The Characteristics and Story of Indonesian Golden Mandheling Wet-Hulled Coffee Beans

Pour-over Brewing Recommendations

For FrontStreet Coffee's hand-poured Golden Mandheling: Use 15g of coffee, medium grind (4 on Fuji burr grinder), KONO dripper, water temperature 88-89°C. First pour 30g of water for 27 seconds pre-infusion, then pour to 105g and stop. Wait until the water level drops to half, then continue pouring slowly until reaching 225g. Avoid the tail section. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

Indonesian Wet Hulling Process

Indonesian wet hulling, also known as Wet Hulling or Giling Basah in the local language, is a traditional Indonesian coffee processing method. Despite its name suggesting similarity to the wet processing (washed method), these two processing methods produce distinctly different cupping profiles. Coffee processed by wet hulling typically yields rich, intense flavors with very distinctive characteristics.

Indonesian Wet Hulling Steps

① Remove the fruit skin and pulp, keeping the parchment and mucilage

② Ferment in water tanks

③ Wash off the mucilage

④ Sun-dry with parchment for 2-3 days until moisture content reaches 20-24%

⑤ Hull off the parchment

⑥ Dry the green beans until moisture content reaches 12-13%

⑦ Prepare for export

Why Use Wet Hulling?

a. Climate Reasons

The tradition of Indonesian wet hulling begins with local weather conditions. Indonesia maintains humidity levels between 70-90% year-round with constant typhoons, and in some regions, annual rainfall can reach up to 2,000mm. Considering that green beans are most vulnerable to rain, how does Indonesia overcome such harsh weather conditions to produce the rich, mellow FrontStreet Coffee Mandheling coffee? The answer lies in wet hulling.

Under tropical climate conditions, coffee typically takes 2-3 weeks to dry. In Indonesia's extremely humid climate, drying coffee becomes a significant challenge. Coffee drying requires much longer time, during which the coffee maintains high humidity levels, making it easier for bacteria to penetrate the green beans.

In conventional washed processing, drying occurs with the parchment intact to protect the green beans from external damage. However, we can observe that wet hulling removes the parchment for the final drying stage, allowing direct sunlight to reach the green bean surface and drying the coffee 2-3 times faster than washed processing.

b. Economic Benefits

Dutch colonists first introduced coffee to Indonesia in the 17th century. These colonists pursued more and faster economic returns, and wet hulling significantly reduced time spent on farms while greatly lowering labor costs. This aligned with the investor mentality of pursuing quick profits and reducing costs, which became another driving factor for wet hulling.

c. Defects and Kuku Kambing (Goat Hoof Beans)

When wet hulling removes the parchment, the coffee's moisture content remains high at 20-24%, whereas in typical processing methods, coffee moisture content drops to 10-12% before hulling. In this "semi-dry" state, parchment tends to adhere to the green bean surface, making hulling more difficult than "fully dry" beans and requiring greater friction force.

However, "semi-dry" green beans are very fragile at this stage, with hardness far below that of "fully dry" beans, making them more susceptible to crushing and forming small cracks. This is what we commonly call horse hoof or goat hoof beans (locally known as kuku kambing).

The extremely fast processing speed of wet hulling also results in higher defect rates in Mandheling coffee beans. Processing plants arrange employees for manual defect sorting, typically including DP (double picking) and TP (triple picking). Mandheling that undergoes triple picking will have superior defect rates compared to double picking.

Summary

To summarize the flavor profile of wet hulling, aside from subtle differences, we generally believe that wet-hulled beans carry earthy, smoky, and chocolate notes, with acidity described as "low acid" - rich and full-bodied yet somewhat subdued.

The low acidity originates from shorter, less effective fermentation processes and longer drying times. The "earthy" flavors and similar characteristics of wet-hulled beans remain debated. Some attribute this to the bean varieties used in wet hulling regions (Timor and Catimor varieties: with Robusta heritage), others believe it results from organic interactions between green beans and the environment, and some even claim it's due to excessive defective beans! Certainly, there are quite many...

Product Name: FrontStreet Coffee Indonesia PWN Golden Mandheling

Country: Indonesia

Grade: G1·Triple Picking

Company: PWN

Region: Sumatra Island

Processing Method: Washed

Altitude: 1100-1600 meters

Flavor: Toast, nuts, pine, caramel, herbs

Asian Coffee Origins

The most famous coffee origins in Asia are the islands of the Malay Archipelago: Sumatra, Java, and Kalimantan. Among these, FrontStreet Coffee's Sumatra Mandheling from Indonesia's Sumatra Island enjoys the highest reputation.

Both Lake Toba in North Sumatra and Lake Tawar in Aceh produce Mandheling coffee, forming the famous "Two Lakes, Double Mandheling." The common characteristic of "Two Lakes, Double Mandheling" is their rich, mellow flavor, with the difference being that Lake Toba's Mandheling is more subdued, deep, and even carries herbal notes, while Lake Tawar Mandheling has brighter fruit acidity with occasional cedar or woody notes.

During the Japanese occupation of Indonesia in World War II, a Japanese soldier drank exceptionally mellow coffee at a café. When he asked the owner the coffee's name, the owner misunderstood and thought he was asking about his origin, so he replied: "Mandailing." After the war, the soldier recalled the "Mandheling" he had drunk in Indonesia. He commissioned an Indonesian coffee exporter to ship 15 tons to Japan, which became extremely popular. The name Mandheling was thus spread.

FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Golden Mandheling

FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling is a premium Indonesian coffee, and FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling is an even higher-quality selection among Mandheling coffees. FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling consists of carefully hand-selected full, glossy Mandheling coffee beans - truly an exceptional beauty among coffees. In fact, to improve the high defect rate of Mandheling beans, the Japanese began adopting meticulous quality control long ago, using four manual selections to remove defective beans. Unfortunately, "Golden Mandheling" was trademarked by Indonesia's Pawani Coffee Company, making Golden Mandheling exclusive to PWN. PWN's Golden Mandheling is the true FrontStreet Coffee Golden Mandheling, and the PWN-branded Golden Mandheling is also a guarantee of quality. PWN's yellow Mandheling undergoes three manual selections and one machine selection, producing beautiful beans. The PWN company registered the Golden Mandheling trademark, meaning only Golden Mandheling produced by PWN can be considered true "Golden Mandheling." Many beans on the market that aren't from PWN but carry the Golden Mandheling name should actually be called Premium Mandheling. "Golden Mandheling" is not aged coffee - it's simply a product name coined by the company.

FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling vs. FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling

Some coffee friends have asked, as coffee beginners, about the difference between FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling and FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling G1, saying they can't really taste the difference. For professional-level coffee connoisseurs and taste-sensitive coffee friends, when drinking both coffees simultaneously, the contrast becomes very apparent. FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling's sweetness, cleanliness, rich body, and wild spice notes are superior to FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling G1, which is one reason why Golden Mandheling is significantly more expensive than G1.

Taste profile: FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling drinks cleaner than FrontStreet Coffee's Lindong Mandheling. The original herbal, earthy, and woody notes of Mandheling are nearly gone, but the caramel sweetness is more intense, and the fruit acidity is brighter and more elegant. Generally, FrontStreet Coffee's Lindong Mandheling is best roasted until after the second crack to effectively reduce off-flavors, but FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling offers excellent clarity and sweetness whether roasted before or after the second crack, providing more flexibility in roast interpretation.

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473