Can Mandheling Coffee Beans Be Used for SOE? Mandheling Espresso and Pour-Over Brewing Parameters, Flavor Descriptions

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FrontStreet Coffee has noticed that coffee enthusiasts who are just starting out often find FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling quite bitter, as is espresso (of course, it's not bitter when milk and sugar are added). Sometimes they even think both should taste the same, or they may have some comparative thoughts in mind: which is more bitter, FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling or espresso? When buying coffee beans in supermarkets or malls, you might sometimes see so-called Mandheling-flavored coffee or Italian-style flavored coffee. What exactly are the differences between these two flavors? Today, FrontStreet Coffee is here to clarify this for everyone.

What is Mandheling Coffee? What is Espresso?

Let's briefly understand the differences between these two coffee beans.

FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee is essentially a type of single-origin coffee bean. So-called single-origin coffee refers to coffee beans from a single variety or a single origin. Single-origin coffee is generally extracted through different coffee brewing equipment, with appropriate grind sizes, typically using a water-to-coffee ratio of 1:15, suitable water temperature, and brewing time. Tasting single-origin coffee is like tasting red wine—each single-origin coffee has its own unique charm. For instance, bitterness, acidity, sweetness, body, plus special flavors from specific origins.

FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee has a very rich flavor—aromatic, bitter, and full-bodied, with a touch of sweetness. The taste is rich and substantial, with a pleasant acidity. The aroma is mellow, with moderate acidity and abundant sweetness that is truly intriguing. It's suitable for dark roasting, emitting a rich fragrance. FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling has always expressed its most unique sweetness through its most distinctive bitterness.

Espresso

Espresso is typically presented as coffee with milk, such as cappuccino, latte, and mocha (with the exception of pure espresso and Americano). The equipment used is the semi-automatic espresso machines commonly seen on coffee shop counters.

Semi-automatic espresso machines use high temperature and pressure (hot water at 90.5-96°C with about 9 bar pressure) to extract the essence in just 20-30 seconds (like a pressure cooker principle). The resulting coffee liquid is generally two to three times the amount of coffee grounds used—this is espresso.

Although espresso has an intense bitterness when it first enters the mouth, careful tasting can reveal the characteristic aroma of coffee, along with a strong aftertaste. This unique oily fragrance is something that pour-over coffee cannot achieve. The various fancy coffees that people usually see, such as Americano, latte, cappuccino, caramel macchiato, etc., are actually evolved from espresso by using different proportions of milk and milk foam, then adding various flavored syrups for further variation.

Can Single-Origin Coffee Beans Be Used to Make Espresso?

The answer is: Yes.

Espresso made from single-origin coffee beans is called "Single Origin Espresso," originally known as SOE. Well-known single-origin coffee beans, such as FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe, FrontStreet Coffee's Kenya Little Tomato, FrontStreet Coffee's Panama Geisha, and FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaica Blue Mountain, all have their own unique flavors. The extraction method of espresso can highlight the flavors in coffee, but this approach might backfire, turning some originally pleasant citrus notes into puckering vinegar-like acidity.

Because of this, single-origin beans are generally used for pour-over coffee. Coffee beans used for espresso extraction are typically blend coffee beans, meaning they are blended from two or more coffee beans from different regions to create a more balanced espresso flavor.

Comparing Bitterness: Mandheling vs Espresso

Some friends have asked: FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling and espresso cannot be simply compared as to which is more bitter. If we use FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling beans to make espresso, it will likely be more bitter than espresso extracted from regular blend beans because Mandheling has strong herbal flavors. But if we compare FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling single-origin coffee with espresso, then espresso is definitely more bitter.

Of course, with the development of the coffee market, the choices for FrontStreet Coffee's Italian blend coffee beans and FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee beans have also become more diverse. Different choices will result in different brewed coffee flavors. Next, FrontStreet Coffee would like to recommend the currently popular FrontStreet Coffee Italian-style coffee beans and single-origin Indonesian Mandheling coffee beans available at FrontStreet Coffee's shop.

