Cultivation
Almost all farms on Sumatra are small. On average, farms are between 0.5 to 2.5 hectares. Coffee is usually the primary cash crop for farmers, but most also intercrop their trees alongside vegetables, maize and fruit. This intercropped produce will make up a substantial part of the family’s diet for the year.
In addition to growing coffee as a cash crop, many smallholder farmers also work at hired laborers at the nearby tea plantations. Tea is also a huge crop in the area. The bigger tea plantations are often near coffee farms. When the harvest is finished, coffee farmers will go there and pick leaves under contracted labor.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
This lot was purposefully composed for cup quality. Selections came from the best deliveries of 11 village collectors affiliated with the Usaha Tani Gayo Cooperative. This lot was milled and hand-sorted in Takengon before being delivered directly to Belawan for export.
About Lake Tawar
Lake Tawar is a truly picturesque sight surrounded by tall peaks upon one of which sits Central Aceh’s capital city, Takengon. The city is known as ‘the land above the clouds’ because Takengon and the mountains surrounding Lake Tawar are at just the right altitude so that, due to humidity and temperature fluctuations, they are often surrounded by mists. Situated in the higher reaches of the mountains, the city is often above the mists, giving it the appearance of sitting above even the clouds themselves.
Coffee in Indonesia
Indonesia has a long coffee producing history, but recently their coffees have been overlooked by the specialty market. Thanks to our innovative and ever-expanding supply chain, we are proud to bring you high-quality coffees from many of Indonesia’s unique regions, accompanied by in-depth traceability information.
Indonesia is perhaps best known for its unique wet hulling process (giling basah). Though its exact origins are unclear, wet hulling most likely originated in Aceh during the late 1970s.
Wet hulling’s popularity can be attributed to producers’ need for prompt payments. It was also adopted specifically by many producers who lacked the drying infrastructure that was needed to shelter drying parchment from the high humidity and inconsistent rainfall typical in Sumatra. At higher elevations with constant humidity and unpredictable rainfall, drying can prove to be slow, risky and difficult.