Origin Coffee – Sumatra Mandelhing
Country: Sumatran Mandheling
Region: Aceh Highlands
Process: Washed
Variety: Catimor
Crop Alt: 1300 msm
Mandheling is what the ethnic group that traded coffee was called in the past.
Sumatran coffee is known for a very specific characteristic, the gill-basah or wet-husk process. This process is only used in Indonesia, this is because the relative humidity in the air is too high to dry the cherries before pulping. After hand picking the cherry, farmers process their cherry using the traditional wet hulling method ( gilingbasah). After harvest, the cherry is pulped on or near the farm, in small hand-cranked or motorized pulpers. The coffee is fermented for about 12 hours (in small tanks, buckets or bags) and washed with clean water the next morning. The parchment is dried in the sun for between half a day and two days, depending on the climate, to allow drying of the skin which makes it easier to remove the parchment.
At this juncture the moisture content is between 30-40%. Farmers give their parchment to a collector. Collectors can dip the scroll themselves or sell the scroll to someone who does. These steps become an essential part of the process here because a wet shelling machine, although slightly different, requires a similar investment to a dry sheller. Wet hullers are larger, require more power, and run at a faster speed than a traditional dry huller. Few, if any, individual farmers have their own hullers.
After hulling, the coffee bean is whitish and flexible and is called labu. It is available to dry on tarps or patios, where it is reduced in size and humidity drops to 14-15%. At this stage the green coffee is known as asalan, unclassified and with defects. Much of the internal trade is for Asalan. Exporters, most of whom are based in Medan, will typically finish drying down to 12-13%, grade and prepare for shipment.
Notes: Deep, rustic and sweet character. Caramel, citrus and red fruits
Recommended: Espresso & Filter
