Whether you prefer the fullness that comes with a Mandheling dark roast or have a dietary issue that requires you to reduce the acid in your diet, the Sumatra coffee may be your dream bean delivering on flavor without the high levels of acid.
Read on to learn more about Sumatra coffee, including its history, varieties, and how to choose the best of these Indonesian coffee beans in our buying guide.
If you are also interested in exploring beans from all over the world, check out our best coffee beans list.
What is Sumatra Coffee? A Bit Of History
In the late 17th century, The Dutch East India Trading Company brought coffee plants to the islands of Indonesia, looking to capitalize on a love of coffee spreading over Europe coming primarily from Arab merchants [1].
Sumatra is the second-largest island within the Republic of Indonesia, possessing volcanic soil and a wet and humid climate ideal for growing Arabica coffee beans. The plants took to the climate in Sumatra, and the Dutch quickly became a massive producer.
Closer to the end of the 19th century, coffee leaf rust disease wiped out large numbers of plantations throughout Indonesia, and many farmers turned away from coffee as it wasn’t economically viable.
The Dutch, who were still controlling plantations, decided to change the variety of coffee they were planting, turning to Liberica coffee, which was also affected by leaf rust, then Robusta coffee species. This variety makes up almost three-quarters of the coffee export business. [2]
Higher quality Arabica beans are now mainly grown in highlands such as Sumatra and Sulawesi regions. The well-known Mandheling, Lintong coffee, as well as the weirdest and most expensive coffee Kopi Luwak, are from Sumatra.
How Does Sumatra Coffee Taste?
Sumatra coffee has notes of:
- Earthy
- Dark chocolate
- Butterscotch/Caramel
- Dark earth
- Spices
Sumatra coffee is often described as almost syrupy with a slightly sweet taste on the tongue and low acidity to a dark and mushroomy flavor, making it loved by some coffee lovers. However, it’s contentious for specialty coffee who may find it too one-note compared to brighter, fruitier coffees.
This overall round taste is one reason Starbucks buys large quantities of Sumatran coffee, dark roasts it, and then uses it in their espresso blends to add depth and lower the overall acidity.
Sumatra Coffee is Suitable for…
- Traditional and old-school coffee drinkers who prefer the darker notes of coffee.
- Those who prefer or need coffee with a lower acidity level without compromising taste.
Even if you aren’t in one of these two camps, check out these best 7 Sumatra coffee brands and form your own opinion.
Sumatran Coffee Beans Varieties
When shopping for the best Sumatran coffee beans, you’ll often see the following designations: Mandheling, Lintong, Goya, and Kopi Luwak.
Mandheling
Sumatra Mandheling coffee, named after the Mandailing people who live in the Tapanuli region of Sumatra (the Northern part of the island) rather than the area they grow in.
The coffee began its life on the island with the Dutch colonists, who started several nurseries as part of the Forced Cultivation scheme.
The beans grow in the Aceh region between 2500 and 4000 feet, a lower elevation than other Sumatra coffee beans. With rich volcanic soil and a wet and humid climate ideal for growing, Mandheling beans can grow to have a full and complex flavor even at lower altitudes.
These are the beans most commonly associated with Sumatran coffee, a beautiful bluish-green color making them look almost like jade.
Lintong
Growing in the Northern part of Sumatra at an altitude often over 5000 feet around Lake Toba, Lintong has many of the common characteristics of Sumatra coffee, including dark, rich notes and low acidity.
Lintong doesn’t denote a specific type of bean but a broad group of beans named after the District of Lintongnihuta nearby.
The beans are fully wet-hulled from small farmers and often processed in small amounts (micro-lots), making them slightly more expensive but worth the cost.
Gayo
The Gayo variety comes from the Aceh area, also in the Northern part of the island. Gayo farmers process and wash their beans in their backyards using a wet hulling process.
This process creates a rich and earthy coffee with notes of cacao, flowers, and a light, slightly syrupy taste.
Kopi Luwak
At nearly $80 a cup in some shops, Kopi Luwak is believed by many to be the best coffee in the world, even if it comes from a rather weird process.
Kopi Luwak coffee cherries have been eaten, partially digested, and then the beans retrieved from the feces of the Asian Palm Civet [3]. The civet is a long-tailed cat-like animal that lives all over Southern Asia, including Sumatra.
The civet cats are not only an unintentional processor of the beans but also quality control. The enzymes in the civet’s stomach help to break down the coffee cherry, and the civet always looks for the ripest and best quality cherries.
However, there are some ethical concerns with the treatment of captive civets to do the processing. It’s important to do some research about where your Kopi Luwak coffee is coming from and whether they employ ethical methods. [4]
Sumatra Coffee Processing – Wet hulling (Giling Bashan)
Sumatra coffee is born in a wet and humid climate. It would take too long to dry the beans to a lower moisture point in the traditional method of dry-processing, so wet hulling is done out of necessity, and since it’s faster, it produces beans more quickly.
The ‘wet hulling’ process, or ‘giling basah’ as it’s known in the local Bahasa language, is a method for processing coffee cherries starting at harvest until they’re sold for roasting.
The picked coffee cherries are depulped to remove the outer skin using a hand-turned crank and placed into plastic sacks to ferment overnight.
This fermentation will help further break down the fruit of the coffee cherry, which they washed away.
Drying comes next, and this is one of the key points where wet hulling and dry-processing differ. Usually, at this point, the beans are at a lower moisture point and then dried for a much longer time.
After that, wet-hulled beans are only dried for a few hours on a patio or covered bed and sold more quickly with a higher final moisture point.
This fast turnaround locks in a more intense, sweeter, or earthier flavor.
Is Sumatra Coffee Lower in Acid?
Yes, it is! Several factors give Sumatra coffee a low-acid, earthy taste, including climate, processing, roast, and brewing method.
The wet and humid climate and volcanic soil give Sumatra coffee a lower acid content and a darker, deeper earthy taste.
The wet hulling process contributes to that low acid as well. Common to all varieties of Sumatran coffee, the process locks in the flavor and lends itself to lower acid content by maintaining a higher moisture level throughout and doesn’t allow for citrus notes in the drier stages to develop.
Roast and brewing methods can also contribute to lower acidity.
Thanks to higher moisture content, roasters tend to roast on the darker side with Sumatra coffee. They choose a medium roast at the lightest but often going more towards a dark roast.
To emphasize the low acid, choose a french press or cold brew rather than pour-over or espresso.
What Roast Level Is Suitable For Sumatra Coffee?
To bring out the best of Sumatra coffee’s unique earthy taste, the beans are roasted to at least medium-dark roast and sometimes all the way to dark roast. Where coffee grows has a significant effect on the final flavor of the roasted coffee that we drink.
Sumatra coffee grows between 2,500 and, in extreme cases, 5,000 feet above sea level. This altitude brings a harsher climate, and the stress lends itself to a sweeter coffee.
If you like darker roasted beans, choose a French roast to bring out spicier notes of higher altitude Sumatra coffee.
References:
[1]CUL3093: Coffee, Tea and Non-Alcoholic Beverage Specialist (Buckley): Coffee History – https://nmi.library.jwu.edu/c.php?g=961407&p=6943185
[2]Coffee: World Markets and Trade – https://downloads.usda.library.cornell.edu/usda-esmis/files/m900nt40f/377214491/z029pw759/coffee.pdf
[3]Paradoxurus hermaphroditus Asian palm civet By Jessica Nelson – https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Paradoxurus_hermaphroditus/
[4]The Disturbing Secret Behind the World’s Most Expensive Coffee – By RACHAEL BALE https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/160429-kopi-luwak-captive-civet-coffee-Indonesia
