How to Drink Mandheling Coffee: Brewing Techniques and Extraction Parameters for Coffee Grounds

Indonesia is one of the world's largest coffee-producing countries, and most cafes outside will have at least one coffee from Indonesia. Among these, Sumatra island is one of Indonesia's main coffee-producing regions. Sumatran coffee is famous for its unique earthy flavor and low acidity.

Those who have visited FrontStreet Coffee's storefront will surely remember the blackboard filled with coffee bean varieties - there are three types of Mandheling alone. In fact, if you've browsed FrontStreet Coffee's online store, you'd know that FrontStreet Coffee actually has five types of Mandheling. If you're not sure which Mandheling is right for you, don't worry. Follow FrontStreet Coffee to gradually understand Mandheling coffee, and you'll surely find the Mandheling coffee you're looking for.

Mandheling coffee is produced on the island of Sumatra. Sumatran Mandheling coffee is famous for its viscous and heavy body, sometimes even described as syrupy. Generally speaking, Sumatran coffee has relatively low acidity but complex flavors. Mandheling typically exhibits rich nutty and cocoa notes, sometimes with flavors like licorice and other spices.

The name Mandheling coffee comes from a local indigenous tribe in Indonesia, not a place name. Legend has it that during World War II, Japanese soldiers in Indonesia tasted a mellow coffee and asked the coffee shop owner for its name. The owner mistakenly introduced himself, saying "Mandailing." In Japanese pronunciation, "Mandailing" is very similar to "Mandheling," so they remembered it as "Mandheling." In peacetime, Japanese people found merchant friends to entrust local Indonesian merchants to search for Mandheling coffee and imported several tons back to Japan. Due to its unique flavor, Mandheling coffee sold well in Japan and became famous worldwide.

Unique Processing Methods

What makes Mandheling's flavor so unique is Sumatra's distinctive post-harvest processing method for green coffee beans. This unique wet-hulling processing method is inseparable from local climate and economic conditions. Sumatra experiences frequent rainfall, lacking the conditions needed for sun-drying, while the washed method requires significant capital investment. Due to shortcomings in both aspects, the semi-washed wet-hulling method was developed.

Coffee farmers remove the pulp and skin from the coffee cherries on the day of harvest, then place them in water tanks to ferment overnight. The next day, they introduce clean water to wash away the mucilage layer, then spread them out to dry. When semi-dry and semi-wet, the parchment coffee is collected and sold to nearby coffee processing stations.

After receiving this semi-dry and semi-wet parchment coffee, coffee processing stations first remove the parchment layer, exposing the green coffee beans directly, then proceed with drying. When the moisture content of the green coffee beans drops to around 13%, they are collected for storage.

Aged Mandheling coffee, after completing the wet-hulling process, is stored in cool, ventilated warehouses for 2 to 3 years. During this period, the beans need to be turned regularly to prevent mold and decay. After long-term storage, some acidic substances in the coffee beans gradually transform into sugars, and the green beans' color becomes deeper, mostly yellowish-brown or dark brown.

FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling Varieties

FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling varieties include PWN Golden Mandheling, Lintong Mandheling, Tiger Mandheling, Aged Mandheling, and Natural Mandheling.

PWN Golden Mandheling

Indonesia's PWN company has registered "Golden Mandheling" as a trademark, meaning only PWN company's Golden Mandheling is truly Golden Mandheling in the strictest sense. The PWN Golden Mandheling sourced by FrontStreet Coffee is the highest grade G1, with green bean sizes above 18 screen and a defect rate of fewer than 3 beans per 300 grams. PWN has very strict standards when producing Golden Mandheling. After machine screening, it undergoes 3 manual sorting processes to ensure complete removal of defective beans, thereby improving the cleanliness and sweetness of Golden Mandheling coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee PWN Golden Mandheling
Region: Aceh Gayo Highlands, Sumatra
Altitude: 1100-1600 meters
Variety: Ateng
Grade: G1, 3 times hand-sorted
Processing: Wet-hulled

Lintong Mandheling

Lintong Mandheling comes from the Lintong highlands of Sumatra and is a classic Mandheling coffee. Because the parchment layer is removed when semi-wet and semi-dry, beans are easily crushed, creating split patterns resembling goat hooves, commonly known as "goat hoof beans." This is a distinctive characteristic of Mandheling, not defective beans. Since the sorting is not as refined as Golden Mandheling, its cleanliness is inferior to Golden Mandheling. However, this doesn't affect Lintong Mandheling's mellow body.

