The volcanic island of Java is home to over half the Indonesian population, and is in fact the world's most-populous island. It was the center of the Indonesian struggle for independence during the 1930’s and 1940’s, and the country’s capital city, Jakarta, is on its northwestern coast. Java was the first place where Indonesian coffee was grown, starting in the 17th century, and by the early 20th century, Javanese coffee had gained global popularity. Thus, the name "Java" has now become a synonym for coffee in popular culture. Unfortunately, most of the smallholder farmers tasked with growing Javanese cacao are limited to selling their crop to huge chocolate manufacturers, who pay low prices & don’t pay much attention to quality.

Java is a cacao variety cultivated in Indonesia, adapted to tropical Asian growing conditions and representing a distinct genetic and geographic expression. It is valued by makers exploring non-American cacao origins and building geographically diverse sourcing strategies. Java is the most populous island of Indonesia, also lending its name to one of the country’s most well-known strains of cacao. The strain is characterized by its overt smokiness and light cocoa flavor, yet full and complex body. This is in part thanks to the island’s humid and often rainy climate, which forces most Javanese farmers to actually smoke-dry their beans. Such an approach has likely been done on the island for centuries, as long as cacao has had a place on Javanese plantations. Sometime in the late 1800’s, Mesoamerican criollo cacao made its way to Java. Over time, cacaos brought to the island from other parts of the world have cross-pollinated to form a light-colored, genetically criollo-heavy cacao strain unique to Java. Combined with the smoke-drying typical of the island, Java cacao has become a regional genetic blend prized around the world.