Indonesia - Sumatra Ribang Gayo Natural

Indonesia - Sumatra Ribang Gayo Natural

Region:  Aceh Province, North Sumatra
Producer Type:  Asman Arianto/Ribang Gayo Musara Cooperative, farming on 0.5 to 2.5 hectacres on average
Altitude: 1500-1700 MASL
Varietals: Abyssinia, Ateng, Gayo 1, Gayo 2, Timtim
Process:  Natural

We Taste: Kiwi, Plum, Cashew Butter

Light Roast

Sumatran coffees can often be very polarizing. Some folks love them and some folks, not so much. This coffee jumped off of the cupping table in the lab for the roasting team from the first time we smelled the grounds. Upon tasting it they exclaimed, “We have to have this!” This coffee has a truly stunning flavor profile, meticulously prepared and deliciously sweet.  If you fall into the latter category of folks with a notion of what Sumatran coffees taste like, your humble roasting team would highly encourage you to try this coffee and possibly change your perception of what Sumatran coffees taste like.

Asman Arianto is originally from Palembang, South Sumatra but has been living and working in Aceh Tengah since 1998. Most of the farmers in Aceh Tengah are migrants. Many of them were evacuated from Sinabung Berastagi in North Sumatra after the long-dormant volcano became continuously active again in 2013. When he arrived in Aceh, Asman entered the coffee industry and began collecting and processing wet-hulled coffee. He soon switched to collecting cherry and processing as Fully Washed, Honey or Natural.

He decided he wanted to build a cooperative to unite coffee farmers. In 2018, Asman formed the Ribang Gayo Musara Cooperative. His goal is to offer competitive prices that can help farmers reinvest in their farms and their families. The cooperative currently has over 350 members who deliver cherry to their processing facility in Pantan Musara. 
The benefits for cooperative members are threefold. First, they get higher prices for their cherry when they sell to the cooperative. Second, as cooperative members, they receive end-of-season ‘second payment’ premiums that share a portion of profits earned for higher-quality lots. Finally, the cooperative provides training and outreach for farmers in everything from cultivation to processing.

Ribang Gayo Musara is profiting and expanding. Members doubled production yields in just 5 seasons (2016 to 2020). A newly completed cooperative wet-mill was online beginning in the 2020 harvest. While Indonesia is known for its unique ‘Wet Hulled’ Process (Giling Basah), Asman and his team are expanding Indonesia’s coffee possibilities by diversifying the cooperative's processing methods.