Located on the coast of western Indonesia, Sumatra coffee is grown on the Sunda Islands. Sumatra, is the largest island in the group and the coffee grown in this region picked up its name. The region produces some of the best coffee in the world and a couple characteristics of the region make the coffee unique. 

Coffee in Sumatra is typically grown in small-holder farms in North Sumatra, often comprised of small areas of land with a handful of trees farmed by families who can own as little as 100 coffee trees to a few acres of land.

Another unique characteristic of Sumatran coffee is the way they’re harvested and dried. Normally, Sumatran coffee uses a natural processing method called wet-hulling. Wet-hulling is one of many methods used to dry coffee beans. Coffee beans start off as seeds that are removed from coffee cherries. Typically, in other coffee producing countries, they’re left to dry until there’s 11% moisture content left before they’re processed. Yet, due to Sumatra’s unpredictable rainy weather, farmers only have around 4 hours a day of drying time before rain starts pouring in and potentially ruining their work.

To avoid this the coffee beans are left to dry till they reach 50% moisture content, after which they’re then transported to a specialized wet-hulling machine that completes the drying process and removes the coffee beans protective coating. During this process the the system helps ferment the coffee beans and create a complex earthy flavor.