FrontStreet Coffee Lintong Mandheling
Region: Lintong region, Sumatra
Altitude: 1100-1600 meters
Variety: Typica, Caturra
Processing: Wet-hulled

Tiger Mandheling

Tiger Mandheling green beans are sized above 17 screen with a defect rate below 4%. Since FrontStreet Coffee's Tiger Mandheling is mainly composed of Catimor and Typica varieties, Caturra has more distinct citrus and lemon flavors, while Typica has longer-lasting sweet aftertaste. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee's Tiger Mandheling is overall quite balanced.

FrontStreet Coffee Sumatran Tiger Mandheling
Region: Aceh region, Sumatra, Indonesia
Altitude: 1500 meters
Variety: Typica, Caturra
Processing: Wet-hulled

Aged Mandheling

Everyone's attitude toward Pu'er tea is that the older it gets, the better the quality and taste. The same applies to aged Mandheling coffee. Indonesia was once a Dutch colony. As a coffee-growing region, Indonesia needed to continuously supply coffee beans to Europe. To ensure supply, coffee beans were properly stored. Due to the long sea transportation time and the salty sea breeze, coffee beans had already developed another flavor by the time they reached Europe. Fortunately, European colonists at that time liked this flavor, and the aging processing method was quickly promoted.

FrontStreet Coffee Indonesian Aged Mandheling
Region: Aceh region, Sumatra, Indonesia
Altitude: 1100-1600 meters
Variety: Typica
Processing: Wet-hulled

Natural Mandheling

The Natural Mandheling sourced by FrontStreet Coffee comes from the Wahana Estate, which was established in 2005 and is located in the Sidikalang area of northern Sumatra. The Sidikalang region has been one of Indonesia's famous coffee-producing regions since ancient times. With years of development, many coffee plantations now have sufficient funds to process green coffee beans using natural or washed methods. While Mandheling coffee has always been famous for wet-hulling, FrontStreet Coffee couldn't miss the opportunity to taste and compare now that natural processing is available.

FrontStreet Coffee Indonesian Wahana Estate Natural Mandheling
Region: Lake Toba, Sumatra
Estate: Wahana Estate
Altitude: 1000-1700 meters
Variety: Bourbon, Typica
Processing: Natural processing

Brewing and Flavor Profiles

When brewing Mandheling coffee, FrontStreet Coffee tries to use consistent brewing parameters to better compare the flavor and body of each Mandheling. However, the Natural Mandheling uses medium-light roast, while the other four use medium-dark roast. Different roast levels require different brewing parameters.

Medium-light roast coffee bean brewing parameters: Hario V60 dripper, 90°C water temperature, medium-fine grind (80% pass-through on #20 sieve), 15g coffee, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio

Medium-dark roast coffee bean brewing parameters: KONO dripper, 88°C water temperature, medium-coarse grind (70% pass-through on #20 sieve), 15g coffee, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio

Flavor Profiles

PWN Golden Mandheling: Rich nutty notes, with spice and herbal aromas as the temperature slightly drops. Distinct caramel sweetness, persistent cocoa aftertaste, multi-layered complexity, mellow and clean body.

Lintong Mandheling: Distinct herbal flavors, with cantaloupe aroma as temperature drops, dark chocolate aftertaste, and caramel sweet aftertaste.

Tiger Mandheling: Strong pine and spice aromas, relatively balanced body with distinct creamy, dark chocolate, and nutty flavors.

Aged Mandheling: Lacks the wildness of classic Mandheling, with flavors reminiscent of aged Pu'er tea, malt-like aroma, lower acidity, and a more mellow and delicate body.

Natural Mandheling: Distinct tropical fruit flavors and fermented notes, consistent acidity, smooth body, and obvious sweetness.

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Important Notice :

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