Sumatra Cupping Notes

Coffee Name
Aceh Pantan Lues Grade 1

Coffee Region
Sumatra

Crop Year
2008/2009

Bean Bio

Region: Pantan Cuaca, which is a sub-district of Gayo Lues department in Aceh Province.

Varietals: mostly red caturra and tipica cultivars, with some Indian bourbon cultivars such as S-288 and S-795.

Processing: Most of the smallholder farmers that contribute to this coffee will depulp the cherries at the end of the day's picking, store the mucilage-covered wet parchment in a sack or box overnight so a small amount of fermentation occurs, rinse most of the mucilage off with clean water the next morning (though a portion still remains on the parchment), and put the coffee out to dry on tarps for a few days. The coffee usually gets down to around 30% moisture before it's sold to the dry mill where it's hulled almost immediately, dried further down to around 13% and sorted for shipment.

Cupping Notes

This coffee was cupped by several industry professionals prior to the auction:

Kenneth Davids: Outstanding traditional Sumatra of the less earthy style: Pungent grapefruit-toned aroma, quite sweet and balanced in the cup, with chocolate, stone fruit, perhaps more grapefruit. Sweet, round, flavor-saturated finish. For me a good special buy, single-origin Sumatra.

Jim Reynolds: Classic Sumatra aromas on the break. Excellent Sumatra quality cup with all–around Sumatra flavor (herb, nut, and spice). Fine example of Sumatra coffee quality.

Tom Owen: Did not cup.

Robert Fulmer: Smooth, sweet, clean yet with plenty of rich Northern Sumatra character. An excellent example of Aceh coffee.