Sumatra Mandheling

Sumatra Mandheling coffee is grown at very high altitude on the Indonesian island of Sumatra and is known for its smooth full body, and rich complex taste.  Mangheling is not actually a place but refers to an ethnic group on the island, but the coffee comes from a single estate in the Lake Toba region.  Look for spicy earthy tones, with notes of cedar & exotic spices.  We roast this one a bit darker to bring out the smokey spice flavors, and also mellow out the acidity.  This makes it very well suited for espresso and coffee drinks with added milk/milk substitutes.

Part of what makes Sumatra, and Indonesian coffee in general, so unique, is the post-harvest wet-hulled process that is the common processing method for coffee on the island.  Most of our other coffees are “washed”, meaning the flesh of the fruit is removed prior to the bean being dried.  Indonesian coffees go through a different process that first involves stripping the skins and some of the fruit from the seed (a process called depulping); but then they are dried to 30-35% moisture content before the remaining flesh from the fruit is then stripped and they finish being dried to 10-12% moisture content for shipping.  This process significantly reduces the acidity of the coffee, gives it a heavier body, and results in the earthy, woody characteristics.