Indonesia Sumatra Arabica Raja Toba Gr.1 Triple Picked

delicate, citric smooth, black tea, herbal, blood orange

SCA score: 84.5

Raja Toba is a semi-washed coffee coming from the villages of Bewarang and Jagong Jeget in Aceh, on the northern end of Sumatra. Produced by smallholder farmers cultivating a total of 308 hectares, this coffee undergoes triple-picking—a meticulous process of sorting and cleaning performed three times before bagging. The result is a cup that captivates with its classic spicy notes, vibrant acidity, and well-structured body.

The first attempt to grow coffee on the Indonesian archipelago can be traced back to 1696 when the Governor of Jakarta (then Batavia) was gifted coffee seedlings by the Dutch Governor of Malabar in India. Despite being a failed attempt (the seedlings were lost in a flood), this gift was the start of the long history of coffee production in Indonesia, which is now more than 300 years old.

Today Indonesia is the world's 4th largest coffee producer, however, its coffee stands out from others thanks to its traditional post-harvest processing known as “giling basah”. This process is only used in Indonesia and combines elements from both washed and natural processing. Semi-washed (also known as wet-hulled) processing starts by pulping the cherries and then letting the beans ferment with their mucilage. In the case of this coffee, fermentation lasted 18 hours. The beans are then washed and dried until they reach around 30% of moisture content. Then they are hulled with this moisture level and laid down for final drying. This process has a dramatic effect on cup quality: acidity tends to diminish while the body increases, creating round and heavy-bodied profiles with earthy and spicy flavors.