What's the Difference Between "Two Lakes, Two Mandhelings" - Mandheling and Jamaica Blue Mountain?

FrontStreet Coffee · The Difference Between Indonesian Sumatran Mandheling and Jamaican Blue Mountain from "Two Lakes, Two Mandhelings"

Both Lake Toba in North Sumatra and Lake Tawar in Aceh regions produce Mandheling coffee, which is famously known as "Two Lakes, Two Mandhelings."

The common characteristic of "Two Lakes, Two Mandhelings" is that both are rich and mellow, with the difference being that Lake Toba's Mandheling is more subdued, deep, and even carries a hint of grass jelly flavor, while Lake Tawar Mandheling has brighter fruit acidity, sometimes with notes of fragrant cedar or woody flavors.

Mandheling is not a coffee bean variety but rather a general term or code name.

Historically, Mandheling coffee has quite a long history. In the 17th century, the Dutch first introduced Arabica coffee seedlings to Indonesia. In 1877, a large-scale disaster struck the Indonesian islands. Coffee rust disease destroyed almost all coffee trees, forcing people to abandon the Arabica they had cultivated for years and instead introduce Robusta coffee trees from Africa, which had strong disease resistance.

On February 14, 1942, Japanese forces attacked Sumatra Island, and the Dutch surrendered a month later. On March 15, Japanese forces occupied Indonesia. However, since Indonesia had been successively colonized by Britain and the Netherlands, the Indonesian people did not have much intense reaction to the arrival of Japanese forces. One day, a Japanese soldier was drinking coffee at a Sumatran café and found the taste quite good, so he asked the owner what kind of coffee it was. The owner misunderstood the soldier as asking about his ethnicity and replied, "Mandailing people." Thus, "Mandheling coffee" was born.

Indonesia has a total of 17,508 large and small islands, with main coffee-producing regions including Java Island, Sulawesi Island, and Sumatra Island. A large portion of the varieties are Robusta, while Mandheling, also known as "Sumatran coffee," belongs to the Arabica species (with some Timor varieties), giving most Mandheling coffee the characteristics of rich bitterness, excellent body, and a slight chocolate flavor. Therefore, as long as coffee is grown in Sumatra Island, regardless of the bean variety, it can be called "Mandheling coffee."

Characteristics

FrontStreet Coffee's Indonesian Mandheling Coffee: Rich and solid texture, herbal medicinal notes, with pleasant acidity, strong aftertaste, solid and mellow mouthfeel. Fragrant aroma, moderate acidity, rich sweetness that is very intriguing, suitable for dark roasting, emitting a rich aroma.

The Gentleman of Coffee -- FrontStreet Coffee's Sumatran Mandheling

FrontStreet Coffee's Sumatran Mandheling is a premium coffee bean grown in highland mountain areas at elevations of 750-1500 meters, with first-grade Mandheling from Takengon and Sidikalang having the highest quality. Due to Mandheling's irreplaceable rich flavor, Japan's largest coffee company UCC Ueshima Coffee Co., Ltd. cooperated with renowned Sumatran coffee merchant PT Gunung Lintong in 1995 to operate their first coffee plantation in Asia, demonstrating how important Mandheling's position is in the coffee world.

Some say Mandheling is heavy and intense, others say it's gentle and mild. FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling has always expressed its most unique sweetness through its most distinctive bitterness, just like the bittersweetness of life. No amount of sugar can mask that bitterness; when first tasting it, people are often taken aback. But the captivating aroma it emits makes us unable to control our crazy fascination with it. Its bitterness is like the thorns beside a flower, making one self-aware, while its fragrance is refreshing. FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling's bitterness won't make you irritable; instead, it will make you feel more awake. Before you encounter real pain, Mandheling is just an ordinary beverage with a bitter taste, just a liquid to refresh you, just a tool to make you pause temporarily; when you truly encounter pain, she will smile and tell you: "Because love is refined from bitterness." Letting you calm down and savor it carefully.

