Indonesia has the perfect climate for growing coffee, and is currently one of the world’s largest producers. Composted of thousands of islands, some of the larger islands, such as Java and Sumatra, are well known in the coffee world for the quality of their beans. Not indigenous to Indonesia, coffee bushes were introduced by Dutch colonists in the mid-17th century in an attempt to break the Arabian monopoly, and they soon began to thrive. As the industry grew, roads and railways were built to aid transport from the interior of the islands to the ports, and so the landscape of Indonesia was shaped by the coffee trade.
At the end of the 1800s, many of the coffee bushes were smitten with coffee rust, a fungus that produces a fine powdery covering on the underside of the leaves. This wiped out whole plantations, and some owners replanted with tea or rubber plants which they felt were hardier and more resistant to disease. Others replanted with different varieties, initially Liberica coffee from Africa and then the tougher robusta, which still makes up the majority of the coffee crop in Indonesia.
Famous for its speciality coffees such as kopi luwak (civet cat coffee), Indonesia is also the home of aged coffees. Originally, this referred to coffee stockpiled by farmers who were waiting for the high point of the market. It was discovered that storing the coffee in this way enhanced the flavour, and now these coffees are sold to connoisseurs.
Here at the Wholesale Coffee Company, we’ve got a range of coffee beans available, all at great wholesale prices. For more information, please visit our website www.wholesalecoffeecompany.com.