Putra Gayo Mill sits at somewhat of a cross-roads in coffee (like all good things), and begs for closer inspection. Owned and operated by Iwannitosa Putra, Putra Gayo farm is massive when considering what is usual for Sumatra (250 hectares versus 1!), and yet, because most of the producers in this region have small farms, most opt to blend their coffee together to create a sort of regional profile whereas this lot was able to be sectioned off and sold as a microlot. Traceability is a key factor when talking about Specialty coffee for more reasons than we can enumerate here, but in some ways, Iwannitosa’s size actually enables him to offer a better specialty coffee experience with specific and traceable lots. With more resources, producers can try more experimental things with varietals and processing techniques, which then informs better farming and producing standards, and so on and so forth. In some ways, this is the whole end-game for the Specialty coffee industry- fostering resources in such a way as to create higher quality coffee and a higher standard of living for everyone in that supply chain. 
 
Another unique thing about this coffee in particular is that Iwannitosa Putra opts for natural and washed processes instead of the usual wet-hulled process that many Indonesian coffees are known for. And while you can certainly taste the clarity of cup that these processes usually provide, it’s his use of the traditional Sumatran varietals that has got me at a cross-roads… 

Sumatran coffee varietals like Aceh Tengeh, Bener Meriah and many others are called “Catimors” which is basically shorthand to describe a group of varietals derived from the Catimor cultivar that was developed by Portugal in 1959 to address the Coffee Leaf Rust disease epidemic at that time. Catimors have robusta in their parentage and while very disease resistant, it typically doesn’t have the best cup profile. It’s hard to describe but there’s usually something “rough” about the finish. The question for me, now, with this coffee, is whether the rough cup profiles that I associate with Catimor coffee are rough because it’s Catimor, or because of the traditional wet-hulled processing style. I ask this because this coffee is super clean, fruity, and elegant in a way that I don’t normally associate with Sumatran coffee.