Created by an enormous volcanic eruption more than 74,000 years ago, Lake Toba is a giant caldera high in the mountains of North Sumatra. Situated just south of the lake is the soul of North Sumatra's coffee production, the Humbang Hasandutan regency. Eighty percent of the population in this region are coffee growers, with vegetables and rice making up the rest. This Mutu Batak lot comes from the Lintong region of Humbang Hasandutan. At 1,000 to 1,400 meters above sea level, this region has some of the highest growing altitudes in North Sumatra.
Mutu Batak lots are built with the help of six collectors that buy coffee directly from small farmers and in weekly village markets. After the coffee cherries are sorted and depulped, the coffee seeds are allowed to ferment in tanks for 24 hours. Once finished fermenting, the seeds are rinsed and placed on concrete patios to dry. When the coffee reaches a moisture content of 28-32%, the seeds are wet hulled and removed from their parchment. They are placed on drying beds in greenhouses to continue drying until they reach 11-12% moisture content. The seeds are then sorted over densametric tables before being sent to Medan for hand sorting. Given the exceptional quality of these coffees, each lot is processed separately as micro-lots.
