CULTURE THE TASTE OF INDONESIA COFFEE

COFFEE IN INDONESIA

     This assignment prepared by Nur Fathin Nadhia Bt. Ahmad Saiyuti and Nurul Nadzirah Bt. Roslizan from PHM1114A1. We choose coffee made in Indonesia for our assignment culture because of the uniqueness and the delicious taste that comes from the coffee itself.

    

      Among the numerous luxuries of the table, coffee may be considered as one of the most valuable. It excites cheerfulness without intoxication and the pleasing flow of spirits which it occasions is never followed by sadness, languor or debility. Coffee has become one of the five highest traded commodities in the world. Most of the countries that produces coffee are located close to the equator. Because of its geographical location, Indonesia’s climate is highly suited to the growing and production of coffee. Currently Indonesia is the 3^rd largest producer of coffee in the world. I have gone to interview an uncle who has originally brought tradition of coffee from Indonesia. The uncle was a little bit told about the background of the coffee. 

   

     

          

       The coffee the uncle bringing back to Malaysia was originally produce in Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi. Java is the one of the largest islands in the archipelago and also the largest producer of coffee. Java is also known as producing one of the finest aged coffees in the world in Old Java. Javanese coffee beans can be stored in warehouses for two to three years. This increases the strong full bodied taste that Arabic is known for.

COFFEE PLANTS       

       
        Coffee Arabica, known as Arabica coffee, accounts for 75-80% of the world’s production. Coffea canephora, known as Robusta coffee, is more robust than the Arabica plants, but produces an inferior tasting beverage with higher caffeine content. The coffee plant can grow to heights of 10 meters, if not pruned, nut normally the trees are pruned to a reasonable height for easy harvesting. Coffee trees flower twice a year. In Java from late July through to September. The flowers grow in brunches that hang from the tree. Only about 25% of the flowers will grow into coffee cherries. The Arabica species is self-pollinating, whereas the Robusta species depends on cross pollination. After pollination the fruit remains almost dormant for 6-8 weeks. After this time the cherry starts it rapid growth stage where it goes from the size of a pin head to the final cherry size within a 15 week period.

COFFEE PROCESSING

       
      Once the cherries have reached a level of ripeness where the outer skin turns red, the picking begins. Bigger estates often do strip picks using machinery whereas the smaller plantations will hand pick the coffee cherries. Hand picking is of course the preferred method as only the choice cherries picked and the pest infected beans and debris can all sorted out. Beans at this newly picked stage can only last two days before they need to be further processed. This is the processing method most commonly used for Toraja coffee.

     The drying process can take several weeks. Over this time the beans are raked and turned as often as needed to ensure a universal drying effect is achieved. Once the outer area of the bean begins to fall off, the coffee is ready to have the pulp removed. It is normally dried until the moisture content of the bean is approximately 11%. The mulching is done by machinery-although some of these mulching machines are still hand driven. The finsl product is a green bean, about 1/3 the size of the original cherry. The dry method produces coffee that is heavy in body, sweet, smooth and complex. Drying coffee is the wet processing system. Wet processing means the bean can begin the final preparation stage immediately after being picked. Instead of drying under the sun the cherries are processed through a water system. This process results in a coffee that is cleaner, brighter, and fruiter. The pulp of the coffee cherries is removed to release the two coffee beans inside. The beans then sit in water for 24-48 hours to ferment. This is the heart of wet processing-when the fine, acidy flavor of great coffee is produced.

     The fermenting process softens the outer skin which makes it easy to remove. The system works well although there are often times when the sugar in the beans can ferment, causing the flavor of the beans to be affected. Most large coffee estates in Java use this system as it speeds up processing and generally makes selection of the final green bean much easier. The quality of green bean from wet processing is generally higher.

   

      After fermentation, the remaining pulp is washed off and the beans spread out to dry. The coffee can also be dried in a mechanical dryer, powered by a wood, gas or solar power. As in the dry method the beans need to be dried until the moisture level reaches aproximately 11%. The coffee is then referred to as parchment coffee and is ready to be warehoused in sisal or jute bags until readied for hulling.

    

        Machines are used to hull the parchment layer (endocarp) from the wet processed coffee. Hulling dry processed coffee refers to removing the entire dried husk -- the exocarp, mesocarp and endocarp -- of the dried cherries. Green coffee can last for years if it is stored in the correct conditions. It is vital that it is not exposed to high humidity as this will cause molding. It can also absorb flavor from other things stored around it so to avoid tainting the taste care must be taken in choosing the warehouse location.

ROASTING COFFEE

      
     Roasting transforms green coffee into the aromatic brown beans that we purchase, either whole or already ground, in our favorite stores. Most roasting machines maintain a temperature of about 550 degrees Fahrenheit. The beans are kept moving throughout the entire process to keep them from burning and when they reach an internal temperature of about 400 degrees, they begin to turn brown and the caffeol, or oil, locked inside the beans begins to emerge. Throughout the roasting process the beans must be kept moving so they don't burn or roast unevenly, and cooled, or quenched, when the right moment has come to stop the roasting. Coffee that is not roasted long enough or hot enough to bring out the oil, has a pasty, nutty, or bread-like flavor. Coffee roasted too long or at too high a temperature is thin-bodied, burned, and industrial-flavored. Coffee roasted too long at too low a temperature has a baked flavor. Roasting must be stopped at precisely the right moment to obtain the flavor and roast desired. The beans are quickly dumped into a metal box, where pyrolysis continues until the beans are quenched with either cold air or a light spray of cold water. Most specialty roasters air-quench their coffee.            

Some coffee producers do not have their own roasting machines and rely on others to roast their beans for them. During the roasting process the water that is contained in the bean evaporates making for a lighter yield than what was originally put in the roaster. This makes it impossible to rely on weight to ensure that the beans that went into the roaster are in fact the beans that come out. For this reason many producers in Indonesia will supervise the entire roasting process of their beans as some ethically challenged roasters have been known to switch the quality of bean that they are roasting with an inferior quality or even take out some of the beans and replace the beans with corn. After corn has been roasted with coffee, it is almost impossible to detect.

        In conclusion, after learning about a few ways that your daily consumption of coffee can be harmful to your health, we have concluded that coffee can be much more beneficial for you when consumed in moderation. Although our findings on the  matter of coffee and its effects on your health provided to be informative, we believe that more research needs to be done in this area.