Cup Characteristics: Medium intensity/Body. In the cup Java is largely about thick, oily body and very low acidity. This coffee is deep with a touch of spice in the cup. French roasted, this crop gives you that rich, bittersweet chocolate flavor. This is a single-estate coffee from the Blawan Estate, April 2007 crop.

Java is a clean cup for an Indonesian, a fully wet-processed coffee that has the Indonesian body and thickness in the cup without earthy or dirty flavors.

Blawan lies along the road from Bondowoso to the volcano of Kawa Ijen (also spelled Kawah Ijen). It is on these volcanic slopes of the Ijen plateau that the coffee prospers from the required coffee altitudes and well-draining soil. The IJen Plateau lies in the centre of a large forest reserve, which extends over much of the mountainous region to the west of Banyuwangi. A luminous blue/green crater lake lies at the far eastern end of the plateau and is without doubt one of the most impressive of East Java's natural wonders. The Kawa Ijen summit is 2,300 meters above sea-level. The enormous lake, which is 200 meters deep, contains approximately 36,000,000 cubic meters of an active volcano.

There is "Government Estate" Java from the six-old farms in East Java that date back to Dutch colonialism and "Private Estate" Java. Government Estate is invariably preferred and Blawan is a Gov't Estate. In the cup Java is largely about thick, oily body and very low acidity. A really good Java will be deep with a touch of spice in the cup, and when French roasted it will have subtle bittersweet chocolate tastes.

All main estates are located in East Java in the vicinity of the Ijen volcanic complex. The Arabica coffee plant was brought to Indonesia around 1696 and has been commercially cultivated until today. The Government body (called the PTP XXVI Plantation) grows about 85% of the coffee in East Java, close to Bali on the Ijen area. The range of altitudes suitable for coffee production is 3,000 to 6,000 feet with most growing in the plateau region at 4,500. Blawan is the largest estate, 2268 Hectares.

Once, Mysticism and an array of sultans ruled over the Tropical Island of Java. The early Dutch settlers found Java to be a wonderfully diverse place - high mountains, thick tropical rain forest and a sultry climate that revolved around the monsoon rains. The Dutch and the Javanese settled the coastal volcanic plains while much of the interior of the island was left to the jungle and a few tribal groups. The Dutch found that coffee grew very well in the climate and large plantations were established in the east of the Island, as well as in central java and the west. After the Japanese occupied Java in the 1940’s, many of these plantations were either destroyed or were absorbed back into the jungle with their owners imprisoned by the Japanese. After the war and the ensuing independence struggle, many of the larger plantations ended up under the control of the government. Today, the big Java plantations are still government owned. However, there are many medium and smaller growers who are working to produce excellent quality Arabica sustainable crops.