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Sulawesi Toraja, Indonesia

Indonesia growing region

Key facts
Location
Central highlands of Sulawesi, Indonesia
Altitude
1,100 to 1,900 metres
Main Varieties
Typica-descended landraces, S795, Catimor
Processing
Wet-hulled and washed
Flavor Profile
Dark chocolate, warm spice, herbal notes, long finish
Body
Full and syrupy with low acidity
Beans we stock
25 from Indonesia
Sulawesi Toraja, Indonesia
Photo by Sean Benesh on Unsplash

Tana Toraja, in the rugged central highlands of Sulawesi, produces coffee between roughly 1,100 and 1,900 metres in a region as renowned for its dramatic cliffside burial traditions and tongkonan houses as for its coffee. Like Sumatra, much Toraja coffee is wet-hulled, giving a full, syrupy body and low acidity, but the higher, cooler terrain tends to yield a cleaner cup with dark chocolate, warm spice, herbal notes, and a long finish. Grown largely by smallholders cultivating Typica-descended landraces and S795, Toraja is one of the more refined expressions of the classic heavy-bodied Indonesian profile.

At a glance

  • Altitude: 1100–1900 masl
  • Typical varieties: Typica, S795, Catimor
  • Common processes: Wet-hulled (Giling Basah), Washed
  • Harvest: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Climate

Cool, wet equatorial highland climate driving wet-hulled processing.

Soil & terroir

Fertile mountain soils in the central Sulawesi highlands.

See also

Sources & further reading