Indonesia Tuang

This coffee comes from the Ruteng area in the Manggarai region on Flores Island in the East Nusa Tenggara province of Indonesia.

The story of this coffee began in 2014, when Andre Tuang decided to leave his job in Jakarta and moved to Flores to start working with farmers in the Manggarai area. Until then, it was very unusual to come across coffee from this region that was not blended with coffees from other areas such as Sumatra, Java, or Toraja.

At the time, the coffee was exported mainly as a commodity, while local farmers remained undervalued, with limited market access and an unfair compensation system. Very few people were also focusing on specialty coffee processing.

By 2023, the organization had grown to more than 2,500 members supplying coffee through 17 community leaders across individual producer groups. These coffees come mainly from three key village areas: Nati, Mbohang, and Gulang, where around 250 farmers are active.

Farming and farmer support

Each season, farmers are trained on when and how to pick coffee cherries properly in order to achieve the highest possible quality. They also receive the equipment they need, such as brush cutters that support farming without the use of herbicides, as well as pruning shears and protective gloves.

The partnership also includes financial support, either in the form of pre-harvest advances or bonuses after the season ends. In some areas, Tuang Coffee also helps farmers with advances for building their own homes, which they then repay through coffee deliveries in future harvests.

The farms traditionally grow yellow caturra, typica, and kartika varieties together with ginger and cloves. Farmers often refer to ginger as “money in the ground” because they can harvest it every month and immediately sell it for cash whenever needed.

Coffee grows here in very healthy conditions. The trees have plenty of space, and farmers use dried grass, leaves, and coffee cherry skins as organic fertilizer. Pruning is done only when needed, and shade trees surround the coffee plants. The cherries are collected directly in the villages and then transported to Tuang’s central processing station in Ruteng.

Every season, farmers have access to pre-financing. When purchasing cherries, the group offers one transparent price to all farmers while also setting compensation for farmer group leaders who help with purchasing and quality control.

Social and environmental impact

The production of this coffee is also linked to specific social and environmental projects. These include support for electrical infrastructure in the Mbohang area, scholarships for the children of employees and farmers to continue their education, and interest-free loans for both farmers and employees.

Processing

Thermal Fermentation – Anaerobic Natural

After harvest, the cherries arrive at the processing station, where the Tuang team spreads the coffee on African beds or tarps and carefully checks the quality of the delivered cherries.

The cherries are then placed into 50-liter bags with a plastic liner. The coffee is turned regularly throughout the day so that fermentation progresses evenly.

The coffee is then left to ferment in a dark room. Once it is assessed as ready based on aroma, color, and a pH of around 4.5, it is moved to raised drying beds.

Anaerobic natural coffees are dried for approximately 6 to 8 weeks, with the team turning the coffee every 3 hours to ensure the drying process remains even and controlled.

After drying, the coffee rests, is then hulled, hand-sorted, and packed. It is then shipped by boat from Flores Island to Java, to the port of Surabaya.

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We roast coffee 3 times a week, so it always reaches you freshly roasted. We have been roasting our own coffee since 2019 in Silůvky, Moravia.