Indonesian coffee is a passion of mine. When I lived there I had the honor of trying coffee from all over the country. They also have an especially excellent specialty coffee scene. I’ve had delicious coffee comparable to the best hipster coffee in California, even inside wet markets in small towns in Java (at a coffee counter..) When I was in Kuala Lumpur last week, I found a small micro-roaster called Blitz and Co inside a coworking space. Aqmal Hadi the owner / roaster is super passionate about his craft. He excitedly showed me a batch of Liberica beans and said ‘bet you haven’t had this before!’ And gave us cup after cup of really delicious coffee. One even smelled like blue cheese! I was so impressed I ordered a kilo. Turns out that these coffee producers in Wonosalam, East Java, just won a national award for best green beans. Aqmal shared his thoughts on why we don’t often hear about specialty coffee using Robusta or Liberica, but he’s bullish on up and coming producers and roasters taking over family businesses and starting new types of production and roasting that will be suitable for ‘third wave’ coffee. East Java is one of my favorite places on earth and I hope to return some time soon. #Coffee #Indonesia #Java