West Java Blue Batavia G1 Semi-Washed

West Java Blue Batavia G1 Semi-Washed

FLAVOR: Dark Chocolate, Cedar, Dried Fruit, Citrus, Black Tea
BODY: Medium
ACIDITY: Bright
PROCESS: Semi-Washed
REGION: Preanger, Western Java, Indonesia
ALTITUDE: 1200-1400 masl
PRODUCER: Various smallholders
VARIETY: Typica, Ateng

Blue Batavia Green Coffee

Coffee has old roots in Java, stemming from the early 1700s when Yemeni coffee seedlings arrived in Indonesia (then called Batavia) via trade with India. The Dutch East India Company propelled both coffee production and trade between Java and Europe, cementing Java’s legendary status as the first origin to widely cultivate coffee outside of Ethiopia and Arabia.

Blue Batavia green coffee was grown in West Java, just outside the city of Bandung. The mountains of Preanger range from 1,200 to 1,400masl in altitude, and the temperate climate with fertile black soil has been ideal for growing Arabica coffee for over three centuries.

Indonesian Arabica Green Coffee from Java

Java green coffee famously commanded a rich premium as an essential component of the “Mocha Java” blend, one of the oldest coffee blends in the world. It traditionally combined Mocha coffee from Yemen and Java coffee from Indonesia.

This coffee features many of the classic notes of Java coffee, like dark chocolate, tobacco, cedar, and dried fruit. Bright notes of citrus with a black tea finish can be attributed to the semi-washed process that brings out a cleaner cup profile and medium body.

The Dutch first introduced the Typica variety here, although much of the original strain was lost in a widescale leaf rust outbreak in the 1800s. The Ateng varietal, which makes up a big part of this Blue Batavia G1 lot, is a common varietal hailing from the Timor Hybrid cross between Arabica and Robusta coffee.

How is Coffee Graded in Indonesia

Green coffee from Java is meticulously classified into different grades based on the number of defects found in a 300-gram sample of unroasted coffee. The highest quality, Grade 1 Triple-Picked (TP), indicates that the beans have been hand-sorted three times, resulting in fewer than five defects per sample. Grade 1 Double-Picked (DP) denotes coffee that has been sorted twice, with fewer than nine defects per sample. Grade 1 without a TP or DP mark means that the coffee contains fewer than 11 defects per sample. This grading system ensures a consistent range of quality, spanning from grades 1 to 6.

Indonesian Unroasted Coffee Beans

The key Indonesian green coffee regions include Aceh, North Sumatra, South Sulawesi, West Java, Bali, and Flores. Java, in particular, is renowned for its pivotal role in spreading coffee production across the Indonesian archipelago. While regions like Sulawesi and Sumatra boast a long history of coffee cultivation, Bali represents a relatively newer coffee-growing area, primarily known for its small-batch, limited-scale coffee production.