FrontStreet Coffee's Espresso Blend Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee Sunflower Warm Sunshine Italian Blend Coffee Beans

Flavor: Obvious fruit acidity, light berry aroma, wine fragrance, rich chocolate flavor, noticeable aftertaste.

Formula: FrontStreet Coffee Honduras Sherry : FrontStreet Coffee Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry = 7:3

For this blend, FrontStreet Coffee uses FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry and FrontStreet Coffee's Honduras Sherry. FrontStreet Coffee's design concept for this Italian blend is that it can be used for both espresso and pour-over. When used to make espresso, it emits flavors with obvious fermented wine fragrance. Upon tasting, citrus and berry acidity immediately emerge, with whiskey aroma and a black chocolate aftertaste.

When brewing this FrontStreet Coffee Sunflower Warm Sunshine blend with pour-over method, the flavors are not as rich as when making espresso. After brewing, there are fermented wine notes and a little citrus aroma. At high temperature, only obvious wine fragrance and black chocolate aftertaste are present. As the temperature drops, citrus and berry acidity slightly emerge. Overall, it's clean and refreshing without vanilla cream texture.

FrontStreet Coffee Premium Italian Blend Coffee Beans

Flavor: Gentle and slightly acidic, light sweet, nutty aftertaste, overall feeling is not too stimulating, peaceful, medium crema.

Formula: Colombia : Brazil = 3:7

For this FrontStreet Coffee premium blend, FrontStreet Coffee uses coffee beans from Brazil and Colombia. It tastes like light roasted grass fragrance, fresh aroma with slight bitterness, sweet and smooth, with a comfortable aftertaste. This is because coffee beans from Colombia's Huila region have pleasant acidity, mellow aroma, moderate acidity, and abundant sweetness that is truly intriguing. Coffee beans from Brazil's Cerrado region have a comfortable bittersweet taste and are extremely smooth when tasted. So the combination is simply wonderful, meeting the daily needs of coffee shops.

FrontStreet Coffee Commercial Italian Blend Coffee Beans

Flavor: Caramel sweetness, nuts and cocoa, black chocolate flavors, balanced sweet and sour, slightly bittersweet, lasting aftertaste.

Formula: Colombia : Brazil : Robusta = 3:6:1

For this FrontStreet Coffee commercial blend, FrontStreet Coffee uses coffee beans from Brazil, Colombia, and 10% Robusta coffee beans. The taste is classic. FrontStreet Coffee thinks this FrontStreet Coffee commercial blend tastes rich in crema and texture with caramel sweetness, plus nuts and cocoa, black chocolate flavors, balanced sweet and sour, slightly bittersweet, and lasting aftertaste. This commercial blend, like FrontStreet Coffee's premium blend, uses coffee beans from Colombia and Brazil, but the addition of Robusta provides rich crema, making the coffee texture more full-bodied, suitable for daily production in coffee shops.

FrontStreet Coffee Basic Italian Blend Coffee Beans

Flavor: With gentle fruit acidity, caramel sweetness, nuts and black chocolate flavors, smooth and viscous, but taste is relatively light.

Formula: Yunnan : Brazil = 3:7

For this FrontStreet Coffee basic blend, FrontStreet Coffee uses Brazil and Yunnan for blending. FrontStreet Coffee thinks it tastes with gentle fruit acidity and caramel sweetness, plus nuts and black chocolate flavors, smooth and viscous, but the taste is relatively light. This is because Yunnan's natural conditions are very similar to Colombia's—high altitude, large day-night temperature difference, mellow flavor type, moderate acidity, rich and mellow taste, uniform particles, high oil content, with fruit aroma. Its quality and texture are similar to Colombian coffee. But the taste is slightly lighter than Colombia's, while coffee beans from Brazil's Cerrado region have a comfortable bittersweet taste and are extremely smooth when tasted. Therefore, the combination of these two coffee beans also has good flavor, and this basic blend coffee bean is very cost-effective, suitable for those who prioritize cost, have general flavor requirements, espresso beginners, home users, and small coffee shops.

