What are the Flavor Characteristics of Indonesian Mandheling Coffee and How to Properly Brew Mandheling Coffee Beans for Optimal Taste

Mandheling coffee is widely recognized as the world's most aromatic and rich coffee. When your tongue touches Mandheling, a smooth, wet sensation follows, accompanied by a slightly acidic taste, like musical notes dancing on your tongue, and the rich aroma immediately fills your entire mouth. Below, FrontStreet Coffee will discuss how to brew Indonesian Mandheling coffee to make it taste delicious.

The Origin of the "Mandheling" Name

The name "Mandheling" originates from an ethnic group in Indonesia. During World War II, a Japanese soldier in Indonesia tasted a very delicious coffee bean and curiously asked a local what kind of coffee it was. The shopkeeper mistakenly thought the Japanese soldier was asking about their ethnicity and replied that they were from the Mandheling tribe. After the war, when the soldier returned to Japan, he remembered the particularly flavorful coffee seemed to be called "Mandheling." In 1968, Osaka's Nomura Trading Company visited Indonesia's N.V. Pawani Medan company and imported 15,000 kilograms of Sumatran Mandheling coffee, which became extremely popular when placed on the Japanese market. From then on, both Mandheling coffee and the Pawani Coffee Company (PWN Company) gained great fame. The Frontsteet Golden Mandheling coffee on FrontStreet Coffee's bean list is also produced by the renowned PWN Company.

What Are the Characteristics of Mandheling Coffee Beans?

Traditionally, Mandheling coffee refers to coffee produced in the Lin Dong production area around Lake Toba in North Sumatra province and the Tawa Lake area in the Aceh Special Region. Located at altitudes above 1,000 meters, these two volcanic lakes possess fertile volcanic ash soil rich in various nutrients. With abundant rainfall throughout the year, coffee trees planted on the island can grow vigorously without excessive artificial fertilization.

Sumatra Island, located near the equator, experiences high temperatures and heavy rainfall year-round and frequent typhoons, making it impossible to widely adopt the African dry processing method and the Central and South American washed processing method for coffee beans. To prevent green beans from molding and deteriorating during processing, locals significantly shortened both the fermentation time and drying time of the beans to adapt to local weather conditions.

After removing the outer skin of the coffee cherries, they undergo brief fermentation for several hours, followed by sun-drying. When the moisture content of the parchment beans reaches 30-50%, they remain in a semi-dry state. Locals use special dehulling machines that utilize friction to peel off the still-hard parchment layer, and then continue drying the dehulled beans to reach the standard moisture content. Since each step is completed in a 70-90% humidity environment, and the parchment layer has been removed before the final drying step, the "exposed" green beans easily absorb moisture from the air, thus the coffee beans develop more woody and herbal notes.

High-Quality Mandheling - FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Golden Mandheling Coffee

The wet-hulling method also exposes the beans directly to air because the seed hull is removed during the production process, greatly increasing the likelihood of contamination by mold, fungi, and other factors. Improper control during the production process can result in flavorless or unpleasant-tasting coffee beans, thus the probability of defective beans is high.

To reduce the defect rate, PWN Company adopts extremely strict standards when producing Golden Mandheling coffee beans. After selecting green beans above 18 mesh size and meeting the highest G1 grade standard of fewer than 3 defective beans (in a 300-gram green bean sample), they undergo three additional rounds of manual selection. The meticulously selected Frontsteet Golden Mandheling coffee beans have uniform color and size.

FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Golden Mandheling coffee not only possesses the characteristic herbal and spice flavors of Mandheling but also presents better clarity due to the reduced defect rate. Therefore, if you want to experience the finest Mandheling aroma, FrontStreet Coffee believes that FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Golden Mandheling coffee is the most suitable choice.

How to Brew Golden Mandheling Coffee?

The low-acidity, rich taste of Mandheling coffee stems from its medium-to-dark roast level. When brewing darker roasted coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee uses slightly lower water temperature to avoid hot water that's too hot extracting too much bitter, burnt flavor from the coffee. At the same time, a medium grind is selected to extract more aromatic compounds from the Mandheling coffee while avoiding over-extraction caused by too-fine coffee powder.

Regardless of which coffee is being brewed, freshness has always been what FrontStreet Coffee values most, and all flavor descriptions are based on what fresh coffee beans present. Coffee beans ordered from FrontStreet Coffee stores are guaranteed to be freshly roasted within 5 days, allowing customers to enjoy the rich aroma of coffee during its optimal tasting period.

For this brewing, FrontStreet Coffee's (FrontStreet Coffee) barista hopes to highlight the rich, clean, and aromatic characteristics of Frontsteet Golden Mandheling, using a KONO dripper for extraction. Also a conical dripper, the KONO dripper has more than half fewer flow ribs than the V60, with the upper part being a smooth curved surface that allows the filter paper to fit more closely. This restricts upward airflow, forcing hot water to flow downward only, creating a siphon-like extraction effect that allows the aromatic substances in the coffee powder to be released more fully, thereby enhancing the rich mouthfeel.

Pour-over Parameters:

87-88°C water temperature | Medium grind (70% pass rate through Chinese standard #20 sieve) | Coffee powder: 15g | Powder-to-water ratio 1:15 | Three-stage pouring

Slowly pour into the coffee powder, trying to keep it as level as possible during the pouring process, avoiding shaking the dripper (because shaking will reduce the spacing between coffee powder particles, which is not conducive to bloom exhaust). For the first stage, pour 40g in small circles in the center for a 30-second bloom, and the coffee powder layer will slowly expand and form a "hamburger." For the second stage, pour 120g in circles from the center outward, keeping the pouring height as close to the powder layer as possible, moving slowly to avoid excessive stirring. Finally, pour 100g for the last stage, and wait until all the coffee liquid in the dripper flows into the lower pot to complete extraction. The extraction time is about 2 minutes.

The pour-over Frontsteet PWN Golden Mandheling coffee presents varied layers, rich and intense flavor, with a clean mouthfeel. Nutty, dark chocolate, and caramel aromas, with a persistent sweet aftertaste and high balance.

In addition to FrontStreet Coffee's customary pour-over coffee, many common extraction methods can also bring out the classic flavors of Mandheling coffee, such as the smooth and rich siphon, the refreshing clean AeroPress, and the rich, oily French press.

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