SUMATRA ​ATU LINTANG

General Information

Origin: Sumatra, Indonesia
Region: Gayo, Aceh
Village: Atu Lintang
Cooperative: PT. Ihitiyeri Keti Ara
Washing Station: Jagong Mill
Farmers: 298 active members (119 female, 179 male)
Cultivars: Tim Tim & Ateng
Altitude: 1.400 - 1.600 masl
Process: Giling Basah (Wet Hulled)
Harvest: Sep - Nov 2023
Cherry Price | FOB Price: 5.76 USD/kg |  8.06 USD/Kg
Screen | Moisture | Density: 17+ | 11.9 % | 0.679 g/ml
Packaging: 60 Kg w/ GrainPro
Score: 86,5
Notes: Red apple, vanilla, raisin, cinnamon

TRACEABILITY

At the northern tip of the island of Sumatra is the district of Atu Lintang, located at an altitude of between 1,400 and 1,600 metres above sea level. Here a cooperative group of 298 coffee farmers divided into five different groups of collectors: Sido Mulyo I, Sido Mulyo II, Damar mulyo, Gayo Murni and KalaTupis, contribute to this lot. In addition to growing coffee, coffee farmers also grow vegetables and fruits to eat or sell in local markets, known as cash crops, which are necessary because there are only two coffee harvests a year. Coffee is harvested in the main crop from October to December, and then again from March to May as part of the secondary or fly crop.
 
Irham Junus is the owner and operator of Jagong Mill, which together with his daughter Ina, has focused on producing high quality lots and training coffee farmers to improve harvesting and processing standards. Selective harvesting of ripe cherries is still rare in Sumatra, but the Junus family has full control of the processing, drying and grading of the lots, right through to the final export stage.
 
It is uncommon in Sumatra to process a large lot from several small farmers, instead many small farmers pulp and ferment at home, and then collect the entire production for wet hulling. This is why we believe this coffee has such good uniformity and cleanliness compared to other coffees in this region.
 
The cherry is pulped and left to ferment overnight in water-filled tanks for about 12 hours, where at the same time the floaters, or less dense coffee, are removed. The coffee is then left on a patio in the sun for a day until it reaches approximately 40-45% humidity (locally known as gabah). From there, it undergoes wet hulling or giling basah, which consists of removing the parchment while the coffee still wet, which is said to give the coffee its dark blue/greyish appearance. The coffee is then dried again in green to 12% humidity for a further 4-5 days. Finally, the coffee rests before going through gravity tables, double hand sorting for defects and packing for export from the town of Takengon in Aceh.

HISTORY OF INDONESIAN COFFEE

The history of coffee in Indonesia, as in many others producing countries around the world, begins with tales of colonialism, slavery, monopoly and multinational corporations (Yes! The first ones of modern history were set in the early 17th century). In the year 1602 the Dutch government established the “Dutch East India Company” (VOC; Verenigde Oost-indische Compagnie) as a chartered company and granted it a 21-year monopoly on the Dutch spice trade. This was the first model of what we consider today a multinational corporation.
 
The Dutch East India Company began with coffee trading in Mocha (Yemen), and during the first half of the 17th century, they only traded coffee in the Arab world and Asia, because there was no demand for coffee in Europe at that time. But during the late 17th century, coffeehouses spread all over Europe and the Dutch, English and French started to trade coffee from different Arab ports. The Arabs had forbidden the trade coffee in fertile seeds or plants, of course, they wanted to keep their monopoly, but when coffee became very popular in Europe around the 1690, and political problems in the Arab countries threatened coffee imports, different European countries tried to get coffee plants or seedlings for trading purposes.
 
The race to make off with some live coffee trees or seeds was eventually won by the Dutch. They obtained the coffee plants most likely in Malabar (India), where the Dutch East India Company ruled at the time. The coffee plants were introduced in Batavia (today Jakarta) Indonesia in 1696. In 1711 the first coffee exports were shipped from Java to Europe. The first coffee shipment was around 450 kg. Ten years later the export had already grown to 60.000 kg.
 
Originally coffee was cultivated only in Java, but in 1870, the Dutch expanded growing areas of Arabica to Sumatra, Bali, Sulawesi and Timor. In northern Sumatra, coffee was first cultivated near Lake Toba in 1888; and then in the Mountains of Gayo, near lake Tawar, by 1924.​

VARIETIES OF INDONESIA

​Coffea arabica, which is indigenous to Ethiopia, was first transported from its origin to neighboring Yemen, and from Yemen was transported all over the world. The coffees that we call Typicas today come from plants that came from Yemen and were brought to Java and the outlying islands by the Dutch, and possibly through the mythical Indian Sufi Baba Budan.

At the beginning of the 20th century, all Arabica coffee plants were devastated by Leaf Rust Disease (CLR). Coffea Canephora (Robusta) plants were then used to replace Arabica because they had greater resistance to CLR. However, this was not without problems, as cupping results were somewhat unpleasant compared to Arabica results. Most of the Typica varieties of Indonesia were lost to CLR disease, although, some Typica plants that had been grown in the northern highlands of Sumatra survived, and can still be found today growing there.

In the 1920s, Timor Hybrid (HdT), a natural cross between Coffea Arabica and Coffea Canephora (Arabica and Robusta) was found on the island of Timor. HdT has genes that are resistant to CLR, nematodes and coffee berry disease (CBD). The discovery of HdT played an important role in the development of modern varieties and coffee research. Based on the historical origin of the Coffea Arabica cultivars, the Typica and Bourbon varieties showed important differences. The young leaves of the plant bud are bronze for the cultivars of Typica or dominant origin, and light green for cultivars of Bourbon origin or with that dominant gene.

The varieties of Coffea Arabica that we can find today in the Gayo highlands are: Bergendal, Sidikalang, Rambung, Lines - S, USDA, Catimor Jaluk, Ateng Super, BP 542, C - 50, among others. But recommended by the local government for its high productivity and cup quality are: Gayo-1, Gayo-2 and P-88.

GILING BASAH PROCESS

ATU LINTANG VILLAGE LOCATION
 CONTACT
[email protected]
+34 675 608 692
WHERE  WE ARE
Barcelona, Spain
Santiago, Chile
​Budapest, Hungary