Kayu Aro is an absolute 🦄 of a coffee… This wet hulled coffee defied many obstacles along its journey from seed to (your) cup. Let’s get into it.

The Kayu Aro highlands are located in the Kerinci regency within the Jambi province on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. This area was largely uninhabited until the arrival of Dutch-led tea farmers in 1915. This area was solely dedicated to tea production through 1945 when Indonesia gained its independence. Newly minted landowners had the opportunity to diversified crops - many of whom were old migrant families from Java that intercropped their land with coffee. This lot of Kayu Aro is sourced from family-owned farms who are organized around an export company and mill called PT. AgroTropic Nusantara (AGTN) who have been working with coffee producers in this area since 2013.

AGTN’s association has 680 producers who grow coffee on the valley edge in small lots (1 hectare or less on average) near Mount Kerinci which is the highest volcano in Indonesia (fun fact - also home to the Sumatran tiger!). AGTN has focused on supporting increased employment opportunities for women - which includes a woman, Emma Fatma, as the Director of Operations. The coffee nursery program and handsorting at the dry mill are also women led sections of AGTN. Emma has a tremendous influence on AGTN’s direction in the last decade pushing for arabica production, agroforestry programming (shade cover, reduction of herbicide and pesticide use, organic fertilization programs etc.). Emma has also had a hand in the incredible detail and quality standards at the wet mill and educating their association members on coffee picking and introducing new hybrids and varieties to the area that are proving to be incredibly successful in terms of yield and quality.

In terms of process, unripe and underdeveloped cherries are separated by flotation, pulped, density-sorted in a channel, and fermented with fresh water. Finished coffee is then dried under parabolic covers either on clean patios or raised beds, then held in parchment or pod in their curing area to redistribute moisture evenly which is one of the reasons this wet hulled selection is so uniquely uniform. AGTN has strict quality standards in cherry selection which relates to purchasing and payout structure. While low-tech, the ‘plate-method’ is effective. A 30cm dinner plate is filled with coffee cherries. If only 3 green (unripe) cherries are found, the picker gets top price. 4-6 gets middle price and 7+ is rejected. As a result, farmers and pickers bring in their best selections and have learned to only pick when ripe.

The detail, intentionality, and success found in AGTN at all levels has created an association group that is committed to quality and the result is clearly expressed in this lot of Kayu Aro. Wet hulled coffees have many generalizations made about them (earthy, savory, low acidity, low clarity)…. Kayu Aro breaks all of these ‘molds’ in a loud and expressive cup. You can expect a vibrant kiwi-like acidity that is paralleled with a tropical fruit-like sweetness that comes off as pineapple to me, all sitting on top of a molasses-like foundation.

Coffee is multiple. And finding these unicorns of sorts really gets me hyped. Don’t sleep on this one for a truly unique experience.