Last week we had the opportunity to taste the pre-shipment sample from our new prospect in Sumatra. As mentioned in previous blogs, this new offering makes for a decent shift in direction for us as the way it has been sourced has resulted in a change in flavour profile. This one small 200g sample of green is the culmination of several trips to origin and many tastings to ensure that it meets our quality standards — particularly in light of the fact that this Sumatran is sourced a little differently than the norm.
On my last trip touring with the Simalungun Project manager (Leo), I was continuously reminded that better practices on the ground from farming to processing will always result in better cup quality. This makes perfect sense and from my experience cupping with them at origin, I never found myself craving the old cup profile I had become accustomed to. On all counts, those coffees that I tasted which were sourced outside of the typical supply chain model had greater clarity, sweetness and complexity. Logically, this coffee makes more sense from a coffee sourcing point of view in that it will be more consistent from bag to bag. Knowing we have a mill to partner with means we have now formed a relationship — we now know where our coffee comes from and, providing the coffee always tastes great, we can support this mill, which in turn helps to establish a foundation for their continued growth and education throughout the region of Simalungun.
Our new Simalungun G1 is lively but lower in the vegetal characteristics common to ‘Lintong’ promoted profiles. It’s complex, sweet, and lighter in body (still classified as medium though) and has great flavour intensity. Brown sugar, root beer, vegetal, complex and pepper are all descriptors from our five strong Q grader qualified staff who recorded notes against the pre-shipment sample last week. The expectation is that this will be a great blending option with body, balance and a fresh crop liveliness which will easily replace and enhance blends using our current Sumatran Lintong.
The estimated time of arrival and replacement date for the Lintong is about two weeks.
