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The Coffee Atlas
Sumatra Lintong
Sumatra Lintong, the wet-hulled Lake Toba coffee known for cedar, tobacco and grapefruit, with sourced altitude, real cupping scores and citations.
Flavor profile
avg. of 2 published reviewsScale: 1-10, Coffee Review / SCA-classic-form convention. Averaged from 2 independently published, dated Coffee Review scores of Sumatra Lintong lots (Cafe Excellence, February 2012; Dragonfly Coffee Roasters, February 2017). Not a category-wide statistical sample: individual lots vary with roast level and wet-hulling execution, and both reviews are several years old.
What it tastes like
Lintong is the Sumatran coffee that tastes least like the stereotype. It grows on the southern rim of Lake Toba’s volcanic caldera, and like the rest of Sumatra it is wet-hulled, but the two Coffee Review lots averaged here lean herbal and citrus-tinged rather than murky: cedar, fallen leaves and pungent grapefruit in one, pipe tobacco, lime zest and ripe pear in the other.
Body is the constant. Both reviewers scored it a 9 and described it as syrupy or silky, with acidity that is sweet-toned and moderate (8 in both). Wet hulling, which removes the parchment while the bean is still damp, is the usual explanation for that weight, and Indonesia Specialty Coffee adds the volcanic andosol soils and cool nights of the caldera as part of the terroir.
Compared with Mandheling, a trade name spread across many Batak districts, Lintong names a specific place, which is why its profile is easier to predict. Treat the scores as two lots, not a guarantee: both are several years old, and roast level moves this coffee a long way.
How to brew it
Method fit for this origin · editorial guidance from roaster convention
Full immersion suits the syrupy, herbal, low-acid profile this origin is known for, with no bright acidity to lose.
Heavy body and modest acidity make Lintong a common base for espresso blends and forgiving to dial in.
Cleaner-cupping lots show the grapefruit and floral notes in a filter, but roasters more often reach for immersion to match its weight.
⚠ Fit tiers are editorial guidance drawn from roaster convention; no industry standard scores brew fit, so we show tiers, never invented numbers. Reflects brew guidance commonly published by specialty roasters for wet-hulled Sumatran lots, not an SCA-defined standard.
Altitude & region
Growing elevation, meters above sea level · this entry vs comparison bands
Sumatra Lintong's range is sourced directly from Indonesia Specialty Coffee's origin article (see Sources & data), and another trader lists it higher. Sumatra Mandheling, Ethiopia Yirgacheffe and Brazil Cerrado are shown for scale using the same typical origin bands already published on this site, not lot-specific measurements.
Caffeine content
Caffeine by dry weight · each gold dot = 0.1%
Caffeine content tracks species, not origin, altitude, or processing: roughly 1.2% for Arabica versus roughly 2.2% for Robusta, close to double (see Sources & data). This entry is 100% Arabica; no credible per-origin caffeine figure exists at a category level, so Lintong's heavy body does not mean more caffeine.
Where to buy it
Transparency: some links on this site are affiliate links; if you buy through them we may earn a commission at no cost to you. Roasters are picked for genuine, current sourcing of this coffee, never for who pays us.
Long-running coffee importer that has listed Lintong lots (such as Sigumpar Village); sells green, unroasted beans for home roasters.
View lot→Southern California specialty roaster whose catalog has included a Lintong-region Sumatra; check current availability.
View lot→Boulder roaster whose Lintong Batak lot earned the 92-point Coffee Review score cited here; check the shop for the current Sumatra.
View lot→Wide selection of Sumatra coffees; check roast dates, 100%-origin labeling and seller reviews, since many are generic Sumatra blends.
View lot→Sources & data
- Indonesia Specialty Coffee (ISC): Lintong coffee origin articleLintong Nihuta location on Lake Toba's southern shore, 1,200-1,600 m altitude, volcanic soils, Typica-descended varieties, wet-hulling
- Inter-American Coffee: Indonesia Sumatra Lintong G1 TPJune-December harvest, Ateng and Bergendal varieties, giling basah milling, and a higher 1,500-1,800 masl altitude listing
- Coffee Review: Sumatra Lintong Fully Washed, Cafe ExcellenceCupping scores (1 of 2 averaged); February 2012, 93 points
- Coffee Review: Sumatra Highlands Lintong Batak, Dragonfly Coffee RoastersCupping scores (2 of 2 averaged); February 2017, 92 points
- Coffee Review: scoring methodologyStates the 1 (low) to 10 (high) rating for each of five categories
- Crozier et al.: Espresso coffees, caffeine and chlorogenic acid intake (Food & Function, 2012)Peer-reviewed (Univ. of Glasgow): states robusta coffee beans contain almost twice as much caffeine as arabica, by species (no percentage figures given in this paper)
- Development of a fast and simple method to identify pure Arabica coffee and blended coffee by Infrared Spectroscopy (J. Food Sci. Technol., 2021, PMC8292507)Peer-reviewed, open-access: "Arabica beans usually presents 1.0 to 1.5% w.w-1 of caffeine and Robusta beans presents 2.0 to 2.5% w.w-1" (quoted verbatim, source's own wording) -- source for this entry's 1.2% Arabica / 2.2% Robusta figures, both within the stated ranges