Gayo Origin, Northern Sumatra

100 Points - Sumatra, perhaps the quintessential Indonesian coffee, doesn't grow on estates or big farms. It comes from the backyards and garden plots of small landholders,who often have only a few trees. Yet, it's the elementary way they process beans by hand, using the semi-washed method, that could be the secret to this coffee's unconstrained flavor and hefty, syrup-like body.

Cherries are pulped on the farm with a hand-cranked mill, and the seeds hand washed in a basket. Collectors purchase and hull the coffee while still moist and dark grayish-green, removing the parchment shells and allowing the beans to sun-dry only briefly before delivering them to the port of Medan. Along the way, they become fully dry in stages — acquiring their characteristic Sumatran earthiness and complexity.