By the year 2000, with trees planted and reaching maturation, Albert and his father-in-law Bapak Baharrudin M Nor, went up to prune and tidy the jungle area known as the gunting on the highest ridges of the estate at an altitude of 1550 meters.
Struggling to hold ground beneath their feet due to the ridges rugged terrain and out of breath, they sat to take a moments rest. It was not until they sat and looked around that they turned to each other in disbelief. This is Typica, Albert says to Bapak, Bapak replied, I think it is. Whether it was fate or blind luck - they had stopped to take their rest in the midst of a large Arabica coffee grove and one thing they both knew for certain - it was not coffee they had planted.
They knew it had to be the Typica cultivar up this high. The local Indonesians wouldnt bother to plant coffee at that altitude or in such inaccessible terrain. It had to be the introduced coffee that was grown here by the Dutch. They had no idea if it was an actual plantation or if was a few stray seeds scattered by birds or animals. If the expeditions back in 1995 had covered the area just 150 meters further up on the ridges, they would have found what they were looking for.
There were thousands of seedlings, most looked like they were dying being strangled by the jungles native flora. In amongst the seedlings were some extremely old trees with immensely thick trunks, some 15 meters tall.
There it was, an entire plantation scattered along the highest ridge and all were the Typica species of Arabica and undoubtedly the cultivar intended to produce the export quality Arabica coffee which would be harvested and sailed back to Amsterdam to be sold to the then booming coffee market.
Since the discovery, the plants have been tested and clinically confirmed to be Cultivar Typicathen Arabica; having lain dormant beneath a blanket of jungle canopy within the boundaries of Mandailing Estate.
Immediately a rescue and rehabilitation scheme was set up and over the next seven years (1999 to 2006) a hidden plantation of this extremely rare species of coffee has been meticulously cared for and nurtured.
Today these replanted Cultivar Typicathen Arabica once again produce premium berry and are thriving in the same soil, on the same original ridge and plantation where they were first planted 170 odd years ago. Two generations of extremely rare single origin Arabica coffee has been rehabilitated and are healthy fruit bearing trees once again.
This coffee has not been available in any form since 1942 when Japanese soldiers occupied Indonesia and placed a ban on exports. From that time until today there has been no commercial quantities of Arabica produced for export from highland Mandailing.
Today the majority of Arabica grown throughout Sumatra is exported and sold bearing the name Mandailing or Manheling (Spelling variation). However, this labeling is incorrect. The only true Mandailing coffee is that grown in the Mandailing region at the Mandailing Estate.
