We were recently offered this new crop regional coffee from Sumatra and upon first inspection, before we roasted and cupped it, we were very impressed by its beautiful, deep green color, and its excellent preparation. Subsequent cupping revealed this to be an outstanding cup of coffee, velvety and especially clean, from a country not always known for its clean cups. We immediately bought enough to last for a while and knew that this would be a relationship to foster, providing quality remained this high in future. This unique coffee comes from the Northern Sumatra micro region of Lintong, on the South West side of Toba Lake (popular tourist destination in Sumatra) and is about eight hours of driving from Medan, the capital of the province. Arabica coffee generally grows between 4,000 and 5,200 feet here. This is the area where the "Batak" people live, as they are collectively known. Batak people were animists and articles account them as cannibals before western missionaries introduced Christianity beginning in the early 19th century and continuing for about a hundred years; today this is the dominant religion. The coffee growing process in Lintong is a traditional one, with strong cultural ties to the Batak. While not formally certified as organic, chemical fertilizer is unknown to these farmers. Coffee parchment and manure are used as fertilization of coffee plants is and this is typical, an unwritten standard, which can be seen in almost every family backyard within the region. These are really small farms with many participants involved in an all natural process.All of the coffee farmers here join their efforts as part of a cooperative. Some of this Lintong coffee makes its way to Medan, eight hours away, where it is usually blended with coffee from other parts of Sumatra where it is labeled as Mandheling, with which coffee folks are familiar. Mandheling is an old term given by the Dutch Indies to identify the whole area of North Sumatra (about the size of Guatemala), thus the growing area(s) is not specific. This Lintong coffee is from a specific region, grown and processed in a specific way, so in terms of taste, character and consistency, there is an identifiable difference between a specific Lintong and a generic Mandheling. The local processing is wet hulling. This process in general will give more body and often more of the "character" that makes the coffee so appealing and unique. In this process, the parchment coffee (green coffee beans inside their husk) are partially dried, then stripped of the outer layer, revealing a white-colored and swollen green bean. Drying is completed on the patio and after several days the beans turn to a dark green color. This coffee is amongst the greenest we have seen. Cup Characteristics: Very clean. Mouthfeel is silky, velvety and coats the tongue like dark chocolate. Heavily bodied but not cloying. Roasting Notes: This coffee is optimal at Full City but can be successfully roasted throughout the entire range of C+ to French. At the lighter end some of the body will be sacrificed. This origin can produce dark roasts with a lot of depth but our own tastes lean substantially to FC for this coffee. On a Behmor, where you cannot roast any coffee dark, we suggest P3.
| Volume Price |
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| Pounds | Price LB |
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| 1 | $7.89 | | 2-4 | $7.50 | | 5-19 | $7.10 | | 20+ | $6.31 |
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