Sumatra Lake Toba Samosir Honey

Rarely does a single cup carry so much geography, history, and craft. Lake Toba Samosir Honey is everything we love about exceptional coffee: unexpected origins, meticulous processing, and a flavor profile that stops you mid-sip.

This lot is sourced from three family estates united by a shared commitment to quality and a shared home near the shores of Lake Toba in the province of North Sumatra: Sidalogan, Sibisa, and Motung Estates. All three are organized around the Sipangan Bolon mill.

The landscape here is unlike anywhere else on earth. Lake Toba — the largest volcanic lake in the world — occupies the caldera of a supervolcano, whose eruptions over millennia have blessed the surrounding soil with extraordinary mineral richness. Coffee grown here carries that terroir in every bean.

Lake Toba is the site of the largest known explosive volcanic eruption on Earth in the last 25 million years! The same supervolcanic forces that shaped this ancient landscape are responsible for the region's exceptionally fertile soils — and ultimately, the remarkable character in your cup.

What makes this lot truly special is how it was prepared. Honey processing — also called pulped-natural — was pioneered in El Salvador and Costa Rica, and remains a rarity in Indonesia, where wet-hulling (Giling Basah) dominates.

In the honey process, the cherry skin is removed while the parchment is dried, still coated in its natural mucilage — the sticky, sugary layer between the fruit and the seed. This careful, labor-intensive method produces coffees of unusual sweetness, complexity, and fruit-forward brightness.

The result is a cup that feels almost tropical: vivid strawberry and pomegranate brightness over a foundation of bittersweet chocolate and floral honey, with a tart grapefruit note that lifts the finish beautifully.

Origin

  Grower: Three small coffee estates (Sidalogan, Sibisa, and Motung)

  Farm: Three small farms

  Region: Ajibata District, Toba Samosir Regency, Northern Sumatra
Province, Sumatra, Indonesia

  Cultivar: Caturra, S-795 (Jember)

  Altitude: 1350 meters

  Processing Method: Honey process, Wet hulled and dried in the sun

Profile

  Roast Level: Medium Roast  

  Cup profile: Strawberry, Pomegranate, Honey

The Cup: Strawberry jam and pomegranate on the nose, evolving into grapefruit zest and dark chocolate mid-palate, with a long honey-sweet finish. A Sumatran coffee unlike any you've had before.