INDONESIA Gayo Mask Golden Mandheling G1 TP

Indonesia is a large island nation formed from numerous volcanic islands, thus it has naturally favourable coffee farming conditions, optimum latitude, and special topographical and climatic features in each of its island. Among these, the Sumatran island is the main coffee planting region in Indonesia, and also the birthplace of Mandheling coffee. The island of Sumatra is split into two production regions: one is Aceh that is located in northern Sumatra, the other is Linton located near central southern Lake Toba. The most well-known coffee plantation region in Aceh is the Gayo mountain range that encircles Lake Tawar. It is also the main production region for Mandheling coffee, boasting an altitude of 1100-1300 km. (Mandheling is not the name of the place of origin of the coffee, it refers to Arabica coffee from northern Sumatra, originating from the name of the indigenous Sumatran people). Gayo production region, which surrounds the picturesque Lake Tawar, has an abundant average annual rainfall of 2200mm and relatively high altitude. The coffee plantation is located at an altitude of 1300 km and is enriched with nutrients from fertile volcanic soil.

This region is usually managed by independent small farmers who carry out their coffee farming here, making use of the natural shade from trees to improve the quality of coffee. As compared to Linton which is located to the west-south of Lake Toba, the coffee at Gayo is more mellow and reticent, usually with a more full-bodied taste and rich cocoa flavour.