What are the Differences in Variety Classification Systems and Flavor Characteristics Between Mandheling and Gesha Coffee Beans

For friends who are new to specialty coffee, the labels on coffee bean packaging with letters like G1, AA might be confusing, leaving you wondering what they mean. Today, FrontStreet Coffee will explain and interpret these questions about specialty coffee labels for everyone.

Understanding Coffee Bean Grading Systems

To put it simply, the labels on specialty coffee are actually about the grade classification of coffee beans. However, different countries have different grading systems for coffee beans. For example, countries like Tanzania, Rwanda, Colombia, and Jamaica grade coffee based on bean size. Kenya, for instance, has eight grades: E (Elephant bean), AA, AB, C, PB, TT, T, and MH/ML. AA is the highest grade for Kenyan coffee beans, but this doesn't necessarily mean it has the best flavor.

Jamaican Coffee Grading

Jamaican coffee green beans are graded by quality from high to low as: NO.1, NO.2, NO.3, and PB, where PB stands for Peaberry. According to CIB standards, the defect rate is below 3%, with moisture content around 13%. Among these, NO.1 Blue Mountain green beans have a basic standard of beans above 17 mesh, NO.2 green beans are above 16 mesh, NO.3 is above 15 mesh, while PB is around 14 mesh above. Jamaican High Mountain coffee has similar grades to Blue Mountain coffee, but without the PB peaberry grade, while Jamaican coffee only has the prime grade, with mesh sizes between 15-17.

Defect-Based Grading Systems

However, countries like Ethiopia and Indonesia's Sumatra coffee use the proportion of defective beans for grading. FrontStreet Coffee will use FrontStreet Coffee's Indonesian Sumatra coffee as an example. Those who frequently drink FrontStreet Coffee's Indonesian Mandheling coffee should know that Mandheling has a very full-bodied texture, with herbal notes that fill the mouth upon entry, followed by sweetness in the aftertaste. It also has lower acidity, with a subtle herbal plant aroma, without the lemon-citrus acidity of FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopian Yirgacheffe.

The unique taste profile of FrontStreet Coffee's Indonesian Mandheling coffee, different from coffees of other origins, is mainly attributed to Indonesia's unique wet hulling method for processing coffee green beans. Indonesian Mandheling coffee uses wet hulling partly because Indonesia's local high humidity and high temperature weather is very unfavorable for drying coffee green beans - if not dried properly, the coffee green beans will develop mold.

The wet hulling process: Use machines to hull the coffee cherry skin, then proceed with drying, which reduces drying time and increases the coffee's body. However, according to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, local Indonesians choose wet hulling partly because it shortens coffee processing time and reduces labor costs, greatly improving economic efficiency. According to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, Mandheling coffee processed with wet hulling usually carries earthy and smoky flavors, though people generally describe it as low in acidity but very full-bodied.

According to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, Indonesian Mandheling undergoes drying after wet hulling treatment, but mold easily occurs during the drying process. However, surface mold on these coffee beans isn't necessarily a bad thing - some people believe that one source of Mandheling's unique flavor comes from mold on the coffee beans, though this view varies.

Indonesian Grading System (G1-G6)

Therefore, the rapid processing process also results in Indonesian Mandheling green beans having a higher defect rate compared to other processing methods. This wet hulling process inevitably brings debris or small stones, or moldy beans during the drying process, etc. Therefore, a batch of coffee green beans about to be exported will more or less have such defective beans, which greatly affect the coffee's flavor. Thus, how many such defective beans are contained in a certain weight of coffee green beans becomes a basis for classifying coffee bean quality. According to the number of defective beans per 300 grams of green beans, they are divided into six grades, with quality from high to low being G1~G6. Generally, specialty coffee bean packaging bags will also include origin information.

FrontStreet Coffee will be more specific: randomly select 300 grams from Indonesian Mandheling green beans and place them on black paper, because coffee beans are easier for professional graders to inspect on black paper. If in these 300 grams of Mandheling green beans, defective beans are less than or equal to 3, it belongs to G1; defective beans between 4-12 are classified as G2; defective beans between 13-25 are classified as G3; defective beans between 26-45 are classified as G4; defective beans between 46-100; Mandheling with defective beans between 101-153 is classified as G6.

Quality and Processing Impact

Generally, the smaller the number before the grade letter represents better quality of coffee green beans, because high-grade coffee receives more even heat during roasting. The roasted FrontStreet Coffee Mandheling coffee beans are larger in size, harder in texture, but the brewed coffee flavor is better, more aromatic and smooth, with a smooth mouthfeel. Like this year's FrontStreet Coffee PWN Golden Mandheling, through three manual selections plus one careful selection, ensuring the quality of Mandheling coffee green beans, so the FrontStreet Coffee Golden Mandheling coffee available today has a cleaner taste compared to FrontStreet Coffee's Lindong Mandheling coffee, with extremely high sweetness.

Altitude-Based Grading Systems

FrontStreet Coffee understands that coffee bean grading in Guatemala and Costa Rica is very different from Indonesian Mandheling coffee grading methods. They are classified according to growing region altitude, because the higher the altitude of the growing region, the colder the climate, and the harder the coffee beans produced, which is very beneficial for coffee flavor formation. Therefore, coffee brewed from high-altitude regions generally has more aromatic and rich flavors.

Geisha Coffee Grading Systems

Then there's the famous Geisha coffee in recent years. La Esmeralda has its own grading system. La Esmeralda classifies coffee beans by quality using different colored labels. Among them, Red Label is auction-level, with beans coming from the Jaramillo and Cañas Verdes growing regions, generally planted at altitudes of 1600-1800 meters, with cupping scores above 90 points. The Green Label represents micro-batches, must be planted above 1600-1800 meters altitude, and does not participate in auctions. Mainly produced in different lots from Jaramillo and Cañas Verdes. The Blue Label, also known as Geisha 1500, is planted at altitudes of 1400-1500 meters, does not participate in auctions, and mainly comes from three regions: Jaramillo, Cañas Verdes, and El Velo.

Conclusion

Each country's coffee green bean grading is different, and not necessarily like Indonesia's FrontStreet Coffee PWN Golden Mandheling, which uses the number of defects in green beans to determine quality. Therefore, when purchasing coffee beans, everyone can learn to identify which classification method is used for coffee green bean classification.

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