Central Java (Jlegong)
JB Coffee
The village of Jlegong sits tucked into the slopes of Mount Temanggung in Central Java, Indonesia. A landscape of mist, volcanic soil, and dense agroforestry, where coffee is not a monoculture, but part of a living ecosystem. Canephora, Arabica, and Liberica grow side by side with spices, fruit trees, and shade plants. The soil is mineral-rich, the humid climate, the days warm and the nights cool. Conditions made for coffee. Temanggung is not a widely known name on the world map of specialty coffee. But here, in this small village, one producer is doing something rare: weaving tradition and transformation together and turning the coffee world on its head.
Reza Nurullah’s story is one in a million. There were periods in his life when he struggled with drug addiction and lived on the street, at rock bottom, without a way forward. That is what makes it more remarkable that in 2025 he was awarded “Most Influential Producer Indonesia” at JICC. His motto, “Your opinion is not my reality,” is not marketing. It is lived experience. Reza is approachable, calm, alert, always a few steps ahead. Coffee and working with nature are a healing source of inspiration for him, he says. Today, his impact reaches far beyond his family and his village. He is shaping a whole generation of producers around the globe. His path from the street to the summit of coffee is not a metaphor. It is a film-worthy reality, carried by discipline, curiosity, and the steady, unshakable passion of a truly singular person.
Reza’s coffees sit beyond familiar categories. Liberica, Arabica, Canephora, Dewevrei (Excelsa). He works with every Coffea species he can get his hands on. His processing techniques are inspired by Diego Bermúdez, the Colombian innovator. But while Bermúdez, in the land of the Colombian Milds, is bound to Arabica, Reza’s curiosity has no borders. What happens in Jlegong feels close to alchemy: multi-stage fermentations with yeasts, hops, and most, precisely controlled, radically thought through. His coffees taste like green tea, like clean fruit, like something entirely new. No wonder they have made it onto world championship stages. And no wonder Reza’s coffee is served, among others, at Julith, the Dubai roastery that purchased the most expensive coffee in the world in 2025.
When we first tasted Reza’s coffee in 2023 at Canephorum, through the connection with Mik, our partner and the author of IWYFFCOTM and Canephora/Robusta, we were honestly confused. How can coffee taste so intensely like green tea and fruit? Was something added? It took two years and a visit on site to understand what we were holding in the cup. In Jlegong, Reza guided us through his agroforest, explained his processes, and proudly smoked his own homegrown tobacco. Nothing was staged. Everything was real. In that moment, it became clear: we were not standing in front of an “experimental producer,” but in front of one of the most influential coffee producers of our time.
Our partnership with Reza is far more than an addition to our portfolio. It is a statement. Reza stands for a new wave in coffee, one that finally leaves the Arabica monopoly in specialty coffee behind. A wave that does not tie excellence to a species, but to attitude, knowledge, and courage. His work opens the door to a world where Coffea diversity is not a niche, but the future. For producers, roasteries, baristas, and drinkers alike, Reza’s path is both inspiration and invitation. He shows what becomes possible when you ignore convention and follow your own reality. For us, one thing is clear: if you want to understand where coffee is heading, you cannot look past Reza Nurullah.
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