Jamaican Blue Mountain

The Blue Mountains are located in the eastern part of Jamaica Island. Because the mountains are surrounded by the Caribbean Sea, whenever the weather is clear, direct sunlight shines on the azure sea surface, and the peaks reflect the brilliant blue light of the seawater, hence the name. The highest peak of Blue Mountain reaches 2,256 meters, making it the highest peak in the Caribbean region and a famous tourist destination. This area is located in the coffee belt, with fertile volcanic soil, fresh air, no pollution, humid climate, and year-round fog and rain (average rainfall of 1,980 mm, temperature around 27°C). Such climate has created the world-renowned Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, as well as the world's highest-priced coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee possesses all the characteristics of fine coffee. Not only is it rich and mellow in flavor, but because the sweet, sour, and bitter flavors are perfectly balanced, it has no bitterness at all, only moderate and perfect acidity. It is generally consumed as single-origin coffee, but due to extremely limited production and incredibly high prices, the market generally uses similar-tasting coffee for blending.

True FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is one of the world's most advantageously grown coffees. Jamaica's weather, geological structure, and terrain together provide an ideal natural setting. Designated Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee can only be grown in the Blue Mountain region, located in the eastern northern part of Jamaica's Kingston. Moreover, the mountains are very uneven, making the harvesting process extremely difficult (coffee harvesting is almost entirely done by women). The trees are mainly "Geisha High Bred" type. On the rugged and high-altitude mountains, careful cultivation and harvesting are practiced, and all Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is ground, tasted, and distributed by the Jamaican Coffee Industry Board.

Their coffee trees all grow on rugged mountain slopes, making the picking process extremely difficult. Only local skilled female workers can胜任. It is very important to select appropriately ripe coffee beans during picking; unripe or overripe beans will affect the coffee quality. The picked coffee beans must be hulled on the same day, then fermented for 12-18 hours. Afterward, the coffee beans are washed and sorted. The next step is drying, which must be done on concrete floors or thick blankets until the coffee beans' moisture content drops to 12%-14%. Then they are stored in special warehouses. When needed, they are taken out for roasting, then ground into powder. These procedures must be strictly controlled; otherwise, the coffee quality will be affected.

In 1950, the Jamaican government established the Jamaican Coffee Industry Board, which sets quality standards for Jamaican coffee and monitors the implementation of these standards to ensure the quality of Jamaican coffee. The board grants special official seals to both raw and roasted Jamaican coffee exports and is the world's highest-level national coffee institution. Currently, there are 6 trademarks that can represent the Blue Mountain coffee origin: M.B.C.E (Mavis Bank Central Factory), M.H.C.C.T. (Mavis Bank Coffee Co-operative), Portland Blue Mountain Coffee Co-operative (P.X.X.S.H.), Coffee Industry Board (Wallenford), Coffee Industry Board (St. John's Peak), and J.A.S. (Jamal).

FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaican Washed Blue Mountain (Typica):

Roast Level: Medium-dark roast

Dry Aroma: Roasted peanuts, hazelnuts, melon, chocolate-like

Wet Aroma: Oolong tea, caramel, honey, dark chocolate, almond skins, silky mouthfeel, brightness

Taste: Rich sweetness, light bitterness, well-balanced body, rich layers, aftertaste with obvious dark chocolate, honey, and sucrose flavors, with a viscous sensation. When completely cooled, there's a rich oolong tea aroma, and when touched with fingers, there's surprisingly a sticky feeling of caramel syrup.

Recommended brewing method: Pour-over

Grind size: 4 (Japan Fuji R440)

Water temperature: 88°C

Other drip extraction suggestions:

French press: recommended grind size 3.5-4 / water temperature 90°C

AeroPress: recommended grind size 2.5, water temperature 88°C

Siphon: grind size 3.5

FrontStreet Coffee's Indonesian Sumatran Mandheling link: https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.5-c.w4002-15673140460.23.63b25086YUxlqe&id=41417688606

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473