Sumatra Madheling £4.00 per 250 grm bag
2500-5000ft
wet hulled process
When I first started home roasting I felt at home with origins from the Americas and certain parts of Africa. I think this was because there seemed to be lots of information about Central and South American coffees and the greens I could get hold of were all from named farms and I knew all about the farmer, farm, processing etc. This gave me that connection to the coffee that I’ve always valued, that sense of community between farmers and coffee lovers. Its harder to get that traceability in African coffees, although there have been significant develpments in countries such as Rwanda, Malawi and Tanzania over the last few years. The area that scared me was the Pacific. “Here be Dragons” it used to say on the great unknown areas of the world…well my dragons were in Sumatra and Sulawesi and Papua New Guinea. (And to a certain extent Australia, although that would be “Here be dingos…”)
Mandheling is a trade name, used for Arabica coffee from Northern Sumatra. It is derived from the Mandailing people who produce coffee in the Tapanuli region.
Its hard to trace a Sumatran Mandheling coffee to a particular farm because 90% of Indonesia’s coffee is grown by smallholders on farms averaging one hectare or less. The coffee is processed in a variety of ways, each imparting its own flavors and aromas to the final product.
Cherries are hulled and muciliage is left on the bean for a day or so and then washed off. The method of processing is what helps gives the classic Indonesian cup character: Lots of sweet body and low acidity. Rich flavours of cocoa, smoke and woody earthiness, sweetness like liqourice with underlying background tropical fruit acidity.
Its a looooovely press coffee full of body and sweetness!
