For the love of Sumatra
Big, bold notes from a small Indonesian island
Shiny red cherries pop among the abundant green berries on trees along the slope of a lush mountainside rainforest in Sumatra. The climate is hot and extremely humid, with monstrous flowers (Rafflesia arnoldii), myrtles, orchids and Sumatran pine the dominant vegetation. On a typically tiny plantation not far from Lake Toba, the largest volcanic lake on earth, farmers handpick their brightly hued harvest. It’s hard graft in the sapping mugginess – work that’s been done here for generations. And it’s the first step on the journey to make one of the world’s best coffees. “Sumatra has such a lush, green, humid climate,” says Sandee Waite, a Toronto teacher who recently returned from a two-year sabbatical in Indonesia. “When we drove through the agricultural areas, the people were so friendly and gracious to share their freshly harvested cocao and fruits with us. We tasted coffee of various grades and the farmers were happy to answer our questions about the quality and what impacts the coffee bean classification.”
Bean there
The country’s 3,200-mile archipelago has more than 13,000 islands and 100+ active volcanoes. And, crucial for coffee lovers the world over, its fertile soils, abundant rainfall and high temperatures are ideal for a wide variety of coffee beans. Sumatra is one of the country’s five main islands. From the central part of northern Sumatra, in particular, comes a wonderful, very intense coffee. In the cup the coffee possesses a heavy, full body, concentrated spicy, earthy, and robust taste with an herbal aroma – all with incredibly low acidity. For the experts, this Sumatran bean’s characteristic taste starts with altitude. “The elevation in which coffee is grown at has a profound effect on taste,” says Eric Shabsove, president of Mountain View Coffee, a Canadian wholesale food distributor and coffee roaster. “Altitudes over 1,200 metres provide the best growing conditions for coffee. These altitudes provide the right amount of rainfall and the richest soils.” Cool temperatures, he says, with the right amount of rainfall and sunlight are found here. And the steep slopes provide the right amount of soil drainage. “Also, the slightly longer growing season, leads to a more complex flavour in the bean.”
From the ground up
The province of North Sumatra has a population of roughly 50 million. Its geographic spine is a broad, low plain along the Strait of Malacca where the province’s capital, Medan, is located. The surrounding countryside is some of the planet’s most fertile coffee terrain. Sumatra’s contribution to coffee production in Indonesia – the world’s third largest producer in 2014, and exporter of 450 million kg last year, (USD $1,095 million) – is no small beans. The island produces around 72 percent of Indonesia’s total coffee production; it’s where 63 percent of Indonesia’s total coffee plantation area is located; and its employees represent 45 percent of Indonesia's total coffee workforce. Sumatra's coffee production also outstrips all other Indonesian regions for highest productivity rates.
The wet way
Central to this Sumatran bean’s unique characteristic is a preferred processing method – wet-hulling. This process sees the bright red cherries picked from small farms and sent to a local processing plant where they are pulped, which means that the beans are run through a hand-crank drum (with a surface not unlike a cheese grater) that peels off the skin of the fruit. Workers will then ferment the coffee in any number of ways – either in a polypropylene bag, a plastic tub, or a concrete tank – to get the fruit layer (mucilage) to break down. After overnight fermentation, the mucilage can be washed off, and what’s left is wet parchment coffee – the green bean inside the parchment layer that encompasses it, still swollen with water. “Processing matters in really fundamental ways," says Shabsove. “A coffee bean grown in Sumatra and processed through wet-hulling will taste remarkably different than the same kind of bean grown in Sumatra and put through the entirely different process of having the fruit stripped from the bean and the bean dried on a patio over enough time to reduce its moisture content.” At this point of the wet-hull process, the coffee is sun-dried on outdoor concrete patios for two weeks until the internal moisture levels reach the right percentage – usually around 11 percent. The beans are then packed in 60-kg burlap bags ready to make the trip to warehouses, near and far, for roasting.
Welcome to Canada
The rest of the Sumatran beans’ journey is no less exciting for Shabsove, who has been importing coffee from around the world for more than two decades. The arrival of Sumatra beans to his roastery in Toronto always holds something special. “I really love the look of the raw green coffee beans when they arrive in our warehouse,” he says. “They have a wild-looking appearance with a greenish, aqua-blue tone to them.” Mountain Views’ fully automated facility boasts a large volume two-stage drum roaster that produces consistently high quality coffee. The oven or furnace is separated from the roasting drum preventing the coffee from coming in direct contact with the gas flame. This creates a consistently even roast throughout the entire batch, which greatly benefits the resulting coffee. For some coffee drinkers in Canada, the bold taste of this Sumatran coffee is worth savoring for many reasons. “A colleague who was born and grew up in Aceh, in the westernmost province in Sumatra, once told me that Sumatra coffee is not only a product, but represents the culture as well,” says Sita Nurfitriani, consul for economic affairs at the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Canada. “Having Sumatra coffee in Canada reminds him of everyday life back in Aceh. He wishes that, through coffee, we can share our rich culture with Canadians and people all around the world. “For me, the unique characteristics of Sumatra coffee are different from other regions in the country and they reflect the incredible diversity in Indonesia.”
Cupping notes:
Sumatran Coffee with intense flavour. In the cup this coffee possesses a heavy, full body, concentrated spicy, earthy taste with an herbal aroma; all with virtually no acidity. This coffee is roasted medium and dark, virtually no acidity.