About this Coffee
New for 2023 and inspired by a coffee classic from the pioneer in Indonesian coffee processing – cast aside your expectations for a Sumatran coffee because this flavor bomb has super rounded sweetness and complexity delicately layered on top of the traditional rusticness.
This experimental processed lot is one of a series that we were fortunate to be able to bring in this year, and represents an ongoing tidal shift in coffee across the globe with more and more producers, large and small, having access to the supplies and knowledge to experiment. Varietals once only found in certain corners of the globe are spreading further and faster than ever before, as are agronomic and processing advances through methods and technology.
Led by Hendra Maulizar, the Gegaring Team produces some of the highest quality, most sought after micro lots in all of Indonesia. They are processing these coffees in the mountains of central Aceh in North Sumatra. Hendra works with three farms in Aceh Gayo. He makes himself available to watch over the entire process from start to finish while relying on a team of incredible producers who work together to see each other succeed. Most of their coffees fly under the banner name of Pegasing, where the coffees are farmed and collected into central facilities. Fusing innovations in fermentation and drying with Sumatra’s unique varieties, Hendra has made his team of producers and his methods the premier pioneering act in Sumatra specialty coffee processes.
This Kenya Style double washed process is the opposite of the traditional Indonesian processing method of wet-hulling. Cherries are pulped as quickly as possible after being picked, ideally within eight hours. The coffee then sits in a tank before natural fermentation begins. As the coffee ferments, yeast and bacteria eat sugar and convert it to amino acids. After 12-18 hours, the miller will add fresh cold water to the tank, stalling the process. The tank is then drained of water before the process starts again.
This pulse of fermentation extends the time the coffee goes through the process. It can last up to 72 hours. After fermentation, it is manually agitated by allowing the coffee and water to follow narrow channels. A team of millers use large paddles and push the coffee against the stream of water to wash the coffee and remove any residual mucilage from the parchment. After the fermentation and scrubbing, the coffee is dried slowly and meticulously on raised screens. Raised screens allow the drying process to slow down, which helps with flavor preservation..