Indonesia

Description

New Sway, from Indonesia, and this one's just fun. It comes in bright, turns syrupy-sweet through the middle, and then the finish gets you: like biting through to the center of a cherry Tootsie Pop. This was our first time roasting a heavily processed coffee, and it took a lot of trial and error to get right but we're really proud of where it landed.

Details

Producer: Asep Sukmana
Region: Mekarwangi, West Java, Indonesia
Variety: S795
Process: Anaerobic Semi-Honey
Elevation: 1,400m

About the Producer

Asep Sukmana grew up in Mekarwangi farming vegetables before planting his first coffee in the early 2000s on three hectares of State forestry land. When new provincial policies brought market stability to coffee farmers in 2008, he leaned in and by 2010 had helped start a local cooperative and processing unit. Today he farms, processes, and produces his own coffee in the village where he was raised.

Where it comes from

Mekarwangi is a village in West Java, Indonesia, sitting around 1,400 meters above sea level. Most families here make their living from farming, like coffee, tea, and vegetables, much of it grown on State-owned land managed through an agroforestry approach that weaves coffee in among the standing forest.

Varietal information

S795 (sometimes called Jember) is a tall Arabica variety widely grown across Indonesia and India. A selection descended from S288 and Kent, it carries some tolerance to leaf rust and is known for a balanced, syrupy body with gentle acidity and a subtle mocha-like sweetness in the cup.

Processing notes

Ripe cherries are first fermented in sealed, oxygen-free tanks, the anaerobic stage, which builds up the coffee's fruit-forward, wine-like character. They're then dried with some of the sweet fruit mucilage still clinging to the bean (the semi-honey step), concentrating sweetness and body before the coffee is rested and milled.