INDONESIA ONMA AEK NABARA

Sourcing coffee directly from Indonesia is never a simple task. While it has a century-long history of coffee trading, most coffee has lost its traceability when served in the form of a cup to customers. For a specialty coffee roaster like Arkib, keeping all information intact is part of our priority and goal. It is no different when we start sourcing coffee from one of the most coffee sacred origin Mandailing, Sumatra. It was known as the world's first traded specialty coffee.

Our search brought us to meet Sofyan Ali, who is Mandailing born and bred. Coming from Mandailing, Sofyan always wants to lift up Mandailing as one of the best coffee origins that come from Indonesia. Mandailing has a unique terroir to grow arabica since it is located along a volcanic crater, creating fertile soil for coffee growing. Together with local people, he sourced from Mandailing coffee, which comes from seven different villages and is mainly processed as fully washed coffee.

The honey process is one coffee processing method mostly avoided by coffee processors in Sumatra. This particular technique required proper drying monitoring to achieve an even drying result. This is the first black honey produced by Onma Coffee, with the drying process taking up to 40–45 days. The slow drying process creates such complex and deep flavors that give this coffee sensational pink guava, rose, pear, marmalade, black cherry and rose candy, Mandailing has such a big potential to be one of the best Arabica coffees from Indonesia.