Behind the Scenes: Visiting a Coffee Farm

It won’t come as a surprise to any regular readers to know here at Rosso we’re obsessed with finding, evaluating and curating the best coffee around the globe. 

We were recently in Indonesia where it’s currently the drying season and had the chance to check out a coffee farm mid harvest.

We start our visit in the mountains about 1000 meters above sea level - most great coffee varietals are grown in this vicinity due to the plant's unique preferences for shade, heat and rainfall. 

As coffee plants prefer dappled shade the plantation is spread across a larger tree-covered region than traditional farms - this combined with the steep mountain creates the perfect opportunity for Jeep to travel around the farm. 

A Robusta plant (one of two coffee varietals growing here, the other being Arabica) growing amongst the forest cover. Harvesting of a great single origin is done by hand, with the farmers selecting only the ripest, bright red cherries for drying.

A shade hut nestled between the forest down the valley for harvesters to take respite from the sun.

This plantation utilises a “Natural process” of processing for the coffee. This refers to the fact the beans are separated from the flesh of the fruit naturally - being left to dry in the sun over time. This leads to stronger, more complex flavours that are unique to Indonesian farms and perfect for our single friend. 

Finally we see the traditional Indonesian roastery they have on site and get to taste a coffee made exactly as it was decades ago. 

It’s not quite the season for Indonesian single origins yet - but we're keeping an eye out for a crisp, natural process for the Single Friend lineup later this year!