia, will challenge your ideas about Indonesian coffees.