Temanggung is one of the Central Java districts with a long history in the Indonesian coffee world. The Temanggung coffee plantation is even believed to be one of the important parts of the earliest development of coffee in the archipelago.
For information, coffee in Indonesia was first developed in Kedawung, a plantation not far from Batavia (Jakarta) by the Dutch East Indies colonial government in 1696. The planting was initiated by the Mayor of Amsterdam, Nicholas Witsen. The coffee seeds were tested on the private land of the VOC Governor General Willem van Oudtshoorn.
First Export, then trending in Europe
Had a failure on the first try, the coffee seed reaped great success on the second try. In the area that is now known as Pondok Kopi area in Jakarta, coffee grows well. At that time, the coffee variety grown was Arabica. In its first export to Europe around 1706, four quintals of Javanese coffee sent to Amsterdam immediately broke the record auction price there.
Two decades after the first shipment, namely in 1726, no less than 2,145 tons of coffee from the island of Java had flooded Europe, straddling the mocha coffee from Yemen that had previously been the market leader. The world community began to realize the potential of coffee which was then referred to as Java coffee. For the highest quality coffee, Europeans even replace the word coffee with the word “Java”. A cup of Java has also become a popular term in the Blue Continent.
Expansion and Forced Cultivation
Apart from Java, coffee plantations were also developed in Suriname, which later expanded to Central America and South America. Meanwhile, the increasing demand for coffee products made the Dutch implement forced cultivation in 1830 in order to boost coffee production in Java. All that is planted is the type of arabica imported directly from Yemen.
At that time coffee plantations were also planted in Sumatra, Sulawesi, Bali, Timor, and Flores. Unfortunately, in 1878 almost all coffee plantations located in the lowlands in the archipelago were damaged by leaf rust (Hemileia vastatrix). In the following years, farmers in Java failed to harvest and the potential to export hundreds of thousands of coffee was lost.
Robusta Variety in Temanggung
Frustrated with arabica, the Dutch East Indies colonial government tried to overcome crop failures by selling liberica coffee (Coffea Liberica) in the hope that it would be more resistant to leaf rust attacks. However, these efforts also did not bear fruit. Undeterred, they brought back a new variety, namely Robusta coffee (Coffea canephora) in 1907.
By planting robusta coffee, leaf rust pests no longer attack coffee plantations located in the lowlands. Coffee trees in Temanggung which at that time were mostly planted in lowland areas were also protected from these pests.
Temanggung Coffee Enters a New Stage
The era of fading glory did not necessarily make coffee farmers in Java completely dispersed. In some areas, we can still find the remnants of the colonial-era coffee plantations. We can still enjoy their coffee products today.
In Central Java, a number of coffee plantations are still sustainable in Wonosobo, Ambarawa, and Temanggung. Recently, Temanggung coffee has even become one of the “Javanese coffee” products that have emerged among Sumatran coffee products such as Gayo Coffee and Mandailing Coffee which currently dominate the market in Indonesia.
Cahyo Pratomo, a young coffee farmer from Temanggung said that currently, Temanggung coffee is entering a new phase. The 29-year-old said that, like tobacco, coffee plantations also thrive in many villages there, which are usually managed by local farmers and maintained for generations.
Start Reaping Results
Effort will not betray the results. This is what Cahyo and his fellow young farmers in Temanggung believe. Tracing from upstream to downstream, Semarang State University alumni found the fact that the biggest problem for coffee farmers in Temanggung, especially for premium products, was promotion and sales.
“The coffee produced in Temanggung is usually for factory use, sold through middlemen. Any quality coffee is priced the same,” explained Cahyo. “So, in order to be able to sell premium coffee, we need buyers who value coffee and are willing to transact in large quantities at the right price.”
Dipper was also greeted. Not long after, Cahyo met Reza Sarsito, the owner of PT Kopi Persada Negeri or better known in Semarang as Kopen Indonesia. Reza, who happened to be having coffee at Home at that time, said that his company was indeed looking for premium products to be exported to a country in the Middle East region.
“We need (coffee) six tons, then met with Mas Cahyo. Check there, check here, finally agreed to take the premium Arabica type Temanggung coffee,” explained Reza, who was immediately greeted with a smile by Cahyo.
To get the best and most trusted coffee products, Kopen Indonesia is not kidding. Reza and his team will usually visit coffee farmers’ gardens in various regions to see the process of picking, processing and packaging. In addition to convincing themselves, direct encounters with farmers are also a form of goodwill so that there is trust between buyers and sellers.
“We buy in large quantities for local and export purposes, including Temanggung coffee. So, we need partners who can be trusted and trust us,” concluded Reza.
For most people in Temanggung, tobacco is everything. They forget that the city which is located on the back of Mount Sindoro and Sumbing is also a coffee producer. Although in terms of quantity it cannot be compared with srintil tobacco in the district, the potential for Temanggung coffee is actually no less large.
The Department of Agriculture and Food Security of Temanggung Regency noted that the coffee plantation area in Temanggung is around 12,000 hectares. Less than half of it is arabica, while the rest is robusta. The last type of plant is even believed to have been planted long before Indonesia’s independence.
Since the days of Dutch colonialism, Temanggung coffee plantations have been designated for robusta coffee plants, as are other areas in Central Java such as Wonosobo, Ambarawa, and Muria. So, it is not surprising that coffee beans, which are famous for their thick bitter taste, dominate coffee production in the district.