Origin guideSoutheast Asia
Indonesia Indonesian speciality coffee
Indonesia is one of the world’s largest coffee producers, grown across a chain of islands from Sumatra to Papua. Most of it is robusta, but its arabicas, and the wet-hulled coffees of Sumatra in particular, have a character all of their own.
The field notes
Indonesia at a glance
- Harvest
Varies by island. Sumatra: April – June (main crop)
Java: April – August · Sulawesi: May – October
- Production
About 12.4 million 60 kg bags (2025/26), mostly robusta
- Main regions
Aceh (Gayo) · North Sumatra · Java · Sulawesi · Bali · Flores · Papua
- Common varietals
Ateng · Tim Tim · Typica · Linie S · Andungsari · Sigararutang
Production figures: USDA Foreign Agricultural Service estimates for 2025/26, published July 2026.
When is it harvested, and how is it processed? See our guide to coffee harvesting and processing.
Chapter 01The story
History of coffee in Indonesia
The Dutch brought arabica seedlings to Batavia, now Jakarta, in 1696. By 1711 the Dutch East India Company was shipping Indonesian coffee to Europe, and the island of Java became so closely linked with coffee that its name became slang for it.
In 1876 coffee leaf rust devastated the country’s Typica trees. Much of the lost arabica was replaced with robusta, which is more resistant to the disease, and robusta still makes up the large majority of Indonesia’s coffee today. From the 1920s, smallholders increasingly took up coffee as a cash crop.
Chapter 02Processing
Wet-hulling: Sumatra’s signature
Much of Indonesia’s arabica, especially from Sumatra, is processed using a method called giling basah, or wet-hulling. Farmers pulp the cherry, ferment it overnight and wash it, then dry the parchment for only a short time.
While the beans are still damp, at around 30–40% moisture, the parchment is stripped off by machine and the green coffee is dried the rest of the way. The result is a coffee with a heavy body, low acidity and deep, earthy flavours: the classic Sumatran profile.
Chapter 03Today
Coffee in Indonesia today
Most of Indonesia’s coffee is grown by smallholders on farms of a few hectares or less, often alongside vegetables, fruit and spices. Arabica makes up less than a fifth of production, grown mainly in the highlands of Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, Bali, Flores and Papua.
Alongside wet-hulled lots, more producers are now experimenting with natural and honey processing.
Our Gayo Highlands is a wet-hulled coffee from smallholders in Aceh, northern Sumatra. Our Mbohang is a natural from the Mbohang community.
Taste this origin
