Thanks for looking, Chris. My curiosity was piqued by this article which mentioned it accounted for 2% of all coffee grown, primarily in warm Asian countries, as a possible remedy for global warming. All I could find was one exporter in India. https://www.wired.com/story/liberica-coffee-plants/
edit: this just came in:
Good morning!
At this time, we are not sure when or if we’ll get any in. Please check back at a later date.
I heard about it a few years ago, but not much since. A little more searching turned up that C. Liberica is one component (along with Kent) of a more commonly available hybrid, S-795 known as Jember (because it was supplied by the Jember Coffee Research center in Surabaya) which is grown primarily in Indonesia and India, I believe, and is one of the earliest strains of cultivated, rust-resistant arabica.
Here's what ChatGPT has to say about the taste differences. Take this with an AI sized grain of salt. I tried Googling the taste differences myself without much luck.
Jember is a type of coffee bean that is grown in the Jember region of Indonesia. It is a variety of the Coffea arabica plant, and is known for its unique flavor profile. Some people have described the taste as having notes of chocolate, nuts, and citrus. However, it is different from Liberica coffee which is known for its strong, bold, and smoky flavor. Liberica beans are usually grown in the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia. They tend to be less acidic and have a higher caffeine content than Arabica beans.
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This one has some jember in it, though they don't say how much other than saying "The profile is straight up what you think of when you think of Sumatran coffee, with a bit of pizazz."
INDONESIA SUMATRA MUTU BATAK - GREEN
3 reviews
$ 8.40
SIZE
1 LB
Country: Indonesia
Region: Lintong, Sumatra
Varietal: Ateng, Jember, Garundang, Caturra
Farm: Various Small Shareholders
Process: Wet-Hulled
Altitude: 1,100 - 1,800 MASL
Cupping Notes: Dark Chocolate, Black Cherry, Molasses, Stone Fruit
Recommended Roast:City to Full City+
Good For:Pour Over, Auto Drip, Full Immersion, Blends
thanks for digging up that post Chris, now I want to try it even more. I wonder if the goat/cheese/ranch dressing/Dorito flavors were the result of bad handling of the beans or if it is part of its nature. One reviewer I read mentioned that the beans from the Philippines were atrocious but that the beans acquired from India were very good and complex.
Found this article interesting:
https://coffeeaffection.com/liberian-coffee/
"This is how Liberian coffee made its way to the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia. It was in the Philippines where it shined, however. During the re-cultivation, the Philippines was a province of the United States, who capitalized on the coffee trade.
The Philippines, however, won its independence from the United States shortly after WWII. To keep smaller countries from hoarding the coffee trade, the United States placed harsh restrictions on exports effectively halting the progress of Liberica coffee.
This allowed Malaysia to grow into one of the largest coffee exporters in the world. Today, Malaysia is still the top producer of the Liberica bean with The Philippines, Indonesia, and Libera trailing behind."
There's also a fair amount of Liberica grown in the Philippines. You might try searching for "barako" or "kapeng barako" though you'll find mostly roasted coffee. And yes, there is a brand called Barako-Bama.
As for flavor, you're going to find more fermenty and fruity tastes than anything else. The toughness of the fruit leads to a processing method that is focused more on demaceration than it is on good flavor, and includes soaking the cherry in water for 48 hours or more!
Evan Gilman
Creative Director
Royal Coffee, Inc.
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Good article, interesting that it says that Liberica has lower caffeine and ChatGPT said it has higher caffeine levels. ChatGPT is probably wrong here.
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I got a call from the company that they sold out of the liberica, but they'll be getting more in February so they're going to hold my order for the next shipment.
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Got some Sumatra Mutu Batak from Bodhi and followed this from Sweet Maria's, but washed beans and roasted to Full City:
Stretched Drying City+ – Super juicy and creamy
Creamy is a mouthfeel description indicating thickness and soft, rounded texture. See also buttery.
, very well-structured. The brightness is more integrated into the whole cup with a more melon-like or green grape soft brightness that even had some Guatemala-like black cherryGlossy red ripe cherry at Carlos Imbachis Sweet Marias
Either a flavor in the coffee, or referring to the fruit of the coffee tree, which somewhat resembles a red cherry.: Either a flavor in the coffee, or...
notes in the cool cup through to the finish. Some accents of clove and cinnamon. A very complete cup of coffee with much more depth in the middle and the spice and melon and black cherry.
I approached this one similar to how I would a wet-hulled version, figuring that a stretched drying time would really push the sweetness as well as take some of the citric edge off of the acidity without moving into any of the more roasty characteristics of the Full City version. The results were spot on. The stretching is really a function of both expressing the sweetness as well as best developing the weighted mouthfeel in this coffee. https://library.sweetmarias.com/indonesian-fundamentals-approaches-to-roasting-indonesian-coffees-and-a-look-at-rustic-sweetness/
Thanks for the interview with Dr. Steffen Schwarz, Chris. Now I am also wondering about s795 and Excelsior varieties. It's a little disappointing that the Liberica needs to be processed immediately after picking, I doubt that is happening.
This one came in yesterday, I'll roast some up this weekend. The coffee looked "dusty" probably from broken silverskin, etc. I'll have to clean it up before I roast.
Kellan from New Orleans Coffee Imports was asking me how I heard of their company. Apparently they're pretty small and just recently started from what I gather. Looks like they're focusing on coffee from the Philippines and El Salvador.
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Let me know if you hear back from the folks in New Orleans about restock availability @Yakster . I got this note from a fellow in the Philippines but would prefer to not put him to the trouble of sending from there, the coffee community is almost as wonderful as the cigar one:
The Philippines grows Liberica. It is known here as coffee "Barako" (from the Spanish word varraco which means "stud"). This is an exceptional coffee! I recently bought 30 kilos of dry process and have been home roasting it (in the Philippines where I am currently located). It has slightly less caffeine than Arabica.. The taste I would describe as smoky, chocolatey, rich and intense. The size of the coffee seeds are very large because the cherries are twice the size of Arabica. The first couple of batches I roasted were too light. The outer color was where i wanted it but I realized that since the seeds are so large I needed to roast them longer and darker in order to roast the inside properly..
I do not know if any company in the USA is importing this Barako. Do some research about the coffee online, some useful information about it. It is a very rare coffee. If you would like to try it, maybe I could send you a 1 or 2 lb sample. I don't think there would be any import issues. I could vacuum seal the package.
Comments
I been thinking about it. Coffee may be in short supply in the future.
I am looking for a source for liberica green beans, @peter4jc @Yakster
Not finding any, Edward.
I’ve got some yellow half runner green beans. Don’t think I’ve ever had that kind though.
Thanks for looking, Chris. My curiosity was piqued by this article which mentioned it accounted for 2% of all coffee grown, primarily in warm Asian countries, as a possible remedy for global warming. All I could find was one exporter in India.
https://www.wired.com/story/liberica-coffee-plants/
edit: this just came in:
Good morning!
At this time, we are not sure when or if we’ll get any in. Please check back at a later date.
Thanks,
Jasmine Lee
Customer Service Specialist
Coffee Bean Corral
601-691-5983
I heard about it a few years ago, but not much since. A little more searching turned up that C. Liberica is one component (along with Kent) of a more commonly available hybrid, S-795 known as Jember (because it was supplied by the Jember Coffee Research center in Surabaya) which is grown primarily in Indonesia and India, I believe, and is one of the earliest strains of cultivated, rust-resistant arabica.
Hybrid Info: https://josuma.com/s-795/
Better hybrid info: https://oilslickcoffee.com/library/s795/
Green Coffees with Jember in it, usually mixed with other cultivars:
https://merconspecialty.com/products/ind-spc-sum-gr-1-dp
https://www.roastmasters.com/silimakuta.html
https://www.sweetmarias.com/sumatra-honey-labu-kerinci-pendekar-7373.html
https://www.sweetmarias.com/sumatra-kerinci-pendekar-coop-7370.html
Thank you, Chris, going to check those links out now. Be interesting to see if the hybrid carries unusual flavor or just
Rust resistance.
Here's what ChatGPT has to say about the taste differences. Take this with an AI sized grain of salt. I tried Googling the taste differences myself without much luck.
Jember is a type of coffee bean that is grown in the Jember region of Indonesia. It is a variety of the Coffea arabica plant, and is known for its unique flavor profile. Some people have described the taste as having notes of chocolate, nuts, and citrus. However, it is different from Liberica coffee which is known for its strong, bold, and smoky flavor. Liberica beans are usually grown in the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia. They tend to be less acidic and have a higher caffeine content than Arabica beans.
All this research is going to cost me as I've started shopping green coffee from Indonesia.
This one with notes of dried apricot, hibiscus (cranberry) and almond is tempting me, but it doesn't have any Jember varietals in it, just Gayo.
https://www.bodhileafcoffee.com/collections/green-coffee/products/indonesia-sumatra-super-queen-ketiara-green?variant=43650608234670
This one has some jember in it, though they don't say how much other than saying "The profile is straight up what you think of when you think of Sumatran coffee, with a bit of pizazz."
INDONESIA SUMATRA MUTU BATAK - GREEN
3 reviews
$ 8.40
SIZE
1 LB
Country: Indonesia
Region: Lintong, Sumatra
Varietal: Ateng, Jember, Garundang, Caturra
Farm: Various Small Shareholders
Process: Wet-Hulled
Altitude: 1,100 - 1,800 MASL
Cupping Notes: Dark Chocolate, Black Cherry, Molasses, Stone Fruit
Recommended Roast:City to Full City+
Good For:Pour Over, Auto Drip, Full Immersion, Blends
Old post on Liberica
https://www.home-barista.com/roasting/liberica-coffee-from-sweet-marias-t6188.html#p74033
thanks for digging up that post Chris, now I want to try it even more. I wonder if the goat/cheese/ranch dressing/Dorito flavors were the result of bad handling of the beans or if it is part of its nature. One reviewer I read mentioned that the beans from the Philippines were atrocious but that the beans acquired from India were very good and complex.
Found this article interesting:
https://coffeeaffection.com/liberian-coffee/
"This is how Liberian coffee made its way to the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia. It was in the Philippines where it shined, however. During the re-cultivation, the Philippines was a province of the United States, who capitalized on the coffee trade.
The Philippines, however, won its independence from the United States shortly after WWII. To keep smaller countries from hoarding the coffee trade, the United States placed harsh restrictions on exports effectively halting the progress of Liberica coffee.
This allowed Malaysia to grow into one of the largest coffee exporters in the world. Today, Malaysia is still the top producer of the Liberica bean with The Philippines, Indonesia, and Libera trailing behind."
I broke down and ordered a couple of lbs. of the SUMATRA MUTU BATAK.
My friend Dave (BoldJava) had this to say:
Here's another response:
Here's a link, @silvermouse, to the "Looking for Liberica" thread on Home-Barista where you can see the latest update and check for future updates.
https://www.home-barista.com/roasting/looking-for-liberica-t85010.html
Good article, interesting that it says that Liberica has lower caffeine and ChatGPT said it has higher caffeine levels. ChatGPT is probably wrong here.
got this response from Sweet Maria's:
Info Sweet Maria's Customer Service (sent by erik@sweetmarias.com)
11:43 AM (51 minutes ago)
to me
Hey Edward, thanks for reaching out.
No plans to carry/sell Liberica coffee at the moment, but it's definitely a possibility in the future!
Cheers,
Erik
@silvermouse, Home-Barista thread paid off. No idea of quality.
https://www.neworleanscoffeeimports.com/greenbeans
I got a call from the company that they sold out of the liberica, but they'll be getting more in February so they're going to hold my order for the next shipment.
Got some Sumatra Mutu Batak from Bodhi and followed this from Sweet Maria's, but washed beans and roasted to Full City:
Creamy is a mouthfeel description indicating thickness and soft, rounded texture. See also buttery.
, very well-structured. The brightness is more integrated into the whole cup with a more melon-like or green grape soft brightness that even had some Guatemala-like black cherryGlossy red ripe cherry at Carlos Imbachis Sweet Marias
Either a flavor in the coffee, or referring to the fruit of the coffee tree, which somewhat resembles a red cherry.: Either a flavor in the coffee, or...
notes in the cool cup through to the finish. Some accents of clove and cinnamon. A very complete cup of coffee with much more depth in the middle and the spice and melon and black cherry.
I approached this one similar to how I would a wet-hulled version, figuring that a stretched drying time would really push the sweetness as well as take some of the citric edge off of the acidity without moving into any of the more roasty characteristics of the Full City version. The results were spot on. The stretching is really a function of both expressing the sweetness as well as best developing the weighted mouthfeel in this coffee.
https://library.sweetmarias.com/indonesian-fundamentals-approaches-to-roasting-indonesian-coffees-and-a-look-at-rustic-sweetness/
Friday lattes with the Friday crew.
@Yakster said:
He mentions that S-795 "Jember" has "really beautiful berry notes and the sweetness" from the Liberica.
He also mentions some potential sources for getting Liberica at the end of the video.
Thanks for the interview with Dr. Steffen Schwarz, Chris. Now I am also wondering about s795 and Excelsior varieties. It's a little disappointing that the Liberica needs to be processed immediately after picking, I doubt that is happening.
This one came in yesterday, I'll roast some up this weekend. The coffee looked "dusty" probably from broken silverskin, etc. I'll have to clean it up before I roast.
Kellan from New Orleans Coffee Imports was asking me how I heard of their company. Apparently they're pretty small and just recently started from what I gather. Looks like they're focusing on coffee from the Philippines and El Salvador.
Schwartz, from the video, is affiliated with Amarella Trading, focusing on coffee from India.
https://www.amarella.com/en/blog/liberica-the-forgotten-kind
https://www.amarella.com/en/blog/liberica-the-forgotten-kind
Amarella has India s795 but crop 2018-2019 and only available in 30 kilo bags plus shipping charges from Germany....
Bag split, anybody?
Trapped in the People's Communist Republic of Massachusetts.
Let me know if you hear back from the folks in New Orleans about restock availability @Yakster . I got this note from a fellow in the Philippines but would prefer to not put him to the trouble of sending from there, the coffee community is almost as wonderful as the cigar one:
The Philippines grows Liberica. It is known here as coffee "Barako" (from the Spanish word varraco which means "stud"). This is an exceptional coffee! I recently bought 30 kilos of dry process and have been home roasting it (in the Philippines where I am currently located). It has slightly less caffeine than Arabica.. The taste I would describe as smoky, chocolatey, rich and intense. The size of the coffee seeds are very large because the cherries are twice the size of Arabica. The first couple of batches I roasted were too light. The outer color was where i wanted it but I realized that since the seeds are so large I needed to roast them longer and darker in order to roast the inside properly..
I do not know if any company in the USA is importing this Barako. Do some research about the coffee online, some useful information about it. It is a very rare coffee. If you would like to try it, maybe I could send you a 1 or 2 lb sample. I don't think there would be any import issues. I could vacuum seal the package.