Indonesia, Sulawesi Yolan Tirta

Indonesia coffee is diverse and it is difficult to describe it as a single coffee origin. The typical stereotyping of bold, earthy, musty, spicy coffee of low acidity does not mean much under this diverse and colourful coffee landscape. Couple this with the interest on quality over quantity, as well as new processing techniques and a new face of Indonesia coffee has been unveiled to the world. The typical recommendation for dark roast loses its meaning in the face of the newfound juicy fruits and floral notes.

Sulawesi coffee is sometimes referred to as Celebes or Kalossi coffee, borrowing its now defunct name under Dutch rule. Famous coffee regions in the Sulawesi island are in the south, specifically in West Sulawesi province and South Sulawesi province. In South Sulawesi, the famous coffee of Toraja comes from North Toraja and Tana Toraja regency (sub-divisions of a province). Toraja coffee carries with it a certain branding, and recent commercialisation has produced products from a wider region and blended together to be sold as Toraja coffee, ironically reducing its prestige. Specialty coffee today avoids the word Toraja, at least this is what the local Indonesians opines. Our coffee is from south of Tana Toraja in Enrekang regency.

Sulawesi rightfully produces wonderful coffees, with its volcanic soils from the numerous volcanoes on the island, and thick forests of the many mountain ranges providing a pristine growing environment and biodiversity for coffee cultivation, The island's highest peak of Gunung Latimojong is in South Sulawesi province, standing at 3,500m. The island preserves its ancient rituals of its indigenous tribes which works in coffee, and this adds another layer of appreciation when we enjoy Sulawesi coffees.

This coffee is from Angin-Angin village in Enrekang regency of South Sulawesi, and it is a small community of 15 farmers. Aside from coffee, they engage in subsistence farming of vegetables and cloves. Angin-Angin translates to strong winds, hinting at the high winds and elevation it is located, at 1,500 to 1,700m. This coffee is not done in the traditional Giling Basah (wet-hulled) method, and is processed by naturally drying for 40 days overwatched by Yolan Tirta.

Yolan Tirta is the founder of Toduri Coffee, which is a coffee company with a special focus on producing coffee of high value for export to specialty coffee markets worldwide. Starting from 2013, his company has grown from cultivation to processing, and even financing other farms. His careful and clean processing has uncovered many coffees previously blended as a batch for commercial sale, and attracting new attention on the inherent quality of Sulawesi coffee. 

The cultivar is S795. Originally developed in India, 'S' stands for selection, which means a stock or group of stocks displaying similar positive characteristics selected from a larger field planting. It is called the S line in India, while in Indonesia, it is known as Linie S. The S795 is an earlier strain of arabica which is resistant to the coffee leaf rust fungus. It is originally a cross of two other even earlier strains - S288 (a natural hybrid of arabica and liberica) and Kent (a hybrid between typica and an unknown). In Indonesia, it is sometimes called Jember, named after the Jember Coffee Research Centre in Surabaya.

This small batch coffee was originally produced for Cup of Excellence Indonesia 2022. It scored 88.00 points in the national stage but could not enter the international stage as it did not meet the production quantity of 300kg. 

Roast Level
We want to change the impression that Indonesia coffee can only be roasted darker to taste decent. As such, this coffee is roasted light, without notes of earth or spice, and instead, to have juicy fruits on a vibrant mouthfeel.

Brew Flavour
We are using 14g of coarsely grounded coffee at 770μm, to 240ml of 90°C water prepared with our water recipe. We are using Timemore Crystal Eye glass V60 with Cafec TH-1 filter paper. When hot, it presents creamy white flowers. When warm, the body turns more silky and clean, with notes of melon and a hint of lychee. It almost taste like melon juice. When at room temperature, the creamy white flowers retake centrestage together with the melons, with a clean and balanced afterflavour forward on melon. This coffee is clean with mild but vibrant acidity. It is outstanding and yet easy to drink. This is our recipe:

0-15 sec: Pour 50g water
45-75 sec: Add 150g, to tally 220g
100-115 sec: Add 40g, to tally 240g


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