While some things age, others become vintage, acquiring a patina that adds character only time can bestow. The best aged Sumatra coffees wear their history with pride: they become heavier, deeper, and more resonant, with an enhanced mouthfeel and viscosity. Cedar, tobacco, chocolate, and butter notes add complexity to an already intriguing profile.
Much like a 50-year-old vintage cognac, this coffee has a faint hint of age that adds to its charm. Aged Sumatran coffees aren't like anything but themselves, and we love them for that.
Aged coffees from Indonesia are a rarity in the coffee world. Similar to the monsooned coffees of India, they seek to recreate the flavors of coffees from the Far East transported to Europe by sailing ships in a bygone era. The months-long voyage across warm tropical waters would alter the flavor and appearance of the coffees.
These aged Indonesian coffees are almost always made from wet-hulled coffees. These washed process coffees have the parchment removed at 25-30% moisture content and are partially dried as green coffee, instead of being dried down to 10-12% in parchment. The coffees are aged in warehouses, most often in Singapore, for 2-5 years, being mixed occasionally to ensure the aging process is homogeneous. After this extensive aging process, the color of the green beans changes to an orange/brown, resulting in a coffee with milder acidity, increased mouthfeel, and often notes of spice, mushroom, and herbal medicine.
