Processing Methods
Wet-Hulled Process
A processing method unique to Indonesia (called Giling Basah) where parchment is removed while the beans are still at high moisture (30-35%), then dried further. Wet-hulling produces the characteristic earthy, herbal, low-acid profile of Sumatran coffee.
Vertieft
The humid climate of Sumatra, Sulawesi, and Java makes slow drying impractical, so farmers sell semi-wet parchment to collectors who hull it early and finish drying the exposed green beans. The extended exposure to moisture and the physical stress of early hulling give the beans their distinctive blue-green color and heavy body. Wet-hulled coffees divide opinion — loved for their cedar, tobacco, and mushroom notes but criticized when the process produces baggy or musty defects.