Characteristics and Stories of Ma'面 Mandheling timtim, Lindu Mandheling G1, and Aged Mandheling Coffee Beans

The Story of Mandheling Coffee

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Mandheling is not a region name, place name, port name, or even a coffee variety name. Its origin actually comes from a mispronunciation of the Mandheling ethnic group in Indonesia. During World War II when Japan occupied Indonesia, a Japanese soldier drank an incredibly mellow and aromatic coffee at a café. He asked the owner for the coffee's name, but the owner misunderstood and thought he was asking where he was from, so he replied: "Mandheling." After the war, the Japanese soldier recalled the "Mandheling" he had drunk in Indonesia. He then commissioned an Indonesian coffee exporter to ship 15 tons to Japan, which surprisingly became extremely popular. And that's how the name Mandheling spread.

What is "Golden Mandheling"?

Often you'll see "Golden Mandheling" - so what exactly is it?

Some friends who have run coffee shops for several years say that "Golden Mandheling" is aged Mandheling. When it comes to "Golden Mandheling," we must first start with PWN. This abbreviation is often mixed together with Mandheling coffee's name, but it's actually the abbreviation for a company - Pwani Coffee Company. This company is a very famous coffee acquisition company in Indonesia, mainly acquiring Mandheling coffee. Almost all the best producing areas in Indonesia are acquired by them, so most beans from PWN company are unique specialty coffees. Golden Mandheling is a product produced by this company. After acquiring the green beans, they undergo multiple rounds of manual selection to pick out plump, flawless beans. Only these fine beans that have gone through layer upon layer of selection, like contestants in a talent show, can be classified as Golden Mandheling.

However, PWN company has trademarked Golden Mandheling, which means that in the future, only Golden Mandheling produced by PWN company can be considered genuine "Golden Mandheling." Many beans on the market that are not from PWN company but carry the Golden Mandheling brand name should actually be called Specialty Mandheling. "Golden Mandheling" is not some aged bean - it's merely a product named by the company.

The Difference Between Mandheling and Golden Mandheling

Some coffee friends have asked, "I'm a coffee beginner, what's the difference between Golden Mandheling and Mandheling G1? I really can't taste the difference." For professional-level coffee connoisseurs and friends with sensitive palates, if you drink these two coffees side by side, the contrast will be very obvious. The sweetness and cleanliness of Golden Mandheling, along with its rich, wild spice flavor notes, are superior to G1. This is also one reason why Golden Mandheling is much more expensive than G1.

Mandheling requires layer upon layer of screening, and I think this is absolutely necessary. Its probability of defective beans is too high, plus its ugly appearance - sometimes even good beans look like defective ones. Every time I sort Mandheling, I can pick out a handful of defective beans, but then when I look back at the defective beans, I feel they can't really be considered defective - their appearance is just that unattractive. However, once roasted, Mandheling is like a caterpillar breaking out of its cocoon to become a butterfly - the roasted beans are very plump and quite pleasing to the eye.

Meanwhile, Golden Mandheling has a defect rate of only 2% and is very beautiful.

FrontStreet Coffee Indonesia PWN Golden Mandheling Black Coffee Beans G1 Washed Imported Single Origin Specialty Fresh Dark Roasted

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The Complex Varieties of Sumatra Coffee

In the specialty coffee system, Sumatra coffee is a fascinating existence. You see, the famous Mandheling is actually not the name of a producing region, nor the name of a coffee variety, and even its bean variety origins are quite messy.

Ateng

It's a hybrid variety between Arabica and Robusta, with several sub-types, widely grown in Sumatra and other Indonesian islands. To put it plainly, it's a branch of Catimor - Ateng is the local name.

Djember

Djember, when searched on Baidu, is actually a place name in Sumatra. It looks quite mysterious, but the variety is actually S-795. Because this variety was spread to the island by the Jember Coffee Research Center, locals call S-795 by this name.

So what is S-795? It's a hybrid created by Indian botanists crossing the Typica mutation Kent with S-288.

And what is S-288? It's a natural hybrid of Arabica and Liberica.

The lineage is truly messy!

TimTim

It's actually Timor Hybrid, which translates to Timor Hybrid - that is, a hybrid of Arabica and Robusta. The familiar Catimor was created by hybridizing it again.

The Indonesian cooperative estate is located in the "GAYO Mountains" at the northwest end of Indonesia's Sumatra island. The estate grows a batch of variant coffee trees at an altitude of 1524 meters. It's cleaner and more refreshing than Mandheling, with clear herbal notes. Because Indonesia is located on both sides of the equator and has a tropical rainforest climate, its geology consists of fertile volcanic ash layers. Combined with high temperature, humidity, and abundant rainfall, it's cultivated organically throughout and grows naturally in a warm, humid environment. The shade tree species in the estate include avocado trees, banana trees, papaya trees, jackfruit trees, orange trees, and local flowers and herbs. Coexisting animals include squirrels, lizards, bees, butterflies, flying squirrels, snakes, birds, and more.

Aged Golden Mandheling

So what kind of bean is aged Golden Mandheling?

Aged coffee actually has a long history in Indonesia. Because early shipping wasn't so developed, transporting coffee from Indonesia to other countries took quite a long time. Over time, the originally moisture-rich fresh coffee beans slowly dried, and the blowing of sea winds added a rather special flavor. Due to advances in modern shipping that have greatly reduced transportation time, coffee with such special flavors has become a specially processed coffee bean. Processing aged beans is a technical skill that requires close monitoring during the aging process of the coffee beans. The warehouse's humidity and temperature have standard requirements, and the green coffee beans must be turned periodically to avoid differences in humidity between upper and lower layers or mold that would cause spoilage. The aging process is not about losing flavor, but creating another flavor - and a pleasant one at that.

We collected four types of Mandheling: Golden Mandheling, Horse Face Mandheling (TimTim Mandheling with long, slender berries), Lintong Mandheling G1, and Emerald Mandheling (from Aceh province, Sumatra).

Horse Face Mandheling

[Region] Gayo Mountain, Lake Tawar

[Processing Method] Wet-Hulled

[Variety] Arabica & Typica variants

[Origin] Indonesia, Sumatra, Lake Tawar

[Altitude] 1500m+

[Moisture Content] 12.5%

[Grade] 2-screen hand-selected Long Bean / >21 Mesh

[Dry Aroma] Milk, brown sugar, dark chocolate, guava, Southeast Asian spices

[Wet Aroma] Cream, guava, cane sugar, walnut-like nuts, dark cocoa

[Slurping] A creamy sensation like Parmesan cheese melting in your mouth, with chocolate and walnut aromas, layers of milk sweetness and brown sugar sweetness. Guava and Southeast Asian spice notes are prominent, with a rich body, thick and smooth mouthfeel. Becomes even heavier after cooling, with overall quite high sweetness. Drinking it is like having fresh guava fruit flavor wrapped in cream.

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