Producer: Koperasi Kopi Gayo Organic Cooperative
Farm: 1,358 Smallholders
Region: Aceh, Sumatra
Altitude: 1,300-1,450 masl
Varietal: Tim-Tim, Ateng Super
Process: Wet-Hulled
Roast: Light-Medium
Notes: Cherry, Semi-Sweet Chocolate, Cedar

Imported by our friends at Royal Coffee. 

"The KKGO cooperative has farmers throughout the highlands surrounding Sumatra’s Lake Tawar. We often get high-grade coffees from this group hailing from specific sub-regions and communities. This is a lighter and brighter lot than most, from Atu Lintang, a small area southwest of the lake and part of the vast Aceh Tengah Regency.

"Aceh (pronounced AH-CHEY) is the northernmost province of Sumatra. Its highland territory is considered to be the epicenter of one of the world’s most unique coffee terroirs. Coffee farms in this area are managed with the experience of many generations of cultivation, while also harmoniously woven into their surrounding tropical forests. The canopies are loud and fields are almost impenetrably thick with coffee plants, fruit trees, and vegetables, all of which are constantly flushing with new growth. Year-round mists and rain showers never cease, and nothing is ever still—including coffee ripening, which occurs ten months out of the year."

KKGO and the Gayo Identity

"Koperasi Kopi Gayo Organic (KKGO) is a cooperative of 1,358 farmers. Members average 1 hectare each and are spread across the hillsides of the Bener Meriah and Aceh Tengah Regencies, which together circle the immediate highland ranges north and south of Lake Tawar. The cooperative, along with many local industries in the region, identifies itself as 'Gayo,' after the Gayonese ethnic group which has long made Aceh their home, and which comprises a vast majority of farmer members. KKGO was founded in 2006 and currently mills and exports through nearby PT Ihtiyeri Keti Ara, a family-owned company with whom Royal has worked for the past 20 years."

"Aceh’s very small farm sizes and consistently humid and drizzly climate make prolonged parchment drying impractical. Processing is typically not overseen by a single individual or team; instead, coffee moves task by task through different hands before reaching its final, fully-dried, state. 

"KKGO follows the local processing customs closely, beginning with farmers picking cherry and selling to local collectors. Collectors aggregate cherry from their local neighborhoods and deliver to processors. Processors then float cherry for density, depulp, and ferment the fresh parchment overnight. The following morning the fermented parchment is washed clean with spring water and spread out on tarps to dry directly in the sun. After the parchment is dry to the touch, often only a matter of hours depending on the time of day, it is transferred again to a local miller, who mechanically hulls the parchment from around the coffee seed, which is notably still has a moisture content close to 40% at this time (thus earning the coffee its 'wet-hulled' label). The miller will continue drying the moist coffee seeds on tarps under the direct sun.  

"Final dry milling is done by PT Ihtiyeri Keti Ara, a local miller in Takengon and an old supplier of Royal’s. Their location means containers are filled, sealed, and exported directly from the highlands with minimal time in Sumatra’s humid port city of Medan—in our experience an extremely key step for retaining quality in Aceh’s coffee."