Java’s Coffee Culture: From Plantation to Cup (Process + My Rare Experience)

Coffee (Kopi) and Javanese Culture

Did you know that the term “Java” used to talk about coffee actually originates from the coffee trade in Java, Indonesia? In fact, for a time the island of Java was even the worlds #1 producer of coffee- and is still a lead producer today!

However, coffee does not actually originate from Indonesia. Coffee did not arrive in the region until the 1600s when the Dutch decided they did not want to spend money buying the luxury product of coffee from Arab countries anymore. So, the Dutch stole coffee plants and smuggled them all the way to Java to grow themselves! 

Since then, coffee has completely transformed the culture of Java as we know it. Kopi (Indonesian language for coffee) stands out as the most popular beverage in Indonesia, even rivaling tea.

However, coffee in Indonesia has not only transformed the country, but also the entire world! In fact, if you have ever drank Starbucks coffee- then you have drank Indonesian coffee. To investigate more about this world-renowned coffee, I took a closer look into Javanese coffee production by living with a local family in Java to experience how much effort is put into a single cup of coffee.

Make sure to read to the end for my first-hand account of helping a local coffee company with the Indonesian coffee preparation process during my stay in Java, and the surprising- and unfortunate turn of events that I endured while living on the plantation.

Coffee Plantations in Java

Coffee plantations are a regular sight around Java, as plantations are thickly scattered all over the Central and East regions. This region is perfect for coffee production, as it is wet and tropical, with nutrient-dense volcanic soil.

The altitude is also ideal for coffee tree growth, ranging from 2,500-5,000 feet above sea level (750-1,550 meters). Coffee is produced not only by large company’s plantations, but also by small scale farmers who just grow and sell to villages locally. Both robusta and arabica species of coffee plants are grown throughout the region, with arabica being the primary producer.

Coffee Production Process

1. Harvesting

The first step in the coffee production process is to harvest the coffee “cherries” by hand off of the trees. Labors walk through the plantation, pulling all of the cherries off of the coffee trees and dumping them into a burlap sack. Shortly after, the cherries are scattered onto a tarp, where they will be sorted for the first time. 

Only red cherries will be used for coffee production. The red cherries are picked out and then repackaged into large, heavy burlap sacks to await the next step in the production process. The cherries that are still green are promptly discarded.

2. Fermentation

The red cherries that were sorted during the harvesting process are then taken to an empty, dark storage room/house to ferment. The fermentation process is done in order to help break down the sticky cherry mucilage that surrounds the beans. The cherries are typically placed in rooms with no sunlight and still air. The fermentation process lasts for around 3 days.

It starts to get a bit smelly, as you can imagine. And it attracts a lot of ants and other critters. I had the pleasure of spending the night in one of these houses. It was difficult to sleep from the pungent smell.

3. De-Hulling and Drying

Once the cherries have spent a few days fermenting, it is time to properly dry them in the sun. 

Typically, in coffee production, this is the step in which the mucilage (fruity layer) is washed away from the coffee beans inside, and then dried. However, this typical wash process can be quite expensive due to the water usage- and is certainly too expensive for small farmers in Java (such as the plantation that I stayed at). 

Instead, these farmers use a coffee huller as part of the drying process. A coffee huller is an industrial machine that removes the outer parchment layer of the red coffee cherry from the beans. The damp, light green colored coffee beans from inside are now finally exposed. 

Using the huller and spreading the coffee beans to dry is a multi-person job. First, we spread large tarps over an area that gets a lot of sun. Then, we turn on the coffee huller machine. One person loads the coffee into the huller and drags it around in rows to disperse the slices up beans, while 1-2 other people spread the beans around so that all of the cherries have equal sunlight. A fourth person carries the heavy bags of cherries to the huller for the machinist to pour inside. 

This is quite a tedious process. At the end, the coffee beans are finally evenly exposed to the outside forces, and ready to dry. The beans stay in the sun for around one week, before being collected back into burlap sacks to be sorted yet again. At this point, the beans will be a light brown color and look more like the coffee beans as we know it.

4. Sortation

We are finally nearing the end of the long and careful coffee production process. This part is by far the most tedious.

After we collected the beans from the sun, we took them to a house. Inside, women smoked cigarettes and drank dark coffee while sorting through the dried beans by hand. They are able to move quickly due to years of building up this skill.

The beans are poured onto a wicker tray and carefully sorted by hand and sight. The women are looking for any faint signs of rot or imperfections. This is arguably the most important step of the coffee production process, as one rotten bean mixed in can ruin the flavor for an entire batch of coffee.

5. Roasting, Brewing, and Consumption

This is the final and shortest step of the coffee preparation process: roasting the coffee beans. This step is what gives the coffee beans the dark brown color and chocolatey taste. Roasting a batch of coffee only takes 10 minutes for a small batch, and up to 15 for a large batch. 

Typically, if beans are being exported, they will not be roasted prior. This step will be left up to the importer to roast to their own satisfaction, and even mix together coffee beans from different countries to create a unique flavor profile. 

However, the Indonesian coffee we were producing at the plantation I stayed at is also sold locally, so they roast some of the coffee beans themselves. They used a solid drum style roaster, which constantly rotates the coffee around to give it an even roast. There is a spoon-like tool that the roasters can use to pull out beans while they are being roasted in order to constantly check on the process- ensuring that they are roasted to perfection. 

The final product are roasted coffee beans that are ready to be grinded down and prepared in some style with water to be turned into the final cup of coffee. 

After a long day of work, we grinded some coffee beans down to a medium, gritty grind and prepared them V8 style, adding in increments of water to the coffee grinds and letting it drip through a filter. 

We finally had produced the end product: a single cup of coffee. It was the most satisfying, delicious cup of coffee I have had in my entire life.

Javanese Coffee Flavor Profiles

The flavor profile of a cup of coffee has many factors that contribute to the taste, such as altitude and region grown, wash/ drying process, and the roast of the coffee. The darker the roast, the more burnt and chocolaty the taste. The lower the roast, the fruitier the taste. I like a solid medium roast for my coffee. 

Java is famous for its rich, low acidity coffee flavors. While other regions in the world boast a more fruity and bright flavor profile, Java is primarily known for its nutty, earthy flavor. Upon tasting the coffee, I often picked up on notes of dried fruit and spices during my time in Java.

From Farm to Cup: A Day in the Life

Disclaimer- This story will get random. Such events are unlikely to happen to you, but this was part of my experience on the plantation so I must include it.

My days on the farm started early in the morning. I would wake up around 7am and join the family for breakfast. Each morning, the mother of the house would prepare noodles, fried eggs, and coffee. It was important to have a heavy breakfast, as the work on the plantation throughout the day was grueling. 

The days varied with which step in the coffee production process needed to be done as far as picking, sorting cherries, and drying. I had joined right in time for prime-production season in May. It would be some mixture of these steps while the hot sun beamed down on us. Afternoons were spent sorting dried coffee beans and roasting coffee for customers who would come to pick up the bags. 

On my first night, I went on a short trip to the highlands area with two of the employees to pick up additional coffee cherries to sell in the valley. They used an old-fashion pickup style cargo truck, made specifically for carrying heavy loads. 

We drove through the rocky roads and into the mountain villages, stopping at different houses to weigh and collect coffee cherries. Each house was just as inviting as the next. Out of politeness, we sat and drank hot tea everywhere we went before conducting business. It was a far cry from the transactional lifestyle of western culture. We repeated this at many houses in different villages late into the night, before unloading the cherries into a practically abandoned house to ferment.

This is also where I got to spend the night. It was a long night to say the least. The sounds I thought were people breaking in actually turned out to be rats scurrying around, hungry for the fermenting cherries. I said a prayer and went to bed. 

The next few days, I again got up early in the mornings and went out to spread dry cherries and sorted dried coffee beans through the afternoons. Thankfully after my night in the fermenting house, I was invited to sleep in the family home. I still don’t understand why I slept one night in the fermenting house. 

I was getting into my working routine when one morning I woke up with faint pain in my kidney. I waited for the pain to go away so I could get up and take a bath. But the pain never went away, it only got worse and worse.

At this point, I called my mother and told her that I think I needed to go to the hospital. And that I was going to die. The pain became unbearable, and I limped down the stairs where I barely made it to the kitchen and collapsed onto the floor. The mother immediately sprang into action. She poured hot tea onto a plate to hand feed me and gave me a traditional style coin massage on the back. 

I must have looked pretty terrible, because she called Isro, her husband and plantation owner, to come up from the farm and take me to the hospital. 

As fate would have it, I think I passed my first ever kidney stone. I still don’t really know. No one at the hospital spoke English, and I was too pitiful to explain myself over translation.

I concluded it must have been from not drinking enough water while working hours in the hot sun. It gave me a new respect for the laborers that work these long hours attentively each day- just to make consumers like me and you the perfect cup of coffee.

Unfortunately, this was not the only illness I endured as a result of staying in the coffee plantation. 

I also contracted Dengue Fever from mosquito bites I acquired while on the plantation. And it was almost lethal.

More information about that in a few days.

Thank you to Mas. Isro and his wife for hosting me and taking such gentle care of me. I am forever grateful and in debt to you. You can find out more about them and their coffee here:

Product – Temanggung Volcano Coffee (kopigunungapi.com)

Good luck, travelers. Wear your sunscreen. And bug spray.

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