Esther Singer, PhD

Founder, Segara Coffee · Environmental Scientist


I’m Esther Singer, founder of Segara Coffee and an environmental scientist by training.
Before coffee became my work, I spent years studying the relationships between plants, microorganisms, soils, and their environments. My research career included work at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, followed by leadership roles in biotechnology and product development.
That scientific background still shapes the way I think about coffee.
Coffee is an agricultural product before it is a beverage. Variety, soil, climate, elevation, farming practices, harvest, processing, roasting, and brewing all leave their mark on what eventually reaches the cup.

Why Indonesia

Indonesia is also personal to me.

My mother is Indonesian, and my connection to the country eventually led me deeper into its coffee-growing communities. Through Segara, I now focus exclusively on Specialty Arabica from Indonesia, working directly with producers and exploring coffees that reveal just how diverse Indonesian coffee can be.

Some are floral and bright. Others are deep, smooth, spicy, fruity, or remarkably delicate. Different islands can produce dramatically different coffees—and different varieties grown surprisingly close together can produce dramatically different cups.

That diversity is at the heart of Segara.

Science, agriculture, and the cup

In the Segara Journal, I write about the questions that sit behind the coffee we drink: why coffees taste different, how varieties develop, what processing changes, how growing environments influence the plant, and how roasting and brewing reveal—or obscure—those characteristics.

I also share stories from the people and places behind our coffees.

My goal is to make what is already there easier to see—and more interesting to taste.

Selected Writing

Explore the Segara Journal