Expat.Roasters: Celebrating hand-selected, Indonesian specialty coffee
Cold Coffee Success Stories is a series that focuses on pioneering companies in the cold coffee space and their unique journeys. Today, we feature Expat.Roasters, a Bali-based specialty coffee roaster that works hand-in-hand with local growers to craft exceptional brews and elevate Indonesian coffee on the global stage.
Indonesia is one of the largest coffee-producing countries on the planet, contributing over 8 million bags of green coffee per year (as much as Ethiopia). However, while consumers tend to associate high-quality coffee with South America and Africa, Southeast Asian coffee can sometimes go unnoticed.
Bali is known for its beautiful beaches, perfect weather, and relaxed island vibe. Since the 1970s, the Indonesian government has been working hard to promote the island as an international tourist destination, and it has paid off.
Over 50 years later, Bali has become a melting pot of expatriate communities from all over the world. Many Australians, Brits, Europeans, Israelis, and South Africans live in Canggu, Ubud, and Kuta.
By building a specialty coffee business in the heart of Bali’s cosmopolitan cities, Expat.Roasters strives to educate and inform the wider coffee community about the unique qualities of Indonesian coffee and why it’s worth seeking.
We spoke to Shae Macnamara, CEO and founder of Expat.Roasters and Australian Coffee and Good Spirits Champion, to learn more about the company’s journey and approach to cold coffee.
Challenging Indonesian coffee preconceptions
Coffee is nothing new to Indonesia – it was one of the first countries in the world to begin growing coffee commercially before much of Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Coffee plants began arriving in Indonesia in the late 1600s, shipped by Dutch traders and colonialists via Yemen for cultivation on the island of Java.
In fact, the term Java has long been synonymous with a cup of coffee in North America, while other key Indonesian origins, like Sumatra and Sulawesi, are household coffee staples. Indonesian coffees are known for their earthy, spicy tones and low acidity, making them approachable as single origins and excellent components for blending.
As specialty coffee culture has developed over the past two decades, an increasing emphasis on origin has emerged, as has an association of quality with Arabica coffee versus its hardier cousin Robusta.
Indeed, many coffee enthusiasts and professionals perceive Robusta as a lesser bean. It is cheaper because it’s easier to grow, generally more bitter, and naturally higher in caffeine. However, it’s crucial to the global coffee market, contributing about 30% of the worldwide coffee volume.
This gets to the heart of the challenge for Indonesian coffee – between 80% and 90% of Indonesian coffee is Robusta, mainly because it thrives at lower altitudes. In Colombia, by comparison, Arabica makes up 75% of the yield; thus, you’re more likely to find single-origin Colombia coffee on your supermarket shelf or in your cup than an Indonesian equivalent.
Expat. is taking an active role in changing this. The company sources 95% of its coffee from smallholders and farmers within 40 kilometres of its headquarters in Bali. The coffee is all Indonesian, high-quality, and expertly processed and roasted.
The company states its goal is to produce an exceptional, unpretentious brew from the ground up. Bali is a perfect setting for transposing an international message. By fostering a local appreciation for the qualities and advantages of locally grown coffee, the company hopes word will spread far beyond the beach.
In some ways, it already has – numerous international brands celebrate Indonesian coffee quality in their own way. Starbucks retails an Indonesian Fair Trade Arabica coffee as a ‘Master Origin,’ Death Wish offers a Valhalla Java blend, and Caribou Coffee’s Caribou Blend highlights Indonesian coffee qualities.
How does Expat.Roasters approach cold coffee?
Given the large expatriate community in Bali, Expat.Roasters needs to appeal to a very diverse coffee-drinking audience. Many Western coffee trends, like specialty coffee, cold coffee, cold brew, and RTD coffee, are relevant to the Westernised bubble that has emerged over the past fifty years.
However, not only Western travellers are seeking cold coffee options – the cold coffee revolution is well underway in multiple Southeast Asian countries. In Thailand, another melting pot of East and West, cold coffee is the number one café beverage choice for both tourists and locals.
In South Korea, the iced americano has been branded South Korea’s unofficial national drink due to its enormous popularity. In Vietnam, ca phe sua da – Vietnamese iced coffee sweetened with condensed milk – is a national staple.
Expat.Roasters has answered the demand for cold coffee options in multiple ways. In its nine Indonesian locations, every menu features hot or cold versions of every black or white coffee you’d expect to find, as well as signature cold coffees. There are also cold brews on offer – in 2024 Expat. launched a line of RTD cold coffee products to introduce an even greater product variety and enhanced portability and convenience. Three flavours are available: black, white and butterscotch oat.
“Our ready-to-drink cold brew cans are designed for the modern coffee lover who values quality, convenience, and sustainability,” says Shae.
“With three special variants, we’re delivering Expat.Roasters’ signature coffee on the go while maintaining our commitment to eco-friendly practices, ensuring every sip is as good for the planet as it is for your day.”
RTD coffee is one of the fastest-growing segments in the broader coffee industry. Expat.’s line of beverages of Indonesian origin is a superb way to highlight further the quality and provenance of the island’s beans and growers, which the company takes incredibly seriously.
Alongside product development, Expat.Roasters continuously updates and improves its corporate social responsibility commitments.
“We take immense pride in the substantial progress we have made to reduce our environmental impact and drive positive change within the coffee industry,” Shae said in a press release.
“Embracing a strong environmental ethos, Expat.Roasters has taken bold strides to reduce its carbon footprint by revolutionising its packaging approach. By shifting from single-use packaging to reusable tins, the company has effectively eliminated the need for thousands of disposable packages.”
As with every step taken by Shae and the team at Expat.Roasters over the past nine years, the foray into RTD coffee has been thoughtful and sustainable. It promises to raise further awareness of the appreciation and celebration of Indonesian coffee and those who work in the local industry.
As more tourists come to Bali, many will carry Expat.Roaster’s message with them when they leave, and Indonesian coffee will gain a few more fans each time.
Visit Cold Brew Pak for sustainable, recyclable, cold brew coffee packaging. We offer numerous packaging solutions for the specialty coffee industry, from bag-in-box multi-serve cold-brew packaging to flexible pouches and customisable aluminium cans.
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Expat.Roasters
