Sumatra Takengon Organically Grown Crown Jewel - 10oz. Bag

Intro

This certified fair trade, organically grown Sumatra comes to us from the Takengon Ratu Women's Cooperative located in the Aceh province and special territory in Indonesia. The freshly picked coffee cherries are wet-hulled processed and patio dried in the sun.

The flavor profile offers hints of brown sugar, dark chocolate, lemongrass, and orange zest.

Origin Information

Grower - Ratu Ketiara Gayo (RKG) Women's Cooperative
Cultivar - Regional catimor & typica cultivars
Soil - Volcanic loam
Region - Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia
Harvest - September – June
Elevation - 1200 – 1600 masl
Process - Wet-hulled and patio dried in the sun
Certification - Fair Trade (FT FLO/USA) | Organic

Flavor

Brown sugar, dark chocolate, lemongrass, and orange zest

Roast

We roasted this Crown Jewel to a full medium roast. Depending on the grind and brewing method, this Crown Jewel can produce hints of brown sugar, dark chocolate, lemongrass, and orange zest.

Brewing

As with most Top-Shelf coffees, we suggest using the pour-over method to maximized the aroma and flavor of this Crown Jewel coffee using a 1:16 coffee to water ratio with the water between 200F and 205F. Once grounds are placed in the filter, pre-soak grounds by covering with water for ~30sec to allow for blooming, then finish with either a steady pour or a couple of short pours to complete the brewing process.

Producer / Source Background

Aceh (pronounced AH-CHEY) is the northernmost province of Sumatra. Its highland territory, surrounding Lake Laut Tawar and the local city of Takengon, is considered to be the epicenter of one of the world’s most unique coffee terroirs due to its isolated heirloom set of typica and catimor-based cultivars, it’s uniquely fertile microclimates, land husbandry, and tradition of wet-hulled processing. Coffee farms in this area are managed with the experience of many generations of cultivation, while also harmoniously woven into their surrounding tropical forests. The canopies are loud and fields are almost impenetrably thick with coffee and fruit trees and vegetables, all of which are constantly flushing with new growth. Year-round mists and rain showers never cease, farm floors are spongy and deep with compost, and almost every square meter of the region seems to exude life. Nothing is ever still.

PT Ketiara is an umbrella group in this area that was founded in 2009 by Ms. Rahmah, who began in coffee as a local cherry collector more than 20 years ago, and who by now is one of Indonesia’s most respected coffee entrepreneurs. As a woman coming up in the male-dominated, largely conservative Muslim industry of Sumatra coffee, Ms. Rahmah learned to be assertive in negotiations, tend endlessly to the happiness of the farmers she represents, and to make her business a collective representation of the true gender diversity and talent of her community.  The original cooperative was Fair Trade certified in 2011 and has grown from 38 original farmer members to almost 2000, and into multiple different sub-companies to service different qualities, processing styles, and certifications. Ms. Rahmah and her leadership team are in constant communication with their members.

Ratu Ketiara Gayo (RKG) is the Ketiara group’s newest business unit: a women’s cooperative established in 2017 and co-lead by three of Ms. Rahmah’s young protégés: Ms. Indayana as chairwoman; Ms. Dini as quality control; and Ms. Murul Kemala as treasurer. RKG represents a younger generation of farmers, 971 in total, 80% of whom are women, and all of whom are focused on top quality. Together RKG members farm a total of 1,234 hectares of coffee.

Regional coffee distinctions in the northern provinces of Sumatra are interestingly all based on human ethnicity, rather than geography itself. “Mandheling” for example, is a broad label for a widespread cultural group in Sumatra and Malaysia and subsequently the most common coffee trading term, applying to almost any chosen blend of wet-hulled coffees from across the northern half of the island. “Batak” is a Mandheling sub-ethnicity based around Lake Toba and considered a regional coffee pedigree to itself, and often marketed as such. These terms are malleable, and it is often difficult to pinpoint a coffee’s exact origin without direct partnerships that allow buyers to travel the entire value chain themselves. “Gayo” is Ketiara’s declaration, used to proudly signify a pure microregion and society of coffee from the center of Aceh, handmade by the Gayo people. Ketiara undoubtedly captures their community’s best qualities through careful logistics. The cooperative centrally controls transport, final drying, and sorting for all members’ coffee. It also conducts all export business from their headquarters in the mountains, avoiding any further consolidation or exposure of their shipments to Sumatra’s humid, balmy coastal climate, where many exporters tend to hold green coffee for sale.