Hendra Maulizar

Hendra Maulizar produces coffee at Avatara Gayo in Pegasing, in the highlands of Aceh. His father, Hamdan, moved to the region in 2006 and began growing coffee on a small plot of land. Hendra joined him in 2010, establishing his own processing station and gradually developing the family operation around a shared interest in improving how Gayo coffee could be produced and presented.

In 2014, Hendra shifted his focus from volume-driven commercial coffee to specialty production. The family invested in a wet mill, gravity-fed washing channels and raised drying beds, allowing Hendra to manage each stage after harvest with greater precision. He also began sourcing cherries directly from selected farming families around Pegasing, rewarding careful picking and paying more for ripe, well-sorted fruit. This direct control over collection and processing remains unusual in a supply chain where coffee commonly passes through several collectors before reaching a mill.

Experimentation has become central to Avatara Gayo. Hendra works with a wide range of washed, natural, honey and controlled-fermentation methods, adapting his approach to the harvest conditions and the coffee itself. He has also established a nursery for Abyssinia, working with local farmers to plant small plots of the variety and paying more for its cherries to account for its lower productivity. Through this work, he is not only developing new processing styles but also investing in the future of distinctive varieties grown in Aceh.

This is a different vision of Sumatran coffee from the wet-hulled style historically associated with the island. Hendra and Hamdan’s work has helped demonstrate what careful cherry selection, controlled processing and extended drying can reveal in coffees from the Gayo highlands. Avatara Gayo placed seventh in the inaugural Indonesia Cup of Excellence in 2021, followed by another recognised lot from Hendra in 2022, confirming that their approach is built on sustained quality rather than experimentation alone.