Gayo (Aceh)

Gayo is the highland around Lake Tawar in Aceh, at the northern tip of Sumatra, and it is the largest Arabica area in Indonesia. Production is entirely smallholder and heavily organised into cooperatives, many of them certified organic and Fair Trade.

Like the rest of Sumatra it is processed by *giling basah* — wet hulling — in which parchment is removed at a much higher moisture content than anywhere else in the world. The green bean dries exposed, which is what produces the region's distinctive colour and cup.

Full-bodied and low-acid with the Sumatran signature: cedar, tobacco and dark chocolate over an earthy base, with herbal and tropical notes on cleaner lots.

High volcanic highland around a caldera lake in Aceh, wet year-round with no true dry season.