Sumatra coffee and its Giling Basah processing process
Possibly, you have heard about cafes like Kopi Luwak, labeled by some as 'exotic'. Since it is defecated by a civet, a feline in captivity. However, there is another Indonesian variety that is free of animal cruelty and is of extraordinary quality. It is about the Sumatran coffee, which you can find in the stock of Incapto Coffee.
This coffee is grown in the village of Atu Litang. This is characterized by its beneficiary system known as Giling Basah. Thanks to this, the grains provide a drink whose flavor and aroma are very special and characteristic.
If this piqued your curiosity, then we invite you to continue reading and learn more details about this unique processing process in the world and its great contribution to the quality of the cup.
If we go to the North of the Island of Sumatra, we find the province of Aceh. where there is 10 indigenous ethnic groups living in this region. One of these groups are the Gayos, who occupy most of the highest lands in the region between 1,400 and 1,600 meters above sea level.
During the period that the Dutch occupied these lands, the Gayoneses developed an economy based on the intercropping of fruits and vegetables. Like for example, the coffee cultivation. For this reason, today there are still a large number of small coffee growers in the area of Aceh Tengah. With farms of only half a hectare on average. As they are small farms, the coffee growers in this area have to group together and organize themselves into cooperatives to be able to process and market their coffee.
What characterizes Sumatran coffee?
As we noted above, in the product catalog of Incapto Coffee is available on Sumatran coffee. Specifically the one in the village Atu Lintang, where 298 coffee growers have been grouped.
This variety stands out for providing a drink with notes of dark chocolate, cinnamon, and cloves. It is cultivated at an altitude of between 1,400 and 1,600 meters high. As if that were not enough, this coffee has 87 points on the scale of the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), which means it is specialty.
Another interesting fact is that this batch of Sumatra coffee is processed at the washing station Jagong Mill. It is one of the few washing centers in Sumatra where the coffee growers deliver the cherry and the complete processing process is carried out. Those in charge of this ensure that before starting the procedure they evaluate whether all the cherries reached their optimal state of maturation. This is necessary because in Indonesia there is not much culture of picking only the ripe cherry. This greatly affects the quality of the cup.
From here, a debate could be opened where the best option for a small coffee grower is put on the table. That is, if taking care of the coffee processing process and deliver the grain already in parchment to the cooperative and let it only be in charge of threshing and marketing. Or that the cooperative is in charge of the entire process.
This is a difficult decision but one that will also depend on the good practices of the coffee growers and the cooperative. Since Incapto We believe that we should move towards a model where the people who are in charge of caring for the coffee plants throughout the year and who must harvest their fruit at the optimal point of ripeness have to participate more in the benefits generated by their raw material.
In short, this is achieved with greater training and training in the field. Fewer intermediaries, more transparency and traceability throughout the chain. At the same time, it reaffirms that to achieve this, the most important thing is that, as consumers, we care about knowing more about the origin of the products we buy.
What processing process do you use?
Sumatra coffee has something quite particular which is its processing process. It turns out that the one used in Indonesia is known as Giling Basah, and starts the same as washing or wet process.
The first thing to do with Giling Basahm is to manually pick the ripe cherries. It is then washed and pulped the same day it is harvested.
Once the pulp is removed, it is left to ferment dry, without water, approximately 12 hours. After these hours, it is washed again to remove the mucilage that remains stuck to the parchment. Once this is done, it is left to dry until it reaches around 25% humidity. This phase is known as the first drying.
When they have 25% humidity, they are put into the threshers to remove the parchment skin. The machines, for threshing in Indonesia, They are larger than in the rest of the producing countries. This is because, when using coffee that is wetter than usual, the machines need to generate more friction to remove the parchment from the green, wet bean.
Once the parchment skin has been removed, it is left to dry in patios for a second time until it reaches 12% humidity, which is the stipulated level for export.
It should be noted that higher humidity could produce mold and lower humidity would make the coffee less fresh and have few nuances. The next step is classification by density or gravity, which consists of separating the coffee by size or sieve.
Finally, you have to remove the defective beans manually. Depending on how many times it goes through manual defect selection, it will be considered a higher or lower quality coffee. Because it will have more or less defective grains. In summary, the difference between the Giling Basah process and washing is that there are two stages of drying: the first with parchment up to 25% humidity. The second without the parchment layer up to 12% humidity. This process is what gives Indonesian coffees a distinctive earthy touch. If this has piqued your curiosity, we invite you to look for it in the coffee catalog or the tasting pack like the worldwide, available in Incapto Coffee.
