Origins · 1 min read · 14 October 2026
Meet the women of the Gayo cooperative
How a group of 400 farmers around Lake Laut Tawar changed what Indonesian coffee can taste like.
High in the Aceh highlands, around the edge of Lake Laut Tawar, coffee isn't a commodity. It's family land, passed down and fiercely cared for.
A cooperative run by women
The cooperative we buy from is led by women farmers who pool their harvests, share drying beds and negotiate prices together. Since 2019 we've paid them a fixed premium of 40% above fair-trade minimum, agreed before every harvest.
Why the taste is different
Most Sumatran coffee is processed giling basah, or wet-hulled. The beans are hulled while still damp, which gives that famously heavy body. The Gayo growers sort by hand three times, so you get the body without the mustiness.
What your bag does
Every bag of Gayo Highland you buy funds part of a new solar drying house. It means the cherries dry evenly even in the rainy season, and that means better coffee next year.
We'll be back in May for the next harvest. We'll bring photos.