Sumatra Coffee: Does it Deserve the Fame?

Like we mentioned before, Sumatran coffee comes from a specific region of Indonesia. However, you should note that the coffees from this region aren’t the only Indonesian coffees. In fact, Java coffee is so well known that the word “Java” has become synonymous with coffee itself.

Nevertheless, here we will be discussing the varieties of Sumatran coffee specifically. Most high-quality Sumatran coffees are grown between 2500 and 5000 feet of elevation.

Thus, they often As for taste, in general, they tend to be low in acidity, with a full body. Most have overall complex, earthy flavors with woody aromas. Brands typically sell these beans as dark or medium roasts. But there has recently been a push for also producing more light roasts, which would result in lighter, brighter brews.

Mandheling

Mandheling coffee is named after a specific tribe in Sumatra. It is grown in the west-central region near Padang. The acidity is very subtle but still lends some complexity to the brew. It typically has a spice-based profile including notes such as cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom. Additionally, people often detect chocolate and licorice flavors as well.

Many consider Mandheling coffee to be the best Sumatran coffee out there. However, others consider the label to be largely over-hyped. Either way, if you’d like to decide for yourself, check out the buying guide below.

Ankola

Ankola is grown near the port of Padang between 2500 and 5000 feet above sea level. Unlike most other Sumatran coffee, Ankola coffee is actually dry processed (as opposed to the traditional wet processing). In addition to producing a slightly different profile, dry processing creates a more uniform appearance in the batches themselves. This variety is characterized by its mellow acidity.

Lintong

The Lintong variety is from the north-central, Lintongnihuta region near Lake Toba. They tend to produce more medium bodied brews. But they still sport the signature earthiness of Sumatran coffee with notes of cedar and spice. These brews are best known for balancing the characteristically rich flavor of this region with a clean aftertaste.

Gayo/Aceh

Resting at about 4200 to 5200 feet above sea level, the Gayo region is named for the nearby Gayo Mountain and is also bordered by Lake Tawar. The Gayo/Aceh region is notable for its offering of aged-coffee. This rather unique type of coffee is usually stored for months or even years.

The aging allows for the development of a different flavor profile than is typical to other Sumatran coffee. Though not notably “better” for any definable reason, a high value is placed enthuse beans for their relative rarity and complexity. On the down side, there is an extra cost associated with aged coffee due to the need for storage and the additional spoilage.

Wet-Hulling

As you may know, there are a TON of factors that. affect how your coffee ultimately tastes. While soil composition, altitude, climate, and roast are all important, many people don’t realize that the processing before roasting also plays an important role.

For Sumatran coffee, this is actually a point of contention among coffee aficionados and is what typically creates the love it or hate it divide surrounding this varietal. The thing that distinguishes a more “authentic” or classic Sumatran coffee from the newer generation is the processing. Traditionally, Sumatran coffee’s are processed using wet hulling.

Wet hulling, also known as “Giling Basah” is responsible for bringing out the cornerstone herbal and earthy flavors of Sumatra. Wet hulling typically involves the following steps:

1. Homemade machines remove the cherry’s skin from the coffee beans immediately following harvesting, leaving the remaining fruit in tact.
2. The skinned beans are placed in woven bags and left to ferment overnight.
3. Farmers hand-wash away the remaining mucilage (fruit) from the beans the following morning.
4. The beans are dried in their parchment (crumbly layer surrounding inner bean) before being shipped to a warehouse where the parchment is removed for further drying.
5. Lastly, the beans are dried once more once in the port city immediately before exportation.

In contrast, many other beans are dried much earlier after being picked, usually by the farmers themselves. This process keeps the beans moist for much longer, creating a unique and complex flavor profile.

The selection of this process over dry processing is likely due to the wet, Indonesian climate making it difficult to fully dry beans using other methods. Wet processed coffees are generally known for being delicate-bodied with a clean, balanced, and complex brew.

Kopi Luwak

Kopi Luwak or Civet coffee is famous…or infamous, depending on who you ask. You may have heard it referred to as the most expensive coffee in the world or simply a joke to put coffee snobs at the end of. But since we’re talking about Sumatra Coffee, we’d be doing the coffee world an injustice by failing to mention it.

What is it?

Kopi Luwak identifies more to how the beans are processed than anything about the beans themselves. It is closely connected to the Indonesian coffee industry and often Sumatra specifically. The coffee is produced from partially digested coffee beans that have been excreted by the Indonesian palm civet. Harvesters remove the remaining outer skin and thoroughly clean the beans before eventually roasting and selling them.

This unusual process is what accounts for the generally outrageous price of these coffees. Corporations often aggressively tout these beans as the most premium quality because the animals that select them are supposedly only eating the best, ripest cherries. However, there is no specific, identifiable flavor profile that people are raving about as the bean origins vary.

Why it’s Problematic

We cannot stress this enough. You probably should not buy Kopi Luwak coffee for a plethora of reasons. Firstly, chances are what you are ordering is fake or, at the very least, pretty diluted by beans processed using a less tedious method. For example, we’re talking about 80+% of the coffee marketed as Kopi Luwak being completely fake.

Secondly, if what you are ordering is 100% real Kopi Luwak, the animals behind the scenes are typically treated rather horrifically. Because Palm Civets are small, nocturnal creatures,  producing Civet coffee free-range style has a very small pay-off for the amount of labor involved. Cue industrialization, caged, force-fed animals and you have modern Kopi Luwak coffee.

So even if you couldn’t care less about how animals are treated to obtain your foodstuffs, you should at least care about the quality of your coffee. The force feeding turns the idea of uniformly ripe, hand-picked beans into a bold-faced lie. Thus, you’re basically buying mediocre, overpriced, non-cruelty-free coffee for funsies… definitely not cool.

The take-away

In this article we’ve included several, top-notch Sumatra coffees that we think are actually worth your time and money. So we’d like to encourage you to seek out these if you’re in the mood to adventure into premium Indonesia coffee, rather than buying into the hype (and scam) of Kopi Luwak.

Plus, a single kilogram (~2 lb) bag of authentic Civet coffee can run you from $650 to $3000+. So, you’d be better off splurging on an espresso machine.

Wrapping up

If you’re curious to see where your taste buds stand on one of the oldest varieties of coffee available, you should definitely give Sumatra Coffee a try. If you’re into a clean cup with an earthy, spicy flavor profile, this might even be your new favorite.

Also, if you aren’t interested in buying straight Sumatran, this coffee tends to work really well in high-quality blends as it offers an interestingly complex base-note for other flavors.

Happy Caffeinating!