Sumatra Mandheling Grade 1
Channel: Old Bisbee Roasters
Date: 2015-04-21

Now Roasting: http://www.oldbisbeeroasters.com/Sumatra-Mandheling-Grade-1-p/sumatra_new.htm

ABOUT THIS COFFEE

GROWER: Smallholder farmers from North Sumatra
REGION: North Sumatra, Sumatra, Indonesia
ALTITUDE: 975 – 1,800 meters
PROCESS: Wet-Hulled
VARIETY: Typica, Catimor, and Bourbon
HARVEST: July - December; flycrop Feb/Mar
SOIL: Volcanic loam
CERTIFICATION: Both conventional and organic farms

Sumatran coffees are processed in a unique way. From the point the coffee is picked and the cherry skin pulped off, the process is similar to most washed coffees produced around the world. 

Then, the coffee is fermented until the fruit has dissolved and the resulting product rinsed. The bean within the parchment still has very high moisture content. With most washed coffee, the parchment is dried before hulling. In Sumatra, the bean is still very wet when the parchment is hulled. The bean comes out of the parchment quite soft, white, and spongy. These wet, soft beans are then sun-dried. 

Typically, the drying conditions in Sumatra include sessions of fierce tropical sun, interrupted regularly by torrential thunder showers. This slow, inconsistent drying is what provides the essence of a Sumatra Mandheling, both in flavor and appearance.