What is "Golden Mandheling"? And What Kind of Bean is Aged Golden Mandheling?

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When it comes to Mandheling coffee beans, everyone knows that Indonesia's most famous coffee beans are the Golden Mandheling coffee beans produced by PWN company. However, this coffee bean was not originally a product of PWN, but rather a product produced by the Japanese. So why is it that when people mention FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling, their first reaction is Indonesia's PWN company rather than the Japanese company? In the following article, FrontStreet Coffee will answer this question for you one by one.

The Origin of Mandheling Coffee Bean and Golden Mandheling Coffee Bean Names

As the representative coffee of Sumatra island, Mandheling was originally a very small place name, which later gradually evolved into a term for an ethnic group - Mandheling. Today, it has long been one of the most well-known single-origin coffees in the entire Indonesia. Many people have probably heard the story about the origin of the Mandheling name. Although it's just a "rumor" and to this day no one knows exactly how the name Mandheling came to be applied to coffee, its great popularity in Japan is indeed true.

The fame of Mandheling coffee stems from the successful marketing of Pawani Coffee Company (abbreviated as PWN) in Japan. Pawani is a trading company specializing in export business, founded by a Chinese family from Quanzhou, Fujian. Located in the important Sumatran port city of Medan, it has been engaged in export business since 1957, including rubber, cassia seed, clove, patchouli oil, and of course, exporting Sumatran coffee beans to Japan. Unlike many local Indonesian green bean merchants, Pawani Company is an exclusive supplier of high-grade Mandheling coffee beans, and all produced Mandheling beans are of superior quality.

The high quality of FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling lies in PWN company's three rounds of manual hand-selection of G1 grade Mandheling green coffee beans. G1 grade means that the bean size is strictly controlled to above 18 mesh, with fewer than 3 defective beans per 300-gram sample of green beans. Multiple screenings minimize the defect rate of FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling coffee beans, producing higher quality batches with clean sweetness and more intense aroma.

At that time, after seeing the potential of Sumatran coffee, the Japanese intended to purchase it long-term, but gradually discovered that the bean quality was often inconsistent. Therefore, they had to pay more attention to the Mandheling production process, establishing strict screening standards and defect removal methods, including parameters such as bean density, size, shape, and color. All green beans require both machine and manual processing to remove defects, ensuring that the produced Mandheling beans are complete, uniform, large, and translucent, while reducing earthy and grassy flavors. The name at that time was Golden Mandheling, which directly translates to "黄金曼特宁" (Golden Mandheling) in Chinese.

However, because Golden Mandheling was registered as a trademark by Pawani Company ahead of time, all Japanese companies importing this product had to remove the Golden Mandheling name and could not use it. This led to Japanese importers changing the original Golden Mandheling to Gold Top Mandheling, which was then translated as "鼎上黄金曼特宁" (Top Golden Mandheling).

How Does Indonesian Top Golden Mandheling Taste? And What's the Difference from PWN Golden Mandheling?

According to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, both Top Golden Mandheling and FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Golden Mandheling on our menu are produced in the Lintong area of northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The harvesting operations are limited to fully manual single-berry picking of fully ripe fruits, ensuring initial bean selection quality. The coffee cherries are processed using the wet-hulled method, followed by another drying refinement process, two rounds of green bean cleaning, and four rounds of manual selection! Therefore, both of these coffee beans can be considered strictly selected premium Mandheling coffees.

It's just that Golden Mandheling was registered as a trademark by Indonesia's Pawani Coffee Company, making Golden Mandheling exclusive to PWN. From this, it can be concluded that the flavor difference between these two coffee beans won't be too significant, except for the different brands. Next, FrontStreet Coffee will share relevant information and flavor characteristics about the Frontsteet PWN Golden Mandheling introduced in our store.

FrontStreet Coffee PWN Golden Mandheling Coffee Beans

Country: Indonesia
Region: Sumatra, Aceh, Mount Gayo
Altitude: 1100-1600m
Variety: Ateng
Processing: Wet-Hulled Method
Flavor: Toasted bread, nuts, pine, caramel, herbal

Frontsteet PWN Golden Mandheling Production Region

According to information about FrontStreet Coffee's latest introduction of Frontsteet PWN Golden Mandheling, PWN company selected a new production region in 2020, which is Mount Gayo in the Aceh region within Sumatra. It is located at the northernmost corner of Sumatra island. Coffee cultivation in Mount Gayo mainly centers around the town of Takegon and the slopes beside Lake Tawar. The altitude in the production area averages between 1100-1600 meters, and its coffee quality has always been excellent.

However, due to previous political instability, coffee from this region was difficult to export. In recent years, the situation has stabilized, and coffee cultivation in Aceh has also developed, with quality superior to the Lintong region. This move is undoubtedly a recognition of the quality of Mount Gayo's coffee fruits. As Indonesia's top coffee brand, Frontsteet PWN Golden Mandheling naturally won't disappoint coffee enthusiasts.

Frontsteet PWN Golden Mandheling Coffee Variety

According to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, Mandheling coffee varieties are generally mainly pure Arabica coffee beans, but Arabica coffee beans have weak pest resistance. Therefore, in October 2020, Indonesia's PWN company abandoned the original Typica variety of Golden Mandheling and instead adopted Ateng variety coffee beans for Golden Mandheling production. The "Ateng" mentioned here is actually the commonly known Catimor variety in China.

Ateng (Catimor)

Catimor is a hybrid variety of Timor (a Robusta subspecies) and Caturra. It was initially developed in 1959 and began to be promoted in Brazil in the 1970s and 1980s. With its disease resistance and high yield, it has secured a place among Central and South American coffee varieties. The occasional coffee leaf rust crises in Central and South America have also boosted the application of Catimor variety coffee beans. Its characteristics include high yield, short plant height allowing dense planting, and new leaves that are reddish-brown. However, due to fast maturity and high yield, it requires sufficient fertilizer supply and shade. But according to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, its lifespan is very short, averaging only ten years.

Frontsteet PWN Golden Mandheling Processing Method

In addition, the green coffee bean processing method used for FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling coffee beans is also the most characteristic local Indonesian wet-hulled processing method. It is precisely this processing method that creates the unique earthy, herbal, and spice aromas of Indonesian Mandheling.

The origin of this processing method is because the local climate is often rainy with continuous typhoons, making it impossible to achieve the good weather required for sun-drying, and the local economy is not good enough to afford the more expensive water-washing method. For these various reasons, the highly characteristic local wet-hulled method was developed. Wet-hulled processing is a rapid green bean processing method that removes the coffee cherry's skin and pulp, followed by brief fermentation, drying, removal of mucilage and parchment layer, and continued drying until the moisture content reaches 12%. Mandheling coffee beans processed with wet-hulling can clearly show varying degrees of compression cracks. FrontStreet Coffee believes this phenomenon does not belong to defective beans but is rather an inherent characteristic of Mandheling.

In addition to Golden Mandheling, there is also a coffee called "Aged Mandheling" on the market that attracts attention. This coffee bean is said to originate from Indonesia's Dutch colonial period when people discovered that processing good coffee beans through several years of aging would gradually eliminate the coffee's acidity, leaving a solid aftertaste and sweet characteristics, with flavors as captivating as Pu'er tea.

But we can't use "accidental" methods to produce aged beans, which undoubtedly adds uncertain risks to coffee bean quality. We must clarify a viewpoint: "aged beans" are not simply coffee beans left in a warehouse for several years, because beans stored for too long can rot, or even become moldy and insect-damaged. These are not "aged beans" but bad beans. Therefore, the production model of aged Mandheling gradually became standardized and matured.

FrontStreet Coffee Golden Mandheling Brewing Recommendations

To get back to the main point, since high-quality Golden Mandheling is hard to come by, how can we brew its essence? Below, we'll use FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling as a demonstration to show everyone how to extract a cup of rich and robust Golden Mandheling black coffee at home.

Dripper: Kono Dripper
Water Temperature: 86°C
Coffee Dose: 15 grams
Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15
Grind Size: Medium-fine grind (EK43s grinder setting 11)

Reason for choosing 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 the contact time between water and coffee grounds, allowing the coffee grounds to be fully extracted and enhancing the rich mouthfeel. Therefore, this dripper is not only suitable for brewing FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling but can also be used for brewing medium-dark roasted coffee beans like FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen Estate and FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1.

Brewing Method: segmented extraction

Use 30g of water for a 30-second bloom, then continue pouring with a small circular motion to 125g and segment. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 225g and stop pouring. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the dripper (timing starts from the bloom). Extraction time is 2'00".

FrontStreet Coffee Golden Mandheling Flavor Description: Multi-layered, rich and clean, with high balance, strong nutty and chocolate flavors, intense spice and caramel aromas, fruity notes, and a persistent aftertaste.

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473