Sumatra – Aceh

This coffee comes from Pak Syahruna, a coffee farmer and collector in the region of Pegasing,  Central Aceh. “Collectors” pay cash for wet parchment from local farmers in the community, then finish processing the coffee to the dry seed – typically wet hulling the coffee (also called “Giling Basah”) – then typically sell the finished green to buyers like us, or exporters. A lot of small farmers belong to cooperatives too, but they might choose to sell their wet coffee (“gabah”) to a collector instead for access to much needed cash during the harvest, or because the collector is simply paying a competitive price for wet coffee (usually both). Pak Syahruna is also a chairman at the local coffee cooperative who provide support to many of the farmers he buys from. Most of the farms in this region are in the 1300 to 1700 meter range, and you see a lot of disease-resistant, high yield Catimor/Timor-hybrid varieties, such as Gayo, and Ateng.

The grounds showed really nice wet hulled characteristics, earth-toned, green herbal accents, backfilled with sweet notes of barley malt syrup, and cocoa. The wet aroma had positive sweetness- sorghum, complex torched sugars, with woodsy accents, and tanned leathery notes. The cup is a culmination of these characteristics. It’s earthy-sweet and rustic, but can also be intensely bittering. The acidity level is on the low end too. This coffee is deeply bittersweet, freighted with dark toned chocolate and cocoa flavors that are sure to punch through cream. High % cacao bar, cocoa nibs, unsweetened baking chocolate, and some charred cedar wood chips in the long finish.