Sumatra is among the great romance coffees around the globe.
It isn‘t simply the Indonesian island of Sumatra embodies a Conradian romance
from the unfamiliar. Once it is at its best the coffee itself suggests
intrigue, using its complexity, its weight without heaviness, and an acidity
that resonates deep within the heart from the coffee, enveloped in richness,
instead of confronting the palate the instant we lift the cup.
Sumatra Lintong and Mandheling. This praise applies mainly
towards the finest from the traditional arabica coffees of northern Sumatra,
the very best of those sold under the marketplace names Lintong and Mandheling.
Lintong properly describes only coffees grown inside a relatively small region
just southwest of Lake Toba inside the kecamatan or district of Lintongnihuta.
Small plots of coffee are scattered over a higher, undulating plateau of
fern-covered clay. The coffee is grown without shade, but additionally without
chemicals of any kind, and almost entirely by small holders. Mandheling is a
far more comprehensive designation, referring both to Lintong coffees and also
to coffees grown under similar conditions inside the regency of Diari, north of
Lake Toba.
Sellers often label Lintong and Mandheling coffees
dry-processed. Actually, the fruit usually is faraway from the bean by a number
of hybrid methods. The foremost prevalent is really a backyard version from the
wet method. The farmers remove the skins from their little crops of coffee
cherries immediately after picking using rickety pulping machines ingeniously
constructed from scrap metal and wood and bicycle parts. The skinned, slimy
beans are then allowed to ferment overnight in woven plastic bags. Each morning
the fruit pulp or mucilage, loosened from the overnight fermentation, is washed
from the beans by hand. The coffee (now in its parchment skin ) is given a
preliminary drying on sheets inside the farmer’s front yard. The parchment skin
will be removed by machine with a middleman’s warehouse and also the coffee is
further dried. Finally, the coffee is trucked right all the way down to the
port city of Medan, where It‘s dried a third and last time.
It‘s reported that elsewhere inside the Mandheling area the
mucilage is simply allowed to dry upon the bean following the skins happen to
be removed, much as is performed using the semi-washed coffees of Brazil.
Thereafter the dried mucilage and parchment skin are removed by machine and
also the coffee subjected to a similar two-phase drying, first in the
middleman’s warehouse, then in the exporter’s facility in Medan.
Processing and Sumatra Character. I get into these
procedures in such detail since it is not clear just simply the amount from the
unique character of Lintong- and Mandheling-style coffee derives from soil and
climate as well as how much from these unusual processing techniques and also
the prolonged three-step drying. Something you need is certain : These
procedures produce a sporadically splendid yet extremely uneven product, and
just relentless hand sorting in the exporters’ warehouses in Medan assures the
deep body and unique low-toned richness from the Lintong / Mandheling origins
emerge intact coming from the distractions of dirty-tasting beans along with
other taints.
Some admirers of Sumatra enjoy certain of those flavor
taints. Earthy Sumatras, which grab the taste of fresh clay from having been
dried on the earth, are popular among some coffee drinkers. Musty Sumatras,
which acquire the rather hard, mildewy taste of old shoes inside a damp closet,
will also be attractive to some palates.
Sumatra Gayo Mountain, Aceh. Less famous than Lintong and
Mandheling are arabicas from Aceh, the province in the northernmost tip of
Sumatra. Aceh coffees are grown inside the lovely mountain basin surrounding
Lake Tawar and also the town of Takengon. All are grown in shade and almost all
without chemicals.
Processing methods vary widely with Aceh coffees, however,
as do flavor profiles. Many are processed by small farmers using the standard
Sumatran backyard washed method. These coffees resemble Lintong / Mandheling
coffees, and probably often are sold therefore from the Medan exporters.
However the Aceh coffees most prone to reach North American
specialty stores derive from a big mill near Takengon. The mill’s Gayo Mountain
Washed Arabica is processed using a meticulous wet method following
international standards, and it is certified organic using a Dutch agency. Gayo
Mountain Washed ranges from thin and grassy to sweet and subtly rounded, a
higher-toned, lighter-bodied version from the Lintong / Mandheling flavor
profile.
The Gayo mill also markets coffees which have been processed
from the semi-dry method, during which the outer skin from the coffee fruit is
removed and also the beans, still covered with sticky mucilage, are sun-dried.
These often excellent coffees offer an attractive compromise between Gayo
Mountain Washed and also the resonant weight from the traditional Lintong /
Mandheling. Such coffees are marketed as Gayo Unwashed. The final term is
really a bit misleading. (Did the beans forget to bring a bath? ) A far more
accurate description could be Gayo Semi-Dry.
The Infamous Kopi Luak. Luak coffee is just one of those
snicker-rich stories beloved of newspaper writers and party raconteurs. This
gourmet curiosity consists (ostensibly ) of coffee beans which have been
excreted using a smallish animal called a luak or palm civet following the luak
has consumed (and digested ) the coffee fruit that previously enveloped those
beans. Apparently villagers in elements of Sumatra both gather the beans from
wild luak excrement along with feed coffee fruit to luaks kept in cages.
Owing to some production method that‘s clearly limited in
volume, Kopi Luak is really a rare coffee that demands by far the very best
price of any coffee on the planet market — currently around $300 per pound
retail roasted.
Note the luak-assisted approach to picking and processing
coffee Isn‘t so outlandish because it first may sound. Presumably the luak,
like all good coffee picker, chooses only ripe coffee cherries to consume. And
recall that inside the classic wet approach to coffee preparation, a measure
involves allowing natural enzymes and bacteria to literally ferment or digest
much from the fruit coming from the beans.
