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Coffee aficionados turn to specialty beans to find perfection
About 85 percent of the Arabica coffee beans harvested in Indonesia are exported to the European Union, the US and elsewhere, leaving only around 15 percent to be consumed domestically.
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Farmers dry Arabica coffee beans in Catur village, Kintamani, Bali. Indonesia produces about 187,000 tons of Arabica coffee beans a year. (JP/Agung Parameswara)
A
man walks into a cafe in Jakarta’s Sudirman Central Business District (SCBD) on a Tuesday afternoon. He waves to the barista behind the counter and asks for a specific blend of beans. The barista explains that the coffee shop has run out of it and recommends the Gayo Robusta instead.
“How would you like it, Pak?” The barista asks, and the man answers “V60”, referring to the method of serving coffee through a dripper with a 60-degree cone-shaped filter, which is considered one of the favorite methods of brewing a specialty coffee.
The patron is Anton Sihombing, a property agent visiting Tanamera Coffee the Pacific Place mall during lunchtime to order a specific cup of coffee. “I like coffee with a bitter rather than acidic taste,” he said, adding that the Aceh Gayo bean was perfect, since it had an earthy tone and was mild in acidity.
The 49-year-old said he drinks three cups of coffee a day – none of them from the sachets found at mini-markets, because he did not like those anymore. Instead, he said, he always sought to buy specialty coffee.
Anton’s consumption habit is part of mushrooming demand for Indonesia’s specialty coffee.
Statistics Indonesia (BPS) has reported that about 90 percent of the 1.2 million hectares of coffee plantations in the country are owned by smallholder farmers. Robusta coffee accounts for about 70 percent and Arabica coffee for 30 percent of the acreage.
Arabica and Robusta coffee differs in taste. Arabica beans generally have a sweeter, softer taste and a higher level of acidity, while Robusta generally has a stronger and bitter taste. Its caffeine content is twice as high as that of Arabica.
