Trip to Coffee Cibulao

Hello everyone.

My name is Huseyin. I would like to share my experience with coffee as a Bule in Indonesia.

We decided to go to some tea and coffee land when we get a chance.

I am not a coffee fanatic person but I like to drink it in my daily life. My favorite ones are Turkish coffee, Espresso, Americano.

When I was drinking coffee I had never considered about coffee beans. I always focus on the strongness of coffee.

Time to explore.

 

We are ready to head up to the road. We chose a motorcycle to go to Cibulao. Motorcycles are one of the best options to travel around Indonesia. When we check the distance we saw 60 km but at the same time maps show us two hours and thirty minutes by motorcycle. We have no hurry.

We came to coffee land at night. The owner of coffee land met us at the driveway. While we were eating wonderful traditional Kolak and drinking different type of coffee we have learned history about Cibulao.

Cibulao is famous for its waterfall. There was an erosion in the beginning and some of the local people wanted to protect the area. They planted coffee trees for that purpose.

We have tested two different types of coffee. They were Robusta and Arabica. When I tested them at the same time I had just realized what is the meaning of coffee acidity.

I prefer Robusta than Arabica. Robusta has less acidity and soft taste if I compare with Robusta.

We need to rest for the next day. I wonder what we will see.

We woke up to a sunny day full of surprises. Our traditional Indonesian breakfast has rice, fried vegetable, fried flour, and also tea.

This tea is special. They called ” White Tea ” It is very rare and hard to find. If I try to compare with black tea I would like to say, softer than black tea and also aromas are different.

When we step out of the house we were realized that we slept middle of tea and coffee plantation. It was a good feeling for me.

The first station is coffee beans. The place looks like a greenhouse for coffee beans. Coffee beans need to wait and dry inside of greenhouse around  3 months. There are different types of coffee, different color, different size, some of them have a cover but in the end, all of them are delicious.

Cibulao is still a new place for coffee plantation in that reason the owner tries to plant more coffee tree. When they plant a coffee tree they can collect fruit after three years.

The red fruits are coffee cherry. When cherry turns to red it means ready to collect. Red cherries are also edible. Their taste reminds me of yellow fig but not exactly ready one.

They have three types of coffee: Robusta tree, Arabica tree, and Luwak Coffee.

 

Robusta tree and Arabica tree have a similar appearance but locals can understand which one is which. Our guide said that leaves, number of beans, beans size, also colors are different.

Arabica has more caffeine than Robusta and also has a bitter taste.

What about Luwak Coffee?

Luwak Coffee is one of the best coffee on the market. I want to learn why is like that!

Let’s find out!

There is one kind of animal. They call Civet Cat ( Musk Cat). When this cat wants to eat coffee beans they chose the best cherry. Their digestion system is to reduce coffee bean acidity.

Local farmers collect Civet Cat poo and collect coffee beans. After a clean process, they need to be dry as usual.

Civet Cat cannot eat and make poo all the time in that reason Luwak Coffee is also hard to reach.

Cibulao has a great Downhill Park for cyclist. There is a tree level for riders. I couldn’t try for this time. I hope I will come to Cibulao one more time.

After all, it was a great experience for us.

Come to Indonesia and enjoy the moment.

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