Frinsa Sarapan LOT 2- Indonesia
COUNTRY: Indonesia
FARM/COOP/STATION: Java Frinsa Estate
VARIETAL: Various
PROCESSING: Washed Lacto
ALTITUDE: 1400 meters above sea level
OWNER: Wildan Mustofa
SUBREGION/TOWN:Weninggalih
REGION: West Java
FARM SIZE: 105.3 ha
HARVEST MONTHS: June- August
FLAVOUR NOTES: Crisp, clean and delicate. Notes of green tea, bright fruit and caramel, with a lovely malic/lactic acidity throughout.
ABOUT THIS COFFEE
The coffee processing occurs at Frinsa Estate, with their wet mill situated at 1400 masl. Equipped with a ventilated storage space and a dry mill, they exercise meticulous control over their product journey, from harvest, to grading, to sorting, and shipment. The Frinsa team is well-versed in processing techniques, navigating challenges posed by the climate to achieve clean, transparent profiles in their coffees.
Wildan Mustofa and his wife Atieq Mustikaningtyas started their first coffee project in Sindangkerta, Weninggalih area in 2010. This later became the main growing area at his farm Java Frinsa Estate. Since the first year of production, Wildan has aimed to focus on quality which requires meticulous attention and processes. While the majority of Indonesian producers are doing the wet hulled coffees, even for specialty, Wildan is focusing on fully washed coffees and experimental processing. Besides the quality, and social and economic impact for the community, we believe the coffee project also have long term benefits for water conservation and reforestation .
Frinsa Estate is located in West Java, locally called Sunda. They have a wetmill as well as a well ventilated storage space and a dry mill. All located at 1400 masl altitude. This means they are in fully control of their product from harvest to grading, sorting and shipment. Frinsa Estate have 6 main growing plots spread out in the area. And they buy cherries from a few selected outgrower in the surroundings of the Estate. These coffees are sold under the brand name Frinsa Collective.
Weninggalih : 60 hectare (plan for another 50 hectare expansion) Altitude is about 1,400 masl. The cultivars grown are Sigararutang, Lini S795, Borbor, Timtim, Andungsari, Ateng Super, P88, Blue Mountain and Belawan Pesuma.
HARVEST
They harvest from May to September, with the main harvest from June- August. The coffees are picked and then hand sorted for unripe and diseased cherries.
Most of the coffees are fully washed but they do some wethulled and naturals, mainly for the local market. Their coffees are always separated in lots by field location, cultivar, and date of picking. The parchment are stored in plastic bags with LDPE liners
Through a cooperation with the coffee research center they have been planting a lot of other different unknown cultivars, all separated by blocks in the farm. As the farm and the trees are still very young nobody knows how the flavor profile for many of these trees will come out. In addition to their own coffee production they also process coffee for the local smallholders (outgrowers), generally separated by area.
PROCESSING:
Processing: Washed Lactobacillus. Lactobacillus, a probiotic bacterium used to refine fermentation, is added to the coffee after pulping. It is dry fermented for 12-14 hours, and then dried on the ground or parabolic dryers as a dry-hulled lot. Due to the wet, humid climate, most of their coffees are also pre-dried in their greenhouse, a groundbreaking shift for the Indonesian market. This has resulted in more uniform drying, and therefore more consistent outcomes.
Wildan also works with different fermentation techniques. He writes, "we do lactic fermentation using the lactobacillus culture. For the natural process, the cherries are washed to remove dirt and microbial contamination from the surface of the cherry skin, after cleaning, the lactobacillus culture is added to the cherries which are then put into plastic bags or plastic barrels and fermented anaerobically. The bags / barrels are rotated in the morning and evening and the gas is released, then the container is closed for 2 or 3 days. After fermentation the cherries are dried on raised beds.
Coffee fermented by lactic method has a complex, mild and smooth character with malic acidity.
We also have a fermentation technique with Saccharomyces cerevisiae which is used in natural and honey processing. Coffees are processed according to the usual method for several days until the water content reaches around 25-30%. The sacharomyces culture is then applied and the cherries are put in a closed sack for 36 hours. After this the cherries return to the drying bed to dry in the sun. This coffee fermented with saccharomyces, if the time is short, the sweetness is very strong, the texture becomes more syrupy and the cup is more complex.
Both of these fermentation techniques can be done together. For example, natural coffee can first be fermented lactically, then dried in the sun, then fermented again with saccharomyces then dried again until dry."
Drying
They mainly dry on patio, but are investing in way more drying tables for the future. Currently most of the coffees are pre dried on beds for a day or two in green houses and then transferred to the patio. Drying can take 14-20 days, depending on the rain during the drying period.
HISTORY OF COFFEE IN INDONESIA
The Dutch colonial government planted the first coffee trees in Indonesia around Batavia (modern-day Jakarta) in the 17thcentury. Those the first seedlings were destroyed in flooding, but the second iteration of seedlings successful produced cherry. By the early 1700s, the first exports of coffee left for Europe from the Port of Java on Dutch East India Company ships. Just a few years later the government was exporting several thousand pounds of coffee annually, making Indonesia the first country outside of the Arabian Peninsula and Ethiopia to cultivate coffee in commercial volumes.
For the better part of a century, Indonesia produced nearly 100% Arabica. However, in the 1860s, coffee leaf rust (CLR) spread beyond its birthplace in Ethiopia and obliterated the majority of Indonesia’s production. Soon thereafter, most farmers replaced their Arabica trees with Robusta. While Indonesia remains a formidable coffee producer—ranking fourth in the world—less than 20% of production is Arabica. When only Arabica coffee is considered, Indonesia ranks as the world’s 12th largest producer.
