Day 5: Cupping Coffee in Medan

Today we visited the mill back in Medan, where we took a tour of the facility and cupped some coffees. Country Director for Indonesia Olivier Tichet along with Canadian Roaster Adam Pesce and Adam Kline of Atlantic Specialty Coffee cupped different coffees. We cupped 9 coffees in total- one was the organic coffee we are currently buying from Ache and the others were a combination of Mandheling, Rain Forest Alliance, and Utz Certified.

We cupped three coffees that were identical coffees from the same farming area and delivery date but were milled differently. One of those coffees had a defect count of 7, the other two were 11 or higher. I couldn’t see a big difference between the defect of 7 and 11 but the third coffee that was identical was slightly different. I did however like the organic we are currently buying. I am heading to that farm tomorrow on an hour flight to Meulaboh along with a four hour ride to Takengon.

During our visit to the Mill where our coffee gets processed I was extremely impressed with it’s clean interior. This facility has an impressive lab with everything to produce outstanding coffees. The facility has a color sorter to accurately reduce defects. The color sorter is supposed to be the only one in the area.

All the coffee that goes through this mill goes through the process of sorting by density, color, size and quality. Once the drying process is complete the coffee is stored accordingly. They have different areas for all the certifications including Organic, Fair Trade, Utz Certified and Conventional. We are currently buying both Conventional or Mandheling Grade 1 and certified organic.

After the machine sorting, if you request a hand sorting that can be done by staff that will sort through a bag of coffee in one day. This is very time-consuming considering 300 bags go into every container. This is important step for taking out insect damage that may cause an unpleasant taste.

Once the coffee is milled it gets hand stacked by the staff. During our visit they were shy about wanting to get their picture taken. These guys can't weight more than a bag of coffee. Which when you think of it they are lifting their weight everytime they lift a bag of coffee. I think I will stick to roasting coffee.

I am currently trying to locate a pound of Kopi Luwak. This infamous coffee goes for about $160 a pound green. If I am successful I will bring back some for a cupping at Portland Roasting. I have never tried it but you only live once. This is the most expensive coffee in the world and has to be certified in order for me to buy it.

Every bag of coffee gets tagged according to type, area and even farm for certification. The facility must do this and keep transparent records for Organic and Fair Trade. They have mapped out where every farm that supplies them via GPS and on a future blog I will share this. It is quite extraordinary to do this so we will have the opportunity show case micro-lots that go into our Organic Sumatran.

The next part of my trip I am really looking forward to. Part of the trip will take me to an orphanage in the coffee area. The facility was rebuilt after a cyclone wiped it out. Ecom paid for the building and the government staffs it and pays for the upkeep. The orphanage is one of the places we are interested in helping through our Farm Friendly premiums.

Until next time.

Mark