Coffee has always been more than a drink. Across continents, it is a ritual, a livelihood, a moment of pause, and often, a quiet marker of cultural exchange. In recent years, as climate change reshapes how and where coffee can grow, conversations around coffee are shifting—from taste and origin to resilience, adaptation, and the people behind the cup.
One of the most intriguing voices entering this conversation comes from Indonesia, a country often associated with classic Arabica and Robusta, but home to a far wider and lesser-known diversity of coffee varieties. Among them is Rimba Excelsa, a rare coffee that challenges conventional assumptions about quality, altitude, and climate.
Excelsa coffee represents less than one percent of global coffee production. Botanically derived from Liberica var. dewevrei, it thrives in conditions that would stress many mainstream coffee varieties—higher temperatures, lower altitudes, and marginal soils. In a warming world, these characteristics are no longer niche curiosities; they are increasingly relevant.
Grown in Lampung, Indonesia, at elevations of approximately 200–400 meters above sea level, Rimba Excelsa offers a sensory profile that surprises even seasoned coffee drinkers. Naturally processed, it delivers a bold body, pronounced floral notes, and a distinctive jackfruit-like character—aromatic, slightly wild, and unmistakably different. It is not a coffee that tries to imitate Arabica. Instead, it insists on being itself.
But beyond flavour, Rimba Excelsa tells a broader story about how coffee-producing communities are adapting to environmental change. Indonesia, like many countries across the Global South, relies heavily on smallholder farmers. These farmers are often the first to feel the effects of shifting rainfall patterns, rising temperatures, and unstable yields. Rather than expanding farmland, which carries environmental costs, many initiatives now focus on improving productivity and resilience within existing landscapes.
According to Indonesian coffee expert Moelyono Soesilo, a member of the Association of Indonesian Coffee Exporters (AEKI), the future of coffee depends less on finding new land and more on rethinking how existing land is cultivated. Farmer education, good agricultural practices, and generational knowledge transfer have shown that productivity can improve significantly without environmental expansion. In some cases, yields can reach two to three tons per hectare through better pruning, fertilisation, and plant rejuvenation alone.
These conversations resonate far beyond Indonesia. Across Africa, including in Southern Africa, coffee culture continues to evolve—driven not only by producers, but also by roasters, café communities, and consumers who are increasingly curious about where their coffee comes from and how it is grown. While South Africa is not a major coffee producer, its vibrant specialty coffee scene plays an important role in shaping taste, storytelling, and ethical conversations around sourcing.
This is where coffees like Rimba Excelsa become culturally significant. They invite drinkers to look beyond familiar categories and ask different questions: What makes a coffee valuable? Is it altitude, rarity, flavour, or resilience? And how do we support farming communities navigating climate uncertainty while preserving cultural identity?
Indonesia’s approach places coffee within a wider cultural and social context. Rather than presenting coffee solely as an export commodity, initiatives led by organisations such as the Indonesian Coffee Development and Education Foundation (KAPPI) frame coffee as a living heritage—shaped by landscape, tradition, and human connection. Through education, research, and farmer empowerment, KAPPI works to strengthen long-term sustainability while keeping local knowledge at the centre of global conversations.
At international gatherings like the Marrakech Festival, where Rimba Excelsa has recently been introduced to broader audiences, the emphasis is not on volume or competition, but on exchange. These spaces allow producers, practitioners, and coffee lovers from different regions to share experiences, challenges, and ideas—particularly around climate resilience and the future of coffee culture.
In a world where coffee is increasingly homogenised, rare varieties like Excelsa offer a reminder that diversity still matters. They encourage curiosity, slow appreciation, and a deeper respect for the ecosystems and communities behind each cup. For café-goers, roasters, and writers alike, they also open space for new narratives—ones that connect Africa and Asia, tradition and innovation, flavour and sustainability.
As climate realities continue to reshape agriculture globally, the future of coffee may well depend on how willing we are to listen to these quieter stories. Not every solution will come from the highest mountains or the most famous origins. Sometimes, it grows closer to the forest floor, in places that have always adapted, waited, and endured.