About This Coffee
Though often thought of as a growing region in Sumatra, Mandheling is more of a trade name, referring to Indonesian Wet hulled coffee. The name came from the Mandailing ethnic group, who historically were coffee traders. This coffee comes from a variety of islands within Indonesia, including Sumatra and Java. The harvest season in the region usually stretches from June to December.
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.
There are more and more initiatives by farmers on Sumatra to organize themselves into cooperatives. In the past, farmers did not have much leverage to help themselves get better prices for their cherry or parchment. When they’re in cooperatives, they can share resources, organize training and negotiate better prices.
About Giling Basah: Wet Hulled Process
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.
The basic process for wet hulling is as follows: Cherry is harvested and pulped at or near the farm on small hand-cranked or motorized pulpers. The coffee is fermented overnight in small tanks, buckets, or bags and washed with clean water the following morning. Parchment is sundried for between half a day and two days, depending on the weather. This first drying is for skin drying, which eases the removal of parchment.
At this juncture, the moisture content is between 30 and 40%. Parchment is delivered to a processor (often by the village collector) for wet hulling. A wet hulling machine is larger, requires more power and runs at a faster speed than a traditional dry huller. After the hulling, the coffee seed is whitish and pliable and is called labu. It is laid out to dry on tarps or patios, where it reduces in size and reaches 14 to 15% moisture content. This stage is known as asalan and is unsorted and with defects. Much of the internal commercial trade is for asalan. Exporters, most of whom are based in Medan, will finish the drying down to 12 to 13% moisture content and will sort and prepare coffee for shipment.
Our premium and specialty wet-hulled coffees are produced in direct collaboration with village collectors and processors so that the drying, storage and lot integrity remain in place from the farmer all the way to you. In this way, we can export cleaner, more stable and more traceable regional lots.
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.