The Java Blue Batavia Coffee

Our Java Blue Batavia Coffee is grown by a coffee farmer named Tobing who owns approximately fifty hectares of coffee farms in West Java, in the Ciwidey sub-district. Tobing has planted best arabica coffee in the area since 2005. He also collects coffees from farmers around his estate. Yearly, the coffee production is about 80-90 tons of green beans from his own estate and the estates of small farmers, and this volume keeps expanding. Many specialty coffee roasters from Jakarta, Singapore and Australia purchase micro-lots of his coffee.

Tobing, Our Java Blue Batavia Coffee Farmer

The Volcanic Soil in Java

The volcanic soil on the side of this mountain is very fertile and many other crops, from potatoes to cacao, share space with the coffee.  Recently, exporters and other professionals in the coffee industry have been working with the agricultural communities there to foster a resurgence in Specialty Coffee's best coffee beans.  The terrain is so steep that even four-wheel-drive vehicles become useless about 3,000 feet, and you move up on foot. Coffee cherries are still brought back down to the collection point via scooter.

The History of Coffee Beans in Java

The first export of green coffee beans was sent from Java to Europe by the Dutch East India Company and was received at Amsterdam in 1711. The shipment consisted of 894 pounds from the Jakarta plantations and from the interior of the island. When the first public auction was held, this coffee brought twenty-three and two-thirds stuivers (about forty-seven cents) per Amsterdam pound.  Within ten years, exports rose to sixty tons per year. Java was the first place, outside of Arabia and Ethiopia, where coffee was widely cultivated. VOC (Dutch East India Company Dutch: Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie) monopolized world coffee trading from 1725 to 1780. This coffee is the true Java part of the famous Mocha Java Coffee It is produced in an area of Western Java in the mountains west of the city of Bandung called Preanger. 

The History of Coffee Growing in Indonesia

Coffee did very well on certain islands in Indonesia, Sumatra, Sulawesi, and Java. The capital, Batavia (today known as Jakarta) was located on the main island of Java.  Boatloads of sacks of coffee left from Java, and of course the bags were stamped with the word Java so the words Java and Coffee became synonymous.

The Story of Batavia in 1780

"Missionaries and travelers, traders and colonists continued to carry coffee seeds to new lands, and coffee trees were planted worldwide. Plantations were established in magnificent tropical forests and on rugged mountain highlands. Some crops flourished, while others were short-lived. New nations were established on coffee economies. Fortunes were made and lost. By the end of the 18th century, coffee had become one of the world's most profitable export crops. After crude oil, coffee is the most sought commodity in the world."  National Coffee Association