This coffee is part of a pilot program introducing the Cup of Excellence (CoE for short) to Asia. A highly sought-after award, it’s handed out to coffee growers that really push the envelope of gourmet coffee in Central America and a few countries in Africa. Indonesia received the privilege of becoming the first Asian country to become part of the movement.

Before the main event, the CoE organizes a preview a year in advance of the official competition and auction. The preview aims to introduce farms to the organization and allows for the judges to go out and sample the top producers in the region for the real competition. This coffee was selected as one of the top finalists of the preview and will compete in the actual CoE next year.

Like Honey Process and coffees that undergo Anaerobic Fermentation, these beans underwent fermentation to not just help remove mucilage from the beans, but to also bring out a wider, more complex range of flavors. Using fermentation to develop flavors is tricky, and with it comes a chance that entire batches becoming what’s called in highly technical coffee-speak, “stinkers”. We’ll let you imagine what that means. On the other side of the spectrum, fermentation brings out bright, complex flavors in coffee like cider, jackfruit, or wine-like dark plum and berry notes.

This CoE nominated coffee pushes the flavors brought out by fermentation to the max, by utilizing two stages of fermentation (for the curious, they use acetic acid bacteria followed by lactic acid bacteria). This doubles the producer’s risk but also creates an incredibly complex layering of flavors you won’t get anywhere else. The result is an exceptionally head-turning coffee that, like blue cheese and kimchee, has ardent fans who will go to any length to obtain and others who won’t come within 30 feet of the stuff. Expect full-bodied flavors of cider, fully-ripe dates and hawthorn with a mild, smooth acidity.