Sumatra Gayo Ragi Washed

Regional details

Tradition runs deep in the province of North Sumatra on the island of Sumatra, renowned for cup profiles and the classic Indonesian style of coffee cultivation and processing.  Coffee is cultivated and harvested from farms that average less than 3 acres in size.  Producers belong to the Hutasoit tribe and maintain a traditional village lifestyle that includes houses that resemble ships. Seventy percent of the producers are women who rely on coffee income to support their families.

Processing Details

Each producer delivers harvested cherries to a centralized wet mill where it is carefully sorted before depulping.  Next the depulped coffee undergoes a dry 72 hour fermentation in an airtight container adding a local yeast called Ragi Tape (Saccharomyces cerevisiae).  Then the coffee is washed and laid out on patios and dried to a moisture of 11 percent.

Exporting Details

With Indonesian coffees, half the battle is overcoming logistical challenges like rugged roads and unpredictable torrents of rain.  Adena Coffee, an export company, takes on an important role of organizing local warehouses and transportation so farmers can overcome these challenges.  Adena Coffee also coordinates the dry-mill process to swiftly bring the coffee to the international market, ensuring greater earnings for producers.