Description
Johnson Tanojo – a Wisconsin Alum with Indonesian roots puts together this lovely coffee. We couldn’t resist an Indonesian coffee named Red Badger, rooting for Bucky all the way from Indonesia, what Wisconsinite wouldn’t love that! Don’t worry, you don’t have to love Bucky to love this coffee. Fresh as can be with beautiful prep (for a Sumatra) and a taste to follow. This is not your average Sumatra, Johnson does a wonderful premium screen ensuring a very premium cup.
Sumatra coffee always brings one of my favorite cup profiles. Unique stuff not comparable to many other offerings. They can be a bit too earthy for some with that classic wet-hulled profile, but others will find love. Wet-hulled coffees are the ugly ducklings of the coffee world, if you compare wet-hulled coffee to washed or natural processed, even one this clean, you will see what we are talking about. Don’t worry though, roast it to a strong medium or dark roast, let the taste do the talking.
Tasting Notes: A very nice fresh crop arrival. Full bodied with a creamy mouthfeel, low acidity and spot on tastes from a traditional Mandheling Sumatra; peat moss, smoky, chocolaty and strong. A clean enough cup to get a decent medium roast, gives a smoother mouthfeel and has a bit of sweetness and acidity upfront, darker roasts will turn thicker but also edgier and promote the smokier side of the profile.
Roasting Notes: As with most Sumatra coffees, the processing promotes a couple different shades in the roaster. It is normal to see some beans lighter than others. Make sure if shooting for the medium roasts, that you judge it from the lighter looking beans, important to get them all through first crack. When roasting darker, judge it by the darker looking beans for if they get too dark or burn, gets a little ashy tone in the cup.
Village : Pondok Ulung
Regency : Bandar
Subdistrict : Bener Meriah
Province : Aceh – Sumatra, Indonesia
Milling Process : Giling Basah – Semi Washed (Wet-Hulled)
Varietal: Catimor, Ateng, Timtim, and Bourbon
Growing Altitude : 1200-1500 m
Andrew –
I generally prefer light to medium roast fruity/floral coffees and dislike bitter/smokey profiles, but I quite enjoyed this one as a dark roast. It has a great earthiness and thick, oily body that Shour Pu-Erh drinkers might enjoy.
MAMurphy (verified owner) –
With just a hint of dark fruit and standard Indonesian flavor, this comes out as a well balanced cup of coffee. As it cools, the earthiness (I like) comes out in the aroma and maybe a hint of acidity in the finish. A better-than-average bean when roasted just shy of, or at, full city.