Indonesia Sumarno اندونيسيا سومارنو

Deep in the Temanggung region of Central Java, surrounded by volcanoes and rich soils is the Tlahap Village the source of this exceptional coffee. Thanks to the high altitudes of this area, it is an ideal place to grow coffee.

Mr Sumarno has been growing coffee since 1999. Before that, he was primarily producing tobacco, which was a difficult crop to work with due to its high demands of agrochemicals. The transition to coffee proved to be an excellent decision, as Sumarno has succeeded at producing high yields of high-quality coffee. After his first harvest in 2005, Sumarno began to learn more about the coffee market, the agronomy behind the crop, and different processing methods. He is known throughout this region thanks to his extensive coffee knowledge, and now runs a government-owned coffee farm on the slopes of Mount Sindoro. Various producers throughout the village are also part-owners of the farm and assist with the daily tasks of the farm.

During the harvest, the cherries are carefully handpicked and sent to the wet mill located at Sumarno’s home. This is common for large coffee producers or leaders of cooperatives in Indonesia. The cherries are first submerged in a tank of water to remove the floaters, or lower quality cherries. They are then de-pulped to remove the exterior fruit skin. Afterwards, the coffee is placed in special tubs, or kolas, to ferment in water for 24 hours and allow for the breakdown of the external mucilage. Once fermentation is complete, the coffee is washed a final time before being placed on drying racks to dry in the open sun for 15-20 days. During drying, the coffee is moved to the floor in order to reach a moisture content of 11.5 – 12%.

Sumarno is supported by Belift, a coalition of coffee professionals seeking to improve the income of producers in Indonesia. The group is comprised of three young men, originally from Indonesia, who studied in the US, only to return to their home country to open their own coffee shop and roastery in 2015. This then expanded to a coffee academy in 2017 whereby they began to work more closely with producers.

They are developing unique relationships with coffee producers specifically in the Central and East Java region, to showcase the hard work of coffee producers throughout this infamous region. Belift are also educating producers about newer processing methods to help incorporate more Indonesian farms into the specialty market. The work conducted by Belift is creating a future for coffee production in Indonesia and lending support to the improvement of coffee-producing communities.