FrontStreet Coffee has noticed that some friends want to use a moka pot to brew coffee as rich and mellow as an espresso machine. FrontStreet Coffee suggests using FrontStreet Coffee's Italian blend beans or medium-dark roasted single-origin beans. Due to the lack of equipment at home, some friends will request grinding services when purchasing coffee beans from FrontStreet Coffee.

Because coffee beans become more active in degassing after being ground into powder, coffee flavor compounds also dissipate faster. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee suggests that friends who have grinding equipment at home buy whole beans and grind fresh before brewing to taste the best flavor. FrontStreet Coffee ships fresh coffee beans roasted within 5 days. When they reach customers, they have already undergone a 4 to 7-day resting period, which is exactly when the flavor is at its best.

FrontStreet Coffee Indonesian Gold Mandheling Coffee Beans

Country: Indonesia

Region: Sumatra, Aceh, Gayo Mountain

Altitude: 1100-1600m

Variety: Ateng

Processing: Wet-Hulled

Flavor: Toasted bread, nuts, pine, caramel, herbal

This FrontStreet Coffee Gold Mandheling on FrontStreet Coffee's bean list comes from PWN company. The region of this FrontStreet Coffee PWN Gold Mandheling is Gayo Mountain in Aceh, Sumatra. According to FrontStreet Coffee's cupping and brewing of this latest FrontStreet Coffee PWN Gold Mandheling, FrontStreet Coffee found this FrontStreet Coffee Gold Mandheling has more toasted bread flavor and a very full-bodied taste.

Moreover, the specification standard for FrontStreet Coffee Gold Mandheling is above 18 mesh, with fewer than 3 defective beans (300g green bean sample), belonging to the highest grade G1 level, with a color leaning towards dark green and uniform flat bean shape. In addition, it undergoes 3 manual selections to ensure complete removal of defective beans, thus guaranteeing a clean taste. After strict screening, FrontStreet Coffee Gold Mandheling, FrontStreet Coffee found that not only does it lack the characteristic earthy impurities of regular Mandheling, but it also tastes cleaner and more transparent, with more obvious sweetness.

Because of the good quality and excellent flavor of Gold Mandheling, it is pursued by many coffee connoisseurs who love full-bodied coffee. The quality of Gold Mandheling is also reflected in its price. Some merchants, in order to sell their Mandheling at a good price, even use regular Mandheling coffee beans, select those above 18 mesh with dark green color, and remove the defective beans inside. To maximize the replication of Gold Mandheling, they even perform 3 manual selections.

This also makes consumers worry whether the Gold Mandheling they buy is truly PWN's Gold Mandheling. PWN Gold Mandheling green coffee beans are sold in jute bags printed with PWN logo and come with certificates. To dispel consumers' concerns about this, FrontStreet Coffee's shop walls display the aforementioned certificates to prove that the FrontStreet Coffee Gold Mandheling sold in the shop comes from Indonesia's PWN company.

Of course, FrontStreet Coffee's bean list has two FrontStreet Coffee Mandheling coffee beans. The other one is FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling from FrontStreet Coffee's daily bean series. FrontStreet Coffee's daily bean series covers seven major producing regions, allowing coffee beginners to quickly understand regional terroir and prepare for deeper exploration of regional flavors later. At the same time, FrontStreet Coffee's daily beans are affordably priced and cost-effective, making them very suitable for beginners who are new to pour-over coffee or for daily consumption by coffee enthusiasts.

Product Name: FrontStreet Coffee · Indonesia Lintong Mandheling

Country: Indonesia

Region: Sumatra (Lintong)

Altitude: 1100-1600m

Variety: Typica, Caturra

Processing: Wet-Hulled

Flavor: Toasted bread, nuts, caramel, pine, herbal

FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling comes from the Lintong mountainous area of north-central Sumatra, near Lake Toba. The entry-level daily bean from FrontStreet Coffee's Indonesian Mandheling region comes from here. FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling also uses the unique wet-hulled processing method, which creates its characteristics of low acidity and high body.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473