Description

Location: Lake Toba, Sumatra, Indonesia

Altitude: 3900 – 4450 FT

Varietals: Timtim, Bourbon, Catimor

Process: Wet Hulled

Drying: Sun-Dried on Patios

Harvest: September – April

Sumatra is the western-most island of Indonesia and the largest producer of coffee in this nation.  Coffee Arabica was first introduced to the island of Java in Indonesia via Ceylon (Sri Lanka) by the Dutch Colinial Government in the early 1700s.  Although coffee rust disease swept through Indonesia in the early 1870s, the trees were replanted and by the late 1800s coffee production was expanded to the North Sumatra highlands surrounding Lake Toba.  Arabica coffee from North Sumatra generally uses the trade name Mandheling, a derivation of the name of the Mandailing people from the Tapanuli region of Sumatra.  Today over 90% of the coffee production occurs on smallholder farms averaging almost 2.5 acres where the coffee is handpicked and initial processing takes place using the unique wet-hulled process.  The blending of coffees from various smallholder producers combined with the wet hulling process technique used in Sumatra are credited with creating the complex and distinguishing characteristics this coffee is best known for.