Profile :Gunung Dempo (BP1)
April 24, 2019
CUP CHARACTERISTICS: Grown in the Highlands of northern Sumatra. The liquor tends to be light with a hint of body and maltiness.
Ingredients: Black tea
INGREDIENTS FROM: Indonesia
REGION(S): Sumatra
SHIPPING PORT(S): Medan
GROWING ALTITUDES: 1500 - 3500 feet above sea level
GRADE(S): BP1 (Broken Pekoe #1)
MANUFACTURE TYPE(S): Orthodox (Traditional leafy)
ANTIOXIDANT LEVEL: High
CAFFEINE LEVEL: Medium
VEGETARIAN: Yes
VEGAN: Yes
INFUSION: Hints of orange
INFORMATION:
To
give you an idea of just how conducive the island of Sumatra is to
cultivating plant life, consider that it is one of the only known
growing places of Amorphophallus titanium and Rafflesia arnoldii, the
world's largest flowers. These blooms are no joke - the magnificent
Amorphophallus titanium can soar over 9 feet in the air while the flower
of Rafflesia arnoldii can reach weights of up to 11 lbs. As you can
see, the soil and climactic conditions found on Sumatra make it an
incredibly fertile place.
The first person to discover that
Sumatra, beyond producing mega flora, would be perfect for growing tea
was a German doctor by the name of Andreas Cleyer. In 1684 Cleyer
successfully transplanted a Japanese variety of Camelia sinensis that
grew for some time on the island, albeit in limited quantities for
medicinal purposes. Growing tea in larger commercial quantities wouldn't
occur until 1827. In that year, a maverick young Dutch tea taster named
J. Jacobson penetrated the forbidden tea gardens of Fujian Province in
China and procured seedlings and workers to bring with him back to
Sumatra, at that time part of the Dutch East Indies. Jacobson planted
the island's first commercial gardens and started a tea industry that by
the dawn of WWII was the world's 4th largest. During the war many of
the country's plantations were destroyed or abandoned by their owners
and the industry saw a sharp decline in production quantities. The
second half of the 20th century saw the industry reinvent itself and
today, many exceptional teas are again produced on the island's gardens.
The bulk of these are grown in the highlands south of Medan,
Sumatra's capital. Gunung Dempo, the excellent black tea offered here
falls into this category. The tea gets its name from a volcano that
stretches 3173 meters above its tropical surroundings and has a large
bearing on climactic conditions in the region. Like the island's giant
flowers, tea grows exceptionally well on Sumatra and is plucked year
round ensuring a continual income stream for thousands of Indonesians.
(Thankfully the island's tea smells nothing like the flowers. Both
varieties of flowers emit an odor very similar to rotting flesh!) The
nutrient rich volcanic soil of the area combined with intense tropical
heat and humidity produces teas with a delicate floral aroma and round
body with hints of malt and faint touches of tropical sweetness on the
finish. Produced by a reputable garden with a long track record of fair
working conditions, Gunung Dempo is one of the world's great teas.