Sumatra Sunset

We haven't been to Sumatra. Lake Toba sits in the volcanic highlands of the north, and we chose this coffee the honest way: on the cup alone. It met the same standard every Band of Beans coffee has to meet, and it earned its place. This is our first step toward Indonesia. Not the whole journey. The first cup.

Volcanic soil around Lake Toba, grown at roughly 1,200 to 1,500 metres, wet-hulled the way Indonesians call Giling Basah. 250g whole bean. Roasted by our partners. That method is where the low, earthy depth comes from. We can tell you what's in the cup. We can't yet tell you whose hands picked it.

This is where we're honest with you. We don't know the farmers who grew this coffee. We haven't walked the land around Lake Toba or sat with the people who work it. That's the distance between most coffee and the person who drinks it, and it's the distance Band of Beans exists to close. We're building direct relationships with producers in Ethiopia's Kaffa region and Vietnam's Central Highlands. Sumatra may be next. It depends on where the adventure leads.

Follow the Adventure. The day we walk Lake Toba and meet the people who grow this, you'll be the first to know.