West Java, famously known for the first Dutch coffee plantations, is a region with a tropical monsoon climate, and geography made up of a chain of active and extinct volcanos known as the Ring of Fire. The heart of western Java is the Priangan Plateau, a highland area that is home to the Sundanese people. Unlike eastern Java, where coffee is produced on predominately government-owned estates, coffee producers throughout the west are smallholders who deliver to mills and collection points. The elevation, conditioned varieties, and weather lends this region to producing the highest quality coffee in Java, and throughout much of Indonesia.
Riunggunung Estate is a 10-hectare farm with 9 hectares planted in a selection of different varieties that are commonly found in Java. This lot is from the highest point of the estate, elevation-wise. This section of the farm not only develops the most nuanced flavor profile for the coffee, but it is also a somewhat dangerous place for the plants: on very cold evenings it can potentially frost over, which can devastate production. The stress, however, is part of what contributes to the beauty of the flavor in the cup.
It is important to note that our lot from Riunggunung was intentionally processed utilizing a natural process and anaerobic fermentation. In general, placing freshly harvested cherries inside a sealed container or bag of some sort for a period of time will create a flavor impact. We find those anaerobically-fermented coffees often exhibit an increase in the intensity of fruit and acidity and a slight increase in the body, which certainly seems to be at play here.
After careful roasting on the part of our team, we’re left with a dynamic cup profile reminiscent of apricots and strawberry limeade. The fragrance and aroma carry pronounced floral characteristics running adjacent to honeysuckle and jasmine. This very rare selection serves as a great way to kick off our run of Reserve releases for 2024!
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