Sumatra Blue Batak

This is the new harvest from small family farms at the tip of Lake Toba in northern Sumatra. Selected producers from the Lintong region have contributed to this unique coffee. We love Blue Batak and try to buy it every year. Last year's harvest was somewhat disappointing—the typical notes of stone fruit and grapefruit didn't really come through. But this year's harvest truly lives up to expectations.

The coffee has a strong, full body that fills the entire mouth, with delicate herbal notes and flavor nuances of cedar wood, black tea, and a lively acidity reminiscent of rhubarb and grapefruit. It is also very complex—a combination that is completely irresistible.

This coffee is produced through a collaboration between many small-scale farmers from the Batak people, who use the unique Indonesian method. Giling Basah – a wet process in which the coffee cherries are completely peeled before drying. After peeling, the green beans take on a deep, bluish tone – hence the name Blue Batak.

The coffee comes from the Lintong region (officially Lintong Nihuta), located at the southern tip of Lake Toba in northern Sumatra, adjacent to the world's largest volcanic crater lake. For centuries, coffee has flourished in this fertile volcanic landscape, cultivated for generations by the indigenous Batak people, who settled here as early as the 13th century.

Every step of the process—from harvesting to drying—is carefully done by hand according to local tradition. At sunrise, farmers pick the ripe coffee berries, which are then peeled using simple, manual machines. The wet beans are left to ferment in sacks overnight before being spread out in open areas to dry in the sun. When the parchment layer has dried to the right level, it is removed, exposing the characteristic blue-green bean. After another two to three days of drying, the coffee is sorted in three rounds by hand and then left to rest before export.