Flavor Differences Between Golden Mandheling and Yirgacheffe Coffee Beans Introduction to Indonesian Mandheling Coffee Beans

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When it comes to which coffee tastes good, some people like acidic coffee, while others prefer rich, full-bodied coffee. Everyone has different tastes, so naturally their choices vary. That's why all coffee can taste good. Some customers come to FrontStreet Coffee and ask: What's the difference between Golden Mandheling and Yirgacheffe coffee beans? FrontStreet Coffee tells you: First, Golden Mandheling coffee comes from Indonesia, making it an Asian bean. Asian coffee beans generally have relatively rich, full-bodied flavors with notes of pine and herbal tastes. Meanwhile, Yirgacheffe is from Ethiopia, making it an African coffee bean with flavors featuring floral and fruity notes that are relatively fresh and light. These two are completely on different wavelengths!

Moreover, you'll find that friends who choose Golden Mandheling coffee are mostly men, so you could say Mandheling coffee is for gentlemen. Meanwhile, friends who choose Yirgacheffe coffee are mostly women. Women's palates might be relatively lighter, and they all prefer fresh, bright sensations. Both of these coffee beans are bestsellers at FrontStreet Coffee. Now, FrontStreet Coffee will introduce these two coffee beans in detail!

Yirgacheffe Coffee

Yirgacheffe coffee is a premium coffee from Ethiopia and also the representative coffee of Ethiopia's coffee-producing country. At FrontStreet Coffee, washed Yirgacheffe is the best-selling among our staple coffee beans! You can see how popular it is!

Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee and also the genetic hub of coffee. It has numerous coffee varieties and a vast coffee genetic database. Many coffee varieties have yet to be discovered, so many Ethiopian coffee varieties are labeled as heirloom or native varieties. Friends who frequently buy Yirgacheffe coffee will notice that Yirgacheffe coffee beans vary in size—some are long, some are round—this is because they are heirloom varieties and mixed during harvesting.

Golden Mandheling Coffee

Indonesia's Sumatra is the main production area for premium Arabica coffee beans in Indonesia. When we talk about Mandheling coffee in daily life, we're referring to the area near Toba Lake in the central-northern part of Sumatra Island, at elevations of 900-1200m, as well as the area near Aceh at the northern tip of Sumatra, at elevations of 900-1600m, where Arabica coffee beans are grown. The suitable altitude and tropical rainforest climate keep the island's average temperature between 25-28°C, with evenly distributed seasons and no dry periods, creating an excellent growing environment for coffee trees.

So what exactly is Golden Mandheling coffee? Judging by the name, it's clearly a higher grade than regular Mandheling. FrontStreet Coffee tells you that Golden Mandheling isn't a grade but a trademark registered by the Indonesian company P.W.N. (N.V. Pawani Medan, abbreviated as PWN). Established in 1957, they engage in exporting Indonesian products including coffee, rubber, cinnamon, cloves, and patchouli oil. They were the first company in Indonesia to export coffee from North Sumatra Island and the first company to make "Mandheling coffee" famous in Japan. Since 1977, the company has focused on exporting premium coffee beans: Sumatra Arabica Mandheling Grade 1 and Robusta AP-I Grade 2, with main export destinations being Japan, Taiwan, and the United States. Exports to Japan and Taiwan account for over 95%. In Japan and Taiwan, "PWN" has become synonymous with "quality guarantee."

The Golden Mandheling coffee beans currently sold by FrontStreet Coffee come from PWN company. PWN Golden Mandheling coffee beans undergo at least three rounds of pure manual selection after harvesting and drying processing, ensuring that the coffee beans reach a size of 18 or above, with fewer than 3 defective beans (in a 300g green bean sample), belonging to the highest G1 grade. PWN beans have a dark green color and are uniform flat beans.

FrontStreet Coffee's new season Golden Mandheling comes from GAYO Mountain in Aceh, North Sumatra. The variety is Ateng, which is a hybrid between Arabica and Robusta, widely planted in Sumatra and other Indonesian islands. Ateng is actually the local name for Catimor coffee. Golden Mandheling has stricter quality requirements—first, it must ensure coffee beans are size 19, full and uniform. Then it goes through one machine selection and three manual selections to ensure the defect rate of green beans.

Main Processing Methods for Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Coffee Beans

Washed Yirgacheffe coffee—you can tell from the name that it's washed. Actually, Yirgacheffe originally focused on natural processing, but later people discovered that washed processing methods better highlight Yirgacheffe coffee beans' bright acidity and give the coffee a cleaner, fresher taste. So now Yirgacheffe coffee beans mainly use washed processing methods, though natural processing is also widely used. Washed coffee has cleaner flavors and better represents local coffee flavors, so almost all of FrontStreet Coffee's staple beans use washed processing methods.

The washed processing method involves putting screened coffee fruits into a depulper to initially remove the skin and pulp. The coffee beans with remaining pulp and mucilage are placed in water and fermented for about 12-36 hours depending on local temperature changes. After fermentation, the coffee beans with parchment are placed in flowing water channels to wash away remaining pulp and mucilage. After washing, the coffee beans are dried through sun-drying or using dryers until the moisture content reaches about 12%, and finally the parchment is removed from the green beans. FrontStreet Coffee believes that the biggest characteristic of washed processed roasted coffee beans is that they retain the white silver skin line in the middle of the beans.

Sumatra Golden Mandheling Coffee Bean Processing

The unique flavor of Mandheling coffee is closely related to its processing method. FrontStreet Coffee has also mentioned that coffee bean processing methods are related to local climate conditions. The local weather is often rainy with continuous typhoons, constantly humid and rainy, making it impossible to achieve the weather conditions needed for natural processing. Therefore, coffee farmers use the wet-hulled method to process coffee beans, and this serendipitous processing method gives Mandheling coffee its unique flavor.

The wet-hulled method uses washed processing for fermentation, then performs semi-drying before removing the parchment by machine, followed by final drying. The coffee beans enter storage smooth and bare. Golden Mandheling coffee is also processed using the wet-hulled method.

Roasting Differences Between Golden Mandheling and Yirgacheffe Coffee

Golden Mandheling coffee is an Asian bean. Asian beans have high body, and Mandheling coffee beans' flavor characteristics include herbal notes. FrontStreet Coffee's roasters use medium-dark roasting to pursue the unique richness of Asian beans.

The universally loved Yirgacheffe is an African bean. African beans have weaker body but excel in aromatic intensity. Beans from the Yirgacheffe growing region generally carry the aroma of white small flowers and the sweet-sour taste of citrus. In terms of roasting degree, FrontStreet Coffee's baristas use light roasting to highlight the floral and fruit aromas. Yirgacheffe green beans are typically Ethiopian heirloom varieties. Therefore, its green beans are a mix of round, long, and flat shapes. So Yirgacheffe is classified as small beans. Small beans generally require shorter roasting times because they don't tolerate roasting well.

As a unique specialty coffee exclusive to Indonesia, Golden Mandheling features herbal notes and rich dark chocolate aroma, with a rich, smooth mouthfeel and nutty sweet aftertaste. The aftertaste after drinking is very sweet!

Yirgacheffe emits extremely complex aromas and demonstrates exceptionally outstanding taste that's hard to describe. Light roasting reveals unique lemon, floral, and honey-like sweet aromas, with soft fruit acids and citrus flavors, creating a fresh, bright taste. Without adding milk or sugar, let the rich texture and unique soft floral notes brush across your taste buds, leaving an endless aftertaste.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Recommendations

For coffee brewing, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using freshly roasted coffee beans to maximize the rich flavors of the coffee. The coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee are all roasted within 5 days because FrontStreet Coffee deeply understands that the freshness of coffee beans greatly affects flavor. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy is "freshly roasted good coffee," ensuring that every customer who places an order receives the freshest coffee when it arrives. The coffee degassing period is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive it, it's at peak flavor.

Of course, all these prerequisites require ensuring the freshness of the coffee beans. FrontStreet Coffee deeply understands that the freshness of coffee beans greatly affects flavor. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy is "freshly roasted good coffee," ensuring that every customer who places an order receives the freshest coffee when it arrives. Therefore, the coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee are all roasted within 5 days. The coffee degassing period is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive it, it's at peak flavor.

Of course, some customers need FrontStreet Coffee to grind the beans, which is also fine, but FrontStreet Coffee must remind you: if coffee beans are ground in advance, there's no need for degassing because during transportation, the pressure from carbon dioxide produced inside the packaging can also help mellow the coffee flavor, so you can brew a cup immediately upon receiving the coffee powder. However, coffee powder needs to be brewed promptly because after coffee powder comes into contact with air, it oxidizes relatively quickly, meaning the coffee's flavor will dissipate more quickly, and the coffee's flavor won't be as good. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends buying whole beans and grinding fresh before brewing to better appreciate the coffee's flavor.

FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe Brewing Parameters:

To fully extract the rich layers of Ethiopian coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee uses higher water temperature and finer grind size for extraction, but to avoid over-extraction from high temperatures, we use faster flow rate drippers like the V60. The V60 dripper has a 60° conical shape, and the conical angle allows coffee grounds to be concentrated in the center. During pouring, water flow automatically converges toward the center of the dripper, ensuring sufficient contact time between water and coffee grounds, thus extracting appropriate coffee liquid. Additionally, the ribs on the inside of the V60 dripper extend spirally clockwise from bottom to top, creating enough space between filter paper and dripper, allowing good water flow. Combined with the large hole at the bottom, the water flow rate is relatively faster than many other drippers.

Dripper: Hario V60, Water temperature: 90°C, Coffee amount: 15g, Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15, Grind size: Medium-fine (Chinese standard #20 sieve 80% pass rate).

FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling Brewing Parameters:

To better highlight the rich mouthfeel of Mandheling coffee, FrontStreet Coffee chooses the Kono dripper. The Kono dripper has few ribs located at the bottom, and the filter paper fits tightly against the dripper, which can restrict airflow and increase contact time between water and coffee grounds, allowing the coffee grounds to be fully extracted and enhancing the rich mouthfeel.

Water temperature: 88°C, Coffee amount: 15g, Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15, Grind size: Medium-fine (#20 sieve 70% pass rate).

[Washed Yirgacheffe Coffee Flavor]: The acidity is brighter and more lively, with lemon acidity and citrus aroma. The taste is fresh and clean, with some black tea sensation in the aftertaste.

[PWN Golden Mandheling Coffee Bean Flavor]: The overall coffee has varied layers, rich and clean, with intense nut and caramel aromas, chocolate notes, persistent aftertaste, and high balance.

FrontStreet Coffee has over fifty different single-origin coffee beans from various producing countries and regions, with all kinds of flavors. Everyone is welcome to come and taste them!

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473