background knowledge

Orang Utan coffee is a coffee project from Sumatra. The project supports local coffee farmers in improving living and growing conditions. We roasted these beans for espresso.

The Project
The Orang Utan Project is committed to the sustainable cultivation of coffee in the rainforest without exploiting it. Since the rainforest has shrunk significantly in recent years, and flora and fauna, as well as our climate, are under massive threat, this coffee project is particularly important to us:

The Orang Utan coffee comes from the Gayo Highlands, in Central Aceh, just north of the equator. This coffee is as rare as it is delicate in its flavor profile and tastes great both as a filter and as an espresso. The diversity of the rainforest offers a special climate that Sumatra needs for its unique Arabica coffees. The outstanding Arabica trees thrive mainly on the steep slopes of the crater, where the growing conditions are optimal thanks to the adjacent rainforest.

The rainforest is the habitat of many endangered species - including the Sumatran orangutan. The ongoing destruction of tropical rainforests threatens its existence - but also that of the farmers. It is therefore important that small farmers recognize the importance of the rainforest for their livelihood and protect it.
The Orang Utan Coffee Growers manage their coffee farms according to the strict Orang Utan guidelines, which are a combination of the Indonesian national standards for organic farming SNI and are essentially similar to the Swiss standards for organic farming.

The farms
The Orangutan Coffee Project aims at a holistic, sustainable approach that focuses on social responsibility and the protection of tropical rainforests with their unique biodiversity and their important role in global climate protection: This project brings together only small farmers who have owned one or two hectares for several generations. The following are the basic rules under which the orangutan farmers operate:
– they do not use agricultural chemicals such as artificial fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides.
– agree not to clear tropical rainforest to expand their farmland.
– undertake not to hunt, capture or trade protected animal or plant species.

For more information, please visit the project website .

Indonesia as a growing area
Coffee has been grown in Indonesia since the 16th century. The first coffee plants are said to have been a gift from the Dutch governor of Malabar in India to the governor of Jakarta. However, the ship sank in a flood off Jakarta in 1696. The governor was sent a second shipment, which (obviously) arrived in 1699.

Another special feature of Indonesian coffees is their very different taste. The growing conditions are also very difficult, so many Robusta varieties are grown here, as they are more resilient than Arabica coffee plants. A widely used processing method is semi-washed, which gives the coffees in the cup a strong body with little acid.