Sumatra Breakfast

Tastes Like: Chocolate, Cedar, Assam Tea, Lemongrass
Origin: Aceh, Sumatra
Variety: Ateng, Bor Bor, Catimor & Timor
Producer: Smallholder Farmers, Aceh Region
Elevation: 1,300–1,650 masl
Process: Wet-Hulled (Giling Basah)

Flavor Profile: Chocolate, Cedar, Assam Tea, Lemongrass
It opens with rich, grounding dark chocolate before giving way to the dry, woody warmth of cedar, the kind of weight that makes you slow down and actually taste what's in your cup. Then comes the fun part: a mid-palate that shifts into something almost tea-like, with the malty, slightly tannic character of Assam adding complexity without any bitterness. The finish lifts with a whisper of lemongrass — bright, herbal, clean — cutting through the earthiness in the best way possible. Full-bodied, low-acid, and quietly complex. Why drink English Breakfast when you can have a cuppa delicious Sumatran Breakfast?

Where It's From
Grown at 1,300–1,650 masl on the volcanic slopes of the Barisan Mountains in Aceh, northern Sumatra — a region where 95% of producers are smallholders and 80% are women. Coffee grows here among dense rainforest in one of the world's most dramatic landscapes, anchored by Lake Toba, the largest volcanic lake on earth. The heavy, cloud-covered climate isn't a challenge, it's the whole reason this coffee tastes the way it does.

The Producers: Aceh Smallholder Community
This coffee carries no single farm name, and that's kind of the point. It comes from a whole community — a network of smallholder farmers across the Aceh region, each working plots of about one hectare, all sharing the same volcanic mountain landscape and the same time-honored process. Sourced through Cafe Imports' Harimau Tiger program, this lot is selected for a cleaner, sweeter take on Sumatran character — fuller in body, lower in harshness, and unmistakable from the first sip.

How It's Made
After harvest, cherries are hand-depulped right at the farm, dried briefly, then passed along to local collectors. At the mill they're washed and pre-dried for 8–12 hours until they hit around 35% moisture — then hulled while still wet, with the parchment stripped off before the coffee is dried the rest of the way down to export-ready moisture. This is Giling Basah, the wet-hull method born out of pure necessity — a practical solution to Sumatra's relentless rain that accidentally became one of the most distinctive flavor signatures in all of specialty coffee. The result is everything you taste in the cup: earthy depth, herbal brightness, and a chocolate-cedar richness that is impossible to mistake.