Indonesian Mandheling and Golden Mandheling Coffee

"Coffee allows you to indulge in luxury. Among the various luxuries on the dining table, coffee is truly precious. It inspires happiness without causing intoxication; it stimulates the mind, brings flowing joy, and is never accompanied by sadness, fatigue, or weakness." — Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

(Translation: Huang Wei)

When Benjamin Franklin wrote this famous quote, perhaps he envisioned that two hundred years later, coffee would become the world's most popular beverage.

Left: FrontStreet Coffee PWN Mandheling G1 Grade     Right: FrontStreet Coffee PWN Golden Mandheling

Indonesian Coffee History

Coffee cultivation in Indonesia began in the late 17th century when the Dutch East India Company transplanted it from India to Jakarta on Java Island. The variety was Typica under the Arabica lineage and quickly spread to Sumatra in northwest Java and Sulawesi in northeast Java. In the 1880s, a massive rust outbreak on Java Island caused nearly all Typica plants to wither and die. The Dutch then switched to the more disease-resistant Robusta, which remains Indonesia's main coffee variety today, accounting for 90% of Indonesian coffee production and cultivated in low-altitude areas of Java and Bali Islands. The elegant-flavored Arabica is mainly distributed in northern Sumatra, Sulawesi, and higher-altitude areas of Java Island. Although it only accounts for about 10% of Indonesian coffee production, Indonesian coffees such as Mandheling, Golden Mandheling, Gold Top Mandheling, Tawarhu, Gayo Mountain, Aceh, Sulawesi, Aged Mandheling, and Java Old Brown have made Indonesian coffee famous in the specialty coffee world for decades. FrontStreet Coffee stores offer two beloved Mandheling coffees—FrontStreet Coffee Indonesian Lindong Mandheling Daily Bean and FrontStreet Coffee PWN Golden Mandheling.

The Origin of "Mandheling"

Mandheling is neither an Indonesian place name, region name, port name, nor coffee variety name, but rather a phonetic error of the Mandailing people who originally inhabited Sumatra. During World War II, when a Japanese soldier was drinking coffee in Sibolga, central Tapanuli, Indonesia, he asked the shop owner what kind of coffee he was drinking. The owner thought he was asking where he was from and replied "Mandailing." After the war, when the soldier returned to Japan, he remembered the particularly distinctive 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 Sumatra Mandheling coffee, which became extremely popular after being launched in the Japanese market. From then on, the reputation of Mandheling coffee and Pawani Coffee Company grew significantly.

Pawani Coffee Company

Indonesia's Pawani Coffee Company (N.V. Pawani Medan,简称 PWN) was established in 1957 and engages in the export business of Indonesian products including coffee, rubber, cinnamon, cloves, and patchouli oil. It was 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 high-quality coffee beans—Sumatra Arabica Coffee Mandheling Grade 1 and Robusta Coffee AP-I Grade 2—with main export destinations being Japan, Taiwan, and the United States. Exports to Japan and Taiwan account for over 95%, where "PWN" has become synonymous with "quality assurance" for Mandheling coffee. Pawani Coffee Company holds the "Golden Mandheling" trademark, so Japanese companies had to register the "Gold Top Mandheling" trademark instead.

Sumatra Coffee Classification

Sumatra is the main production area for Indonesian specialty coffee, with a relatively complex coffee system that can be briefly summarized into four types:

(1) Mandheling: Refers to semi-dried or sun-dried beans from the Lin Dong mountainous area at 900-1200 meters altitude around Lake Toba in north-central Sumatra and its southwestern coast. The representative Indonesian coffee in FrontStreet Coffee's daily bean series—FrontStreet Coffee Indonesian Lindong Mandheling—comes from this area;

(2) Golden Mandheling: After four manual screenings, it is higher grade than regular Mandheling with larger beans, and FrontStreet Coffee's bean list includes FrontStreet Coffee PWN Golden Mandheling;

(3) Tawarhu Coffee: Refers to washed, semi-washed,or sun-dried beans (less common) from the Gayo Mountain area at 800-1600 meters altitude near Tawarhu in the northernmost Aceh region of Sumatra. This area has semi-washed techniques taught by the famous Costa Rica La Minita estate and is also known for washed Gayo Mountain beans produced by the renowned Dutch coffee group;

(4) Aged Mandheling and Java Old Brown.

Mandheling vs. Other Sumatra Coffees

It is customary to call all coffee produced in Sumatra "Mandheling," which is neither scientific nor clear and can cause confusion. Coffee produced by the Batak people in the Lake Toba area or Lin Dong mountainous region of north-central Sumatra is mostly grown without shade and processed mainly by semi-drying or sun-drying methods, resulting in more obvious herbal and earthy flavors. The flavor tends toward low acidity and mellow aromas, which is the biggest characteristic of Mandheling coffee, hence the name. However, the Tawarhu area or Aceh region in the northernmost part of Sumatra is cultivated by another Gayo ethnic group using traditional shade-growing methods, mainly processed by washing or semi-washing methods, resulting in brighter acidity and lighter mellow aromas. The American specialty coffee community generally refers to coffee from this region as Aceh coffee, Gayo Mountain coffee, or Tawarhu coffee.

In short, regular "Mandheling" coffee uniquely features herbal and woody aromas, with relatively uneven bean sizes; Indonesia's Pawani Coffee Company's "Golden Mandheling" coffee or Japanese companies' "Gold Top Mandheling" coffee is rich and bright, with stronger caramel sweetness and more elegant fruit acidity, almost free of the herbal, earthy, and woody flavors typical of Mandheling. Regular FrontStreet Coffee Mandheling coffee is suitable for medium to light roasting to reduce off-flavors; while FrontStreet Coffee Golden Mandheling has a wider roasting range.

FrontStreet Coffee PWN Mandheling Grade 1 Green Beans

FrontStreet Coffee PWN Mandheling Grade 1 Roasted Beans

FrontStreet Coffee PWN Golden Mandheling Green Beans

FrontStreet Coffee PWN Golden Mandheling Roasted Beans

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473