Indonesia – Manggarai

In 2014, Andre Tuang left his corporate job in Jakarta and returned to Flores with a vision to empower local growers. At the time, it was nearly impossible to find unblended coffee from the region, as most harvests were sold as cheap commodities. Andre began working with farmers to improve processing quality, and today his organization supports over 2,500 members. This specific lot comes from a group of approximately 250 farmers from the villages of Nati, Mbohang, and Gulang, who grow their coffee traditionally in semi‍-‍forested gardens. The project also focuses on social impact: it funds electricity in Mbohang, provides scholarships for children, and offers interest‍-‍free loans and advances for home construction.

This coffee is processed using the Anaerobic Natural method, with a strict focus on uniform fermentation in a controlled environment. - Quality Control: The station team first hand‍-‍inspects the cherries on tarps. - Anaerobic Phase: Cherries are placed in 50-liter bags with plastic liners. The bags are rotated daily to ensure even fermentation. - Darkroom Fermentation: The coffee ferments in a dark room. The process is concluded based on color, aroma, and a target pH value of approximately 4.5. - Drying: The coffee is dried on raised beds for 6 to 8 weeks, with the team turning the beans every three hours. - Logistics: After resting and final hand‍-‍sorting, the coffee travels by boat from Flores to the port of Surabaya on Java.

The Yellow Caturra, Typica, and Kartika varieties are grown traditionally using organic fertilizers made from leaves and coffee cherry husks. Farmers plant the trees with generous spacing under the shade of clove and ginger plants. The ginger is harvested monthly as a supplemental income for the farmers; this proximity to spices is naturally reflected in the coffee’s unique flavor profile.