This grade A Mandheling was searched out by coffee buyer Steve Sims. And the fruits of his labor are evident in the cup. A rich cup that is still sweet and clean with creamy vanilla and tropical fruits.
From our Buyer Steve Sims: I flew into Medan which is a major city and airport in Northern Sumatra. I traveled to Lake Toba which was beautiful and known as a super volcano and is thought to be responsible for the last ice age. I stopped at many farms along the way (or I should say people's backyards) and began to realize that mostly Lingtong is grown in that area. Very little Mandheling was grown in that area so I traveled farther north to the region of Aceh, Gayo and Lake Towar. It was about a 9 hour drive from Medan to the region of Aceh where the beans I purchased were grown. There are hills there with much higher elevation and it rains almost everyday--also it's very hot and humid. The altitude where the beans were grown was from 1300 to 1600 meters . All the farms I went to were very small. Basically in the farmers backyards. I did not see any large plantations. They were all very small-holders. I went to two mills. One would not let me take any pictures. There were large rooms where the beans are "double picked" by hand by mostly women sitting in rows. They made about two dollars a day. Our beans are air and sun dried. They are also processed using mostly traditional semi-washed methods. You basically cannot buy from any farmers directly. There were three major agents or brokers where 90% of the coffee from that area is exported from. The area had a very large Muslim influence. It was very much the definition of a third world country but everyone seemed very happy. The beans came out of the Belawan Port from the island of Sumatra and took seven weeks to arrive to me.
