This single estate Java is cleaner and more refined than most Indonesian coffees. Slightly complex with a full, creamy body, look for notes of dark chocolate, mild cherry and black pepper. Arrival Date: June 1st, 2019 Acidity & Brightness: Low acidity, sweet Balance & Finish: Slightly complex, clean finish Body & Texture: Rich Full Body, creamy Flavors: Dark chocolate, mild cherry, black pepper Grade: AWP-1 Processing: Washed, hand picked, sun dried on bamboo mat Certifications: Organic, Shade Grown Variety: S-795 (A Typica hybrid) Roasting: Start with a Full City Plus (Medium Dark), or just a bit into the second crack. If you can't hear the cracks, then roast until the beans are smooth and medium dark brown with just the first hint of sheen as the oil emerges. Feel free to take it darker into Vienna (Dark) as this coffee maintains it's flavor profile quite well at darker roasts. This coffee roasts a bit unevenly, and will appear light for it's degree of roast. Reminder: This coffee is raw, you must roast it before use Our Review: Java is one of the oldest commercial coffee producing regions. The first plantations were started by the Dutch in 1699. Coffee is so identified with Java that the name has entered our language as a synonym for the word coffee itself! This particular Java comes to us from the Kayumas Estate which means "Golden Wood." This Estate has a rich history of coffee growing and was in fact started by the aforementioned Dutch colonists back in the 18th century. Situated in the Bondowoso province, the Kayumas Estate initially grew coffee in the low-lying areas until coffee rust leaf came along in the 19th century and nearly wiped the Estate out. This forced the farmers to move into the highland plateaus of the province which actually led to an amazing discovery: the higher altitudes and volcanic soil of the highlands produced much better coffee! While that seems obvious to us today, this was a pretty big revelation to the coffee growers of the 1800s. In any case, what initially seemed like a disaster led to a significant improvement in coffee growing in Java. Life's funny ain't it? So what's in the cup? Like all coffee from Java, this coffee is fully washed which makes for a brighter and cleaner cup. We found it to be really easy drinking, well balanced and smooth, with a clean, sweet finish. While cupping, we tasted notes of dark chocolate, mild cherry, black pepper and maybe the slightest note of plum. This Java would be great for blending with a Yemen Mocca, Ethiopian Harrar or even a Natural Processed South/Central American coffee for the classic Mocca Java blend.
