Indonesia was the first place, outside of Arabia and Ethiopia, where the coffee bean was widely cultivated. The natural drying method used in its production results in a very full body with a concentrated flavor, garnished with herbal nuances and a spicy finish. Sumatran coffee beans have a characteristic beautiful deep blue-green color with the appearance of jade, which is attributed to the processing method, “Gilling Basah” (wet hulling). Sumatra Mandheling coffee although relatively rare is grown on the lofty volcanic slopes of Mount Leuser near the port of Padang in the Batak region of West Central Sumatra, at altitudes of 2,500 to 5,000 feet. Sumatra is the second largest island of the Republic of Indonesia. This weather along with the fertile volcanic soil, greatly influence the flavor profile of Sumatra coffees. The climate of the island is hot, tropical and humid and so, it is ideally suited for growing Arabica coffee beans. Many plant and animal species are critically endangered, including the Sumatran tiger, Sumatran elephant, Sumatran rhinoceros, and Sumatran orangutan. Sumatra is one of the Sunda islands in Western Indonesia and it is the sixth-largest island in the world. Please take a look at the map of Indonesia below, and you can see Sumatra on the lower left side of the map. Indonesia spans a number of islands in the Pacific that rest in the coffee growing belt.

Sumatra beans