Indonesian Sumatra Gr. 1 Lintong – Tano Batak Ibu Rumani – Wethulled

We have done some batches of Tano Batak in the past, always a gem of processing. We finally found another batch that we thought worth paying up for. For you Sumatra fans, this is an exotic and very clean, very spicy but traditionally processed offering.

Our buddies at Covoya Coffee put together the Tano Batak coffees. This is not your ordinary Gr. 1 Sumatra and hard to replicate with other wet-hulled coffees. This is a low defect, large beans screen, very-premium grade coffee from the Lintong region – a rare gem.

Tano Batak is an Covoya premium brand. Tano Batak coffee has a 16 and up screen size and comes from the Lintong and Dolok Sanggul regions near South Lake Toba in Sumatra. At 1,400 to 1,550 masl, this region has the highest coffee growing altitudes in North Sumatra. Our origination operations work with six collectors that buy coffee directly from small farmers and in weekly village markets. The collectors wet hull the coffee at 28-32% moisture and then dry it in green houses. Once around 11-12% moisture, they run the coffee over densametric tables before sending it to Medan for hand sorting. Given the exceptional quality of these coffees, we process each lot separately as microlots.

Tasting Notes: A very clean and very spicy cup. Light roasts will have some floral acidity upfront, not blasting but clearly present, balanced with very incense-like spice tones with hints of chocolate, peat and smoke. Medium roasts retain the spice nicely, drop the acidity and turn the cup much more chocolaty. Darker roasts will add some smokiness and edginess but the roasty notes will compliment the cup as with most Indonesians.

Roasting Notes: Crazy for a wet-hulled Sumatra but this cup holds up from light to dark and roasts pretty even. Low chaff makes this coffee on the easy side to roast. Can be a little sharp without 24-48 hours setup especially at the lighter roast points. Sumatra’s are traditionally darker roasted coffees, if playing around for the first time with this Sumatran, a nice strong medium to dark roast is the way to go to see the terroir of Indonesia.