Indonesia, coffee-growing territory
Indonesia is an island country located between Southeast Asia and Oceania. An interesting fact is that it is made up of more than 17,000 islands, which makes it much more attractive for tourists from all over. One of these beautiful islands is Sumatra, the sixth largest in the world and which is located in the western end of Indonesia. Between the Indian Ocean and the Strait of Malacca. In case you didn't know, coffee is usually grown in warm climates and in this case, it originates between the two Tropics. So this island would not be the exception. Here, grains of the same quality as those harvested in countries such as Colombia, Brazil or Peru are produced.
If we go to the North of the Island of Sumatra, we find the province of Aceh. where there is 10 indigenous ethnic groups living in this region. One of these groups are the Gayos, who occupy most of the highest lands in the region between 1,400 and 1,600 meters above sea level.
During the period that the Dutch occupied these lands, the Gayoneses developed an economy based on the intercropping of fruits and vegetables. Like for example, the coffee cultivation. For this reason, today there are still a large number of small coffee growers in the area of Aceh Tengah. With farms of only half a hectare on average. As they are small farms, the coffee growers in this area have to group together and organize themselves into cooperatives to be able to process and market their coffee.
What characterizes Sumatran coffee?
As we noted above, in the product catalog of Incapto Coffee is available on Sumatran coffee. Specifically the one in the village Atu Lintang, where 298 coffee growers have been grouped.
This variety stands out for providing a drink with notes of dark chocolate, cinnamon, and cloves. It is cultivated at an altitude of between 1,400 and 1,600 meters high. As if that were not enough, this coffee has 87 points on the scale of the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), which means it is specialty.
Another interesting fact is that this batch of Sumatra coffee is processed at the washing station Jagong Mill. It is one of the few washing centers in Sumatra where the coffee growers deliver the cherry and the complete processing process is carried out. Those in charge of this ensure that before starting the procedure they evaluate whether all the cherries reached their optimal state of maturation. This is necessary because in Indonesia there is not much culture of picking only the ripe cherry. This greatly affects the quality of the cup.
From here, a debate could be opened where the best option for a small coffee grower is put on the table. That is, if taking care of the coffee processing process and deliver the grain already in parchment to the cooperative and let it only be in charge of threshing and marketing. Or that the cooperative is in charge of the entire process.
This is a difficult decision but one that will also depend on the good practices of the coffee growers and the cooperative. Since Incapto We believe that we should move towards a model where the people who are in charge of caring for the coffee plants throughout the year and who must harvest their fruit at the optimal point of ripeness have to participate more in the benefits generated by their raw material.
In short, this is achieved with greater training and training in the field. Fewer intermediaries, more transparency and traceability throughout the chain. At the same time, it reaffirms that to achieve this, the most important thing is that, as consumers, we care about knowing more about the origin of the products we buy.
What processing process do you use?
Sumatra coffee has something quite particular which is its processing process. It turns out that the one used in Indonesia is known as Giling Basah, and starts the same as washing or wet process.
The first thing to do with Giling Basahm is to manually pick the ripe cherries. It is then washed and pulped the same day it is harvested.
Once the pulp is removed, it is left to ferment dry, without water, approximately 12 hours. After these hours, it is washed again to remove the mucilage that remains stuck to the parchment. Once this is done, it is left to dry until it reaches around 25% humidity. This phase is known as the first drying.
When they have 25% humidity, they are put into the threshers to remove the parchment skin. The machines, for threshing in Indonesia, They are larger than in the rest of the producing countries. This is because, when using coffee that is wetter than usual, the machines need to generate more friction to remove the parchment from the green, wet bean.
Once the parchment skin has been removed, it is left to dry in patios for a second time until it reaches 12% humidity, which is the stipulated level for export.
It should be noted that higher humidity could produce mold and lower humidity would make the coffee less fresh and have few nuances. The next step is classification by density or gravity, which consists of separating the coffee by size or sieve.
Finally, you have to remove the defective beans manually. Depending on how many times it goes through manual defect selection, it will be considered a higher or lower quality coffee. Because it will have more or less defective grains. In summary, the difference between the Giling Basah process and washing is that there are two stages of drying: the first with parchment up to 25% humidity. The second without the parchment layer up to 12% humidity. This process is what gives Indonesian coffees a distinctive earthy touch. If this has piqued your curiosity, we invite you to look for it in the coffee catalog or the tasting pack like the worldwide, available in Incapto Coffee.
