This lot is named after a species of local monkeys known as Surili, which live in the high-elevation forests common to the West Java area. 47 smallholder farmers around the village of Laspada in the Pangalengan district contributed select harvests. In this area, farmers' plots average two hectares and sit at elevations around 1400 masl. Generally, harvest runs from May through August, after which they sell their partially finished green coffee to collectors who travel the region. Laspada is taken from the local word for "alert", stemming from the days of Dutch colonial occupation, when the area served as a gathering place for fighters peparing for battle.
Wet hulling is a process devised in Sumatra and adopted throughout the region as a solution to rainy, humid conditions that make drying green coffee a challenge. Typically, farmers depulp freshly picked cherries, ferment overnight, and wash the seeds before selling to a mill or collector only partially dried. The coffee's husk (parchment) is removed much earlier stage than in a standard washed process, while the green seed is still soft and pliable; great care is needed to prevent excessive damage. After milling, the coffee seeds are then finally dried until optimum moisture content is reached.
Country of Origin
Indonesia
Region
Laspada village, West Java
Producer Type
Small Holder Farmers
Farm Name
47 producers
Wet Mill
Lekor Garut
Processing
Wet Hulled
Growing Altitude
1450m
Harvest Season
2024/25
Bag Weight
60 KG BAG
Bag Type
Grain Pro / Ecotact
Plant Species
Arabica
Variety
Catimor, Tim Tim, Typica
History of Coffee in Java
Although coffee was first planted successfully on Java around 1700, cultivation spread slowly throughout what would become the great archipelagic state of Indonesia. In fact, the green coffee of Java served as progenitor to the coffees of far off Central America and had begun its ascent to being considered, alongside Arabian Mocha, as one of the best coffees in the world, long before commercial cultivation spread to nearby islands. At the same time, it should be noted that nearly all coffee from any island in the Dutch East Indies was considered “Java” until the early 20th century, so whose to say what Java was before then.
Growing Coffee in Java
Some of the large coffee estates created by the Dutch 175 years ago can still be found on the volcanic Ijen Plateau at the eastern tip of Java, but most coffee farmers are smallholders growing coffee on an average of 1.5 hectare, many of them among a cluster of volcanoes in West Java, where coffee cultivation first began on the island. Although disease resistant Robusta became the dominate coffee crop, West Java has seen a steady increase in Arabica production in recent years. Arabica generally grows above 1200 meters and virtually all coffee is fully washed.
