Sumatra Aceh – Archived

Taste: Ahhh Sumatra – the single-malt scotch of the coffee world.  This bean has all the earthy, wild, and winey notes people crave in a Sumatra.  We enjoy this as a single origin coffee roasted just a bit darker for a smoky exotic cup of coffee.  But try it with a Costa Rican based blend at a lighter roast and enjoy the complexity the Sumatra imparts.

Roast: Medium (City Roast) in a blend, Medium/Dark (Full City Roast) as a single origin.

About: Bergandal Farm and Mill is a single estate established by a private Dutch company in 1931, growing a mix of different varieties, including Tim Tim, Bourbon, and Ateng (a Catimor type, combining Caturra and Timor Hybrid). The current owner of the farm, Sakdan, belongs to a family who had worked at the farm for several generations; Sakdan’s grandfather was given a portion of the land during redistribution after the end of colonialism, and his descendants—Sakdan and his brothers—farm there and on surrounding plots to this day.

Many rural farms in Indonesia don’t have names because they are so small and scattered—practically gardens, harvested as needed rather than the methodical picking and processing that happens elsewhere in the world, but “Bergandal Farm” stands for both the actual coffee-growing land (100 hectares) and a collection point that, in a way, represents a micro-region within Gayo: Sakdan, like many producers in Indonesia, also purchases and sorts coffee in cherry from his closest neighbors—about 50 in the area,several of whom are his siblings and others of whom are friends and friends-of-friends—bringing together the small quantities of coffee they grow within the very specific area of Tererit, in Takegon, Aceh. Sakdan processes the locally collected lots on his own equipment, also practically ancient: His Wet-Hulling machine is one of the oldest still operating in the country, installed in the 1970’s and powered by its original Mitsubishi truck engine, a throwback to the Japanese influence that brought the Giling Basah, or Wet-Hulled process, to the island nearly 50 years ago.

Sakdan also runs a small roastery and cafe adjacent to his house, where locals will bring their green coffee to be roasted to drink, and to pass the time sipping fresh brews. Sakdan keeps some interesting green coffee in stock for sale, even Natural process coffees.

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