Java

Java is the island that gave coffee its nickname. The Dutch planted coffee there at the end of the 17th century, and for more than a century the East Indies supplied much of the world’s coffee. Its arabica still carries the old names: Java Ijen-Raung, from the volcano slopes of East Java, where Dutch-built estates still farm high on the Ijen plateau, and Java Preanger, from the Priangan highlands of West Java. Some estates even age their coffee for years as Old Java.

The short version

• Where Indonesian coffee began: seedlings in 1696 and 1699, exports from 1711.
• The Ijen plateau: old Dutch estates and washed arabica, high on the volcanoes of East Java.
• Java Preanger: floral, sweet and a little citrusy.
• Old Java: coffee aged up to five years.
• Protected names since 2013.

How did Java coffee begin?

With the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Wikipedia’s account: the governor in Malabar, India, sent arabica seedlings to Batavia (now Jakarta) in 1696; they were lost to a flood, but a second shipment in 1699 took root, and in 1711 the VOC shipped the first Java coffee to Europe. The first plantations were in West Java. Under the Cultivation System from 1830 to about 1870, farmers in the Preanger region were forced to grow coffee for the colonial government. Then coffee leaf rust swept through in the late 19th century; the Dutch replaced much of the arabica first with liberica and later with robusta, introduced to East Java in 1900. Java’s Dutch plantations were nationalised in the 1950s and are now run by the state company PTPN.

The Ijen plateau

Java’s arabica is centred on the Ijen plateau, at the eastern end of the island, Wikipedia says. Its five biggest estates, Blawan, Jampit, Pancoer, Kayumas and Tugosari, were built by the Dutch and cover more than 4,000 hectares. They rush ripe cherries to their mills and use the wet process: the pulp is fermented and washed off.

The altitude depends on who you ask:

Altitude	Source
More than 1,400 m (the Ijen plateau)	Wikipedia
About 1,200 m (Java Ijen-Raung arabica in Bondowoso)	Politeknik Negeri Jember thesis, 2025

The coffee on Bondowoso’s side of the mountains grows mainly on Mount Ijen, Mount Raung and Mount Argopuro, Beritajatim reports, and in one local cupping competition growers from Sumberwringin took every arabica prize. Bondowoso regency had 18,885 hectares of coffee and produced 8,439 tonnes in 2025, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS) figures quoted in the Jember thesis.

Old Java

Some Javanese estates age part of their coffee for up to five years, Wikipedia says, in large burlap sacks that are regularly aired, dusted and turned. The beans turn from green to light brown; the coffee loses acidity and gains strength, a thick, almost syrupy body and flavours from cedar to cinnamon or clove. It’s sold as Old Government, Old Brown or Old Java.

Java Preanger

The Priangan (Preanger) highlands of West Java are where the VOC’s first plantations grew. Indonesia’s tourism site calls Java Preanger one of Indonesia’s most historic coffees, with a soft floral aroma, a sweet taste, a little citrus and a clean aftertaste.

How much coffee does Java grow?

Figure	Value	Source
East Java coffee area, 2024	91,740 ha	BPS, via Databoks
East Java share of Indonesia’s coffee, 2021–2025	6.09%	Ministry of Agriculture, via GoodStats
Central Java share, 2021–2025	3.44%	Ministry of Agriculture, via GoodStats

USDA adds that a state-owned company in East Java runs a large robusta plantation, one of the few big estates in a country of smallholders, and that heavy rain at flowering hit robusta in Central Java ahead of the 2026/27 crop.

Java’s protected names

According to Wikipedia’s list, Kopi Arabika Java Ijen-Raung and Kopi Arabika Java Preanger were both registered on 10 September 2013, followed by Java Sindoro Sumbing (2014), Robusta Temanggung (2016) and Robusta Java Bogor (2019).

Java and other Indonesian origins

• Coffee in Indonesia: the whole country, its harvests and its history.
• Kintamani: Bali’s citrusy arabica, next door.
• Kopi joss: Yogyakarta’s charcoal coffee.