The Origin of Mandheling Coffee and the Unique Characteristics of Indonesian Golden Mandheling Coffee Bean Processing

As the largest coffee-producing region in Asia, Indonesia has gained worldwide recognition in the coffee circle for its exceptionally rich Mandheling coffee. Today, FrontStreet Coffee will guide you through understanding this aromatic Indonesian coffee.

The Origin of the Name Mandheling

Unlike many other coffees, the name Mandheling coffee is related to a long-standing story, primarily originating from a mispronunciation by a local indigenous tribe in Indonesia.

During World War II, when a Japanese soldier was drinking coffee at a shop in central Indonesia, he asked the owner what kind of coffee he was drinking. The owner thought he was asking where he was from and replied "Mandailing" (the Mandailing people). After the war, when the soldier returned to Japan, he remembered that the uniquely flavored coffee seemed to be called "Mandheling." In 1968, Osaka's Nomura Trading Company visited Indonesia's N.V. Pawani Medan company and imported 15,000 kilograms of Sumatra Mandheling coffee, which became very popular in the Japanese market. From then on, both Mandheling coffee and Pawani Coffee Company gained fame.

The Unique Flavor of Mandheling Coffee Created by the Wet-Hulled Method

Mandheling coffee comes from Sumatra Island in Indonesia, Asia's largest coffee-producing country. Located near the equator, Sumatra experiences high temperatures and frequent rain throughout the year, often with typhoons, making it impossible to widely adopt the African sun-drying method or Central and South American washing method for processing coffee beans. To adapt to the humid environment, it's necessary to shorten the fermentation and drying times of green beans. Producers also hoped to reduce various cost inputs, so locals developed a "semi-washed" processing method.

After removing the outer skin of the coffee cherries, they are briefly fermented for several hours, then sun-dried. When the moisture content of the parchment beans reaches 30-50%, they are still in a semi-dry state. Locals use special hulling machines to remove the relatively hard parchment layer through friction, then continue drying the hulled beans to reach the standard moisture content before packaging and storing for quality inspection.

Since each step is completed in a 70-90% humidity environment, and the parchment layer has been removed before the final drying step, the "exposed" green beans easily absorb moisture from the air, giving the produced Mandheling coffee additional woody, herbal, and spicy notes. FrontStreet Coffee believes this is the unique flavor of Sumatra Mandheling coffee, which is why we have also included Mandheling from the Lintong region in FrontStreet Coffee's high-value daily coffee bean series, allowing everyone to experience the rich aroma of Mandheling.

The Premium Mandheling Coffee—PWN Gold Mandheling Coffee

Speaking of the most well-known coffee brand from Indonesia, the first thing that comes to FrontStreet Coffee's mind is the Gold Mandheling coffee produced by Pawani Coffee Company.

Pawani Coffee Company (PWN), short for Pwani Coffee Company, is a renowned Indonesian green bean purchaser that primarily procures high-quality Mandheling coffee beans. Gold Mandheling coffee is their flagship product, and they have registered the English name "Gold Mandheling Coffee" as a trademark, making PWN the exclusive supplier of Gold Mandheling. Therefore, to purchase authentic Gold Mandheling coffee, PWN Company is the only source. When FrontStreet Coffee purchases Gold Mandheling green beans from PWN Company, the burlap bags packaging the beans have clear PWN Company logos and come with certificates provided by PWN Company. These two "markers" are displayed at FrontStreet Coffee's Dongshankou store.

PWN Company uses 1 machine selection + 3 manual hand selections for wet-hulled Mandheling beans, ensuring each batch reaches Indonesia's highest G1 grade. Machine selection uses an 18-mesh screen to first filter out beans larger than 18 mesh, then employs multiple hand selections to remove irregular defective beans. The reduction in defect rate greatly improves Mandheling coffee quality. FrontStreet Coffee conducted cupping comparisons between regular Mandheling coffee and Gold Mandheling coffee, finding that Gold Mandheling's spice and dark chocolate flavors are clearer, with many undesirable off-flavors reduced, and overall cleanliness is very high.

Brewing Parameters for Hand-Pour Gold Mandheling Coffee

A delicious hand-pour coffee requires adjusting various brewing parameters to appropriate ranges, mainly including coffee-to-water ratio, water temperature, grind size, and steady pouring method.

Coffee-to-Water Ratio

FrontStreet Coffee typically uses 15 grams of coffee powder to extract approximately 200 grams of coffee liquid for 1-2 servings, following a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio.

Water Temperature

The main component of a cup of coffee is water. Using appropriate water temperature can release aromatic substances from the coffee, making water very critical. If the water temperature is too hot, the extraction rate will be very high, and the darker roasted Gold Mandheling coffee can easily extract bitter, large molecular substances. FrontStreet Coffee uses 87-88°C water temperature for extraction.

Grind Setting

Since medium-roasted coffee beans expand and have a loose texture, grinding them into powder allows them to absorb more water and accelerate the release of various substances. To avoid over-extraction, