What Does Courage Mean in Sumatran Coffee? Rich and Mellow Flavor Profile of Indonesian Sumatran Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee - Sumatra Coffee Introduction

Professional coffee knowledge exchange, more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style)

Sumatra coffee fascinates people with its charming cedar herbaceous aroma and unique spice flavors. But for such a coffee that is unique on the coffee map, do you know their actual growing environment? Sumatra Island is located on the equator, with most of the island covered by tropical rainforests. The humidity throughout the year is between 70%-90%, with annual rainfall of 2000mm. Although volcanic ash soil can make coffee trees grow vigorously, this humid climate极易 causes coffee fruits to mold and rot.

Due to the high humidity throughout the year, according to normal washed processing methods, the drying time would be twice as long as normal processing methods. If coffee beans are not dried in time, they can easily over-ferment or develop mold. Every change affects the flavor of the coffee. Therefore, how to process coffee fruits and preserve coffee beans has become the biggest challenge for coffee produced in Sumatra.

The Four Steps of Sumatra Coffee Processing

Step One: Remove the outer pulp of the coffee fruit, keeping the inner skin and pectin mucilage part, and place it in concrete tanks or plastic barrels for overnight fermentation. This helps decompose the pectin mucilage, making it easier to remove.

Step Two: Wash our coffee fruits. The pectin mucilage will be removed during this washing, and this washing gives us coffee beans with only the inner skin. Place them in the sun for 2-3 days, and their moisture content will drop to 20-24%, allowing the coffee beans to reach the hardness needed to separate from the inner skin.

Step Three: When the moisture content is between 20-24%, the coffee beans themselves are soft and still contain quite a bit of moisture, while the inner skin is semi-dry. However, Sumatra's humid climate no longer allows for further drying. At this point, we need to use machines to separate the inner skin from the coffee beans. In this situation, stripping the semi-dry inner skin often cannot be completely removed, always leaving some residue. And with more stripping, the coffee beans will be damaged, forming Sumatra's characteristic "goat hoof beans." Therefore, the Mandheling coffee raw beans you buy often have certain instability.

Step Four: Continue drying these coffee beans with uneven inner skin removal, with moisture content continuing to drop to 12-13%. During the day, these coffee beans enjoy the sunlight, while at night they are stored in burlap bags, continuing to ferment under the effect of moisture. When drying is complete, these coffee beans can be taken away by buyers.

The Importance of Manual Sorting

Of course, there is another key point that cannot be ignored: manual bean sorting. Good Mandheling coffee often undergoes three rounds of manual sorting. Under such a processing method that fights against air humidity, Sumatra coffee beans are uneven. At this time, it is the diligent Sumatran people who let us drink high-quality Mandheling coffee. Think about your usual bean sorting when roasting, while they have to face the entire season's production, just to bring you a cup of high-quality Mandheling coffee.

Historical Background

In the 16th century, European powers began to trade and war in the principalities of the coastal areas of Sumatra Island, until the Anglo-Dutch Treaty, which caused Britain's sovereignty over Sumatra to be revoked. The Dutch conducted economic development and administrative management on this island.

In the 19th century, the various kingdoms of Sumatra were successively defeated by Dutch colonists, who spread Christianity among them. In addition, islanders also believe in Hinduism, Buddhism, Catholicism, etc. Therefore, Sumatra coffee is a symbol of courage!

FrontStreet Coffee's Mission

In short: FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee research center, happy to share coffee knowledge with everyone. We share without reservation just to let more friends fall in love with coffee, and every month there are 3 low-discount coffee activities. The reason is because FrontStreet Coffee wants to offer the lowest prices so more friends can drink the best coffee. This has also been FrontStreet Coffee's principle for 6 years!

END

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473