We taste: cola, rhubarb, creamy

Farmer(s): various smallholder farmers
Region: Pantan Musara, Pegasing, Takengon, Aceh
Processing Method: Washed
Elevation: 1,050 msl
Variety: Gayo 1, Gayo 2, Catimor, Abyssinia

This coffee comes from a small mill in Sumatra's (coffee) famous Aceh region. The mill serves several small coffee producers within the Pantan Musara villages. Several years ago, these producers were dislocated from their homes and land because of a natural disaster, and they have rebuilt their lives and farms with a new focus on coffee. Unlike the vast majority of other Sumatran coffee receiving and processing centers, this mill is producing washed coffee, as well as naturally processed coffees.

Coffee is delivered to the mill by producers in the area, and for washed coffees, only fresh red cherries can be purchased. The washed coffees are fermented for 36 hours after being depulped, then washed four times to remove the mucilage. It's then spread into a drying house or on raised tables to dry for 14 days or so.

If you’ve pigeonholed Sumatran coffees as being very earthy with very low, flat acidities, think again! Because of the extra care taken in the processing of this coffee, it has much cleaner, sweeter profile with a mid range acidity like cherry cola as it cools.