SPECIFICATIONS Origin: Sulawesi Selatan Name: Toraja Arabica Coffee, Celebes Coffee. Quality: Grade 1 Area: 1.500 - 1.800 M (Miallo North Toraja) Process: Semi Washed Moisture: 12,5% - 13,5% The history of coffee cultivation in the northern parts of South Sulawesi is a mystery. It is not known when the inhabitants started to cultivate coffee and how coffee arrived. Itâ??s only known that coffee was cultivated well before the Colonial period, hundreds of years ago. The most famous part of the coffee area in Sulawesi (previously called Celebes) is Toraja, which is the center of the coffee production area and located near the highest points of the Sesean Mountains. Torajan people are descendants of Indochinese (possibly Cambodian) oceanic traders who crossed the sea to settle in the Sulawesi highlands and take up agriculture. They are a very independent ethnic group which has managed to maintain their cultural identity, reflected in their language, social manners and religion, called Aluk To Dolo, the way of the Ancestors. They build their homes, called Tongkonan, in the shape of their original boats. Great craftsmanship and attention to detail is very evident in these buildings. The detail and precision are also reflected in their coffee crop. Toraja is known for producing one of the best Arabica coffees in the world and is grown on the island of Sulawesi. Until the late 1980â??s, the entire annual crop amounted to 400 tons of Toraja and 200 tons of Rantepao. The exclusive original varieties cost about $12 per pound. Since the cultivation of coffee has increased substantially, the price has gone down, but the exclusivity of the cup quality remains. Cooperative Petani Kopi Organik Toraja consists of 570 farmers, with small plots locally known as gardens, averaging 1 hectare each. This coffee has always been organic by default. The coffee is harvested today as it was in the past, organically. These farmers are now part of the first organic certified coffee Cooperative in Sulawesi, Petani Kopi Organik Toraja, thus receiving a premium for their coffees. Their goal is to produce the best organic Sulawesi Toraja Arabica and improve the livelihood of all of the farmers and their families, socially and economically. To ensure health, luck and prosperity for the farming families, the coffee jute bags are all marked with the symbol of the sun, or Bariallo.
