Sumatra Mandheling Fair Trade Organic

About Sumatra Mandheling Fair Trade Organic

Sumatra Mandheling is known for its very heavy, almost syrupy body and its low acidity. This combination makes for a smooth, velvety, yet pronounced cup of coffee. Powerful aroma. Direct and sturdy with nutty flavor. Our current lot is Permato Gayo Cooperative and is both Fair Trade & Organic.

Tradition runs deep in the Bener Meriah regency on the island of Sumatra, renowned for cup profiles and the classic Indonesian style of coffee cultivation and processing. Coffee is cultivated and harvested from farms that average less than 3 acres in size. Producers belong to the Gayonese ethnic group and maintain a traditional village lifestyle that includes houses that resemble ships. Seventy percent of the producers are women who rely on coffee income to support their families.

Each producer carefullysorts their harvested cherries before depulping and fermenting overnight with small micro-mills. Then the coffee is washed and laid out on patios to shed the excess water from the parchment covered beans.  The next step is different from processing in other origins, wherein, the coffee parchment (its husk) is removed while the coffee still has a high moisture content. This wet-hulling process, called Giling Basah in the Indonesian language, leaves the coffee bean exposed while drying on patios to a moisture percentage acceptable for export. This Indonesian processing method gives the raw bean its unique bluish color and the hallmark Indonesian profile.

• Origin: Indonesia
• Region: Sumatra
• Subregion: Aceh
• Producer: Permato Gayo Cooperative
• Altitude: Minimum 4,600 to 5,250 feet
• Processing Method: Wet Hulled
• Drying: Full sun

The coffee grown in this region follows the principle of the conservation, where each coffee is planted with shade trees. This kind of cultivation is rarely found in another region in Indonesia. This coffee has both USDA Organic and Fair Trade certifications. 

Cup Characteristics: Aromas: tobacco, smoky, roasted hazelnut.  Clean flavors include raisin, persimmon with svory, smoky notes. Earthy, nutty and smooth. A sturdy and pronounced but not overbearing body. The coffee's mouthfeel is viscous and tongue coating.

Roasting Notes: C+ to FC are good levels for Sumatra, though it is also highly prized when roasting darker. You will find different taste characteristics at each point: At C+ sweeter, nuttier flavors, less mouthfeel; at FC mouthfeel intensifies and reveals the earthy character; as the coffee roasts longer and caramelizes the body remains with added bittersweet characteristics.