CELEBES
Celebes, also commonly known as Sulawesi, is one of the smoothest and most heavily-bodied coffees in the world. This is the perfect roast for those looking for a high-end specialty coffee with low acidity. The cup is complex for a single-origin coffee. It is spicy in the front with allspice and smoke notes. The notes of bakers chocolate appear in the middle of the cup. Toward the tail end of the cup there is a maple syrup sweetness that fades into the long, chocolate and spice finish.
Roast Color: Dark
Cupping Notes: Baker's Chocolate, Allspice, Maple Syrup
Story: The Torajan tribe, living in the central mountain region of the South Sulawesi province, continue to maintain a traditional village lifestyle that includes houses that resemble boats. The growing region has a complex geography that includes humid low-land rice paddies flanked by thousand-foot rock walls capped in perpetual mist. Coffee is grown in this geographic wonderland at elevations that reach 2000 MASL, considered to be some of the highest growing elevations in all of Indonesia. In recent years, producers who cultivate and harvest coffee on farms that average less than 3 acres in size have been organizing and building community micro-mills to improve their processing standards. At these mills, each producer carefully sorts their harvested cherries, depulps, ferments overnight, washes, and lays wet parchment out on patios to shed water. Next the coffee takes a detour from the conventional path of processing in other origins, wherein, the coffee parchment is removed while the coffee still has a high moisture content. This wet-hulling process, called Giling Basah in the Indonesian language, leaves the coffee bean exposed while drying on patios to a moisture percentage acceptable for export and gives the bean its unique bluish color and the hallmark Indonesian profile. Local producer groups have also begun to partner with regional exporters like Indokom to overcoming logistical challenges like rugged roads and lack of infrastructure. Indokom provides logistics and milling facilities, which improves traceability and quality control throughout the post-harvest process, as well as, the ability to swiftly bring the coffee to the international market, ensuring greater producer earnings from direct trade relationships.
Best coffee in the East Bay!
Celebes (Sulawesi) is our new favorite, now that we have found it. We alternate with Sumatra. Sometimes we blend the two. Celebes has a wonderful terroir. It has a soft, complex, earthy finish. No detectable acid at all which is perfect for my taste. Doesn't have the top notes of Sumatra, which is why we alternate them. If you like Sumatra you should try Celebes. It may be your new favorite.
But full bodied and low acid. All of Mclaughlin's dark roasts are so good, I alternate between about four different beans and blends and Celebes is one of my regulars.
...Celebes is for you. It is deep, dark, and rich, and fully round in flavor. I had been ordering Max's Blend, but was missing something fuller--although I'd never turn down a cup of Max's. Celebes did it for me--it is perfect.
We have been enjoying Celebes Torah for literally decades from another roaster. Unfortunately, that roaster is going to quit providing Celebes, so we're looking. This variety dark roasted tasted almost burnt and seemed quite harsh. Sadly, the search continues.
Celebes is the only coffee we purchase and I also buy it for my office as well. We love a dark roast and like to make our coffee strong. The best thing about the Celebes is that it is not acidic for a dark roast.
We don't always purchase directly through McLaughlin because our friends own a cafe and they carry the Celebes so we buy from them for our home use.
I have had other McLaughlin roasts and they were also good but the Celebes is the BEST!
I recently re-ordered Celebes and Max's Blend and don't feel what I received measures up to past orders at all. Instead of the subtle but complicated aroma and flavor that I expected, with a clear difference between the two brands, what I received seems like a rather blunt Italian Roast under two different names.
This coffee has been my only choice over the past couple of years. It's been very consistent in performance and quality. I use it for cold brewing, allowing a full 24 hours of room temperature soak with 55g of coffee to 935g of water. I've found it develops best with that timing and those conditions. Regarding taste, a very dark chocolate aspect is the first thing I detect, but it quickly melts into a solid molasses flavor. There is a floral aspect that may be hoplike, but it's mild and doesn't lend to bitterness. This is, quite simply, a very solid coffee. I highly recommend giving it a try.
Although it's a dark roast (which I very much like), this coffee also has a light. sweet finish. Lovely.
I love Celebes -- it is exactly as described. I especially love the low (or no!) acidity and the fact that it's strong without being overbearing -- just damn good coffee. This is REAL coffee, for true coffee lovers, the way it used to be. I've been a steady Sumatra drinker, but I tried this one and I love it! (I still love Sumatra, but this one is a nice change if you want to try something else...)
