Limited Release No. 40: Tongkonan, Sulawesi

Long time fans of Kaladi know we love our Sulawesi coffees! We don’t get to have it very often but when we see a really good one come along we snap it up!

Our special selection of triple-picked, wet-hulled coffee is sourced from traditional smallholder farmers in the highlands of South and West Sulawesi, in the Mamasa, Toraja, and Enrekang regions. The name Tongkonan is taken from the traditional homes of the Toraja people that dot the landscape. This coffee is grown at higher altitudes than most Indonesian coffee in deep jungle-like forests rather than large farms giving the coffee a rustic, complex flavor.

History of Coffee in Sulawesi

Although coffee was first planted successfully on Java around 1700, cultivation spread slowly throughout what would become the great archipelagic state of Indonesia, and did not arrive on Sulawesi, then called Celebes, until 1750, after the coffee of Java had performed its role as progenitor to the coffees of Central America and begun its ascent to being considered, alongside Arabian Mocha, as one of the best coffees in the world. Somewhat parenthetically, it should be noted that nearly all coffee from any island in the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) was considered “Java” until the early 20th century, so Celebes/Sulawesi has no real history on the consumption side of coffee prior to that time.

The coffees from the Kalossi region gained early recognition in the specialty coffee trade for their deep, rich body. These coffees are often marketed as “Celebes Kalossi” and are highly sought after still today. The coffees from this region are generally from estate style farms as opposed to the coffees from the Toraja region which are more often sourced from wild jungle conditions, making the coffee more complex. While some consider the terms Celebes Kalossi and Sulawesi Toraja interchangeable, the coffees are very different in character.