The distinctive and unique taste of Kalosi Enrekang coffee a.k.a. Coffea arabica making it one of the world’s best coffees.
The characteristics of this special coffee is having the best acidity, smoothness, and softness overall. This type of coffee is very popular, especially in Japan, the US, and Germany.
Arabica Kalosi coffee is picked from the coffee plantation in Bone-bone, a village in the foothills of Latimojong.
The coffee was awarded the title of national best arabica coffee in the 2008 Specialty Coffee Indonesian 2008. The coffee was also competed with 34 other types of coffee in the Indonesian Coffee Festival (ICF) 2014 in Bali, on October.
The footprint of Kalosi coffee on the Earth of Celebes is a long history. Latimojong mountain area is known as an ancient region on the Sulawesi island, the oldest island of the archipelago. Coffee plantations is located at an altitude of 1,000 to 2,000 meters above sea level.
A professor of Agriculture Faculty from the University of Hasanuddin, Professor Badron Zakaria, said that this type of coffee is ideally grow in microclimate, the cold air condition is four degree Celsius in dry and cold climate.
International Coffee Organization has declared the Tipika arabica of Kalosi coffee as one of the world’s best coffee that face extinction. The 250-year-old parent tree can still be found in Enrekang and Toraja.
“It is an asset because it is endemic to Celebes, therefore we need to focus on the preservation,” he said when met last month.
Some efforts have been made to preserve the coffee. According to Badron, he and his team had organized experiment on side-grafting technique on 30 hectares of coffee plants in Bunging, Enrekang.
The coffee has low productivity in nature and thus disliked by farmers. This contribute to its endangered status.
Genetic coffee researchers from the University of Hasanuddin Andi Ilham Latunra have also put on rescue efforts by developing tissue culture technology on the 250-year-old coffee plant. Andi’s method have resulted on 50 elite coffee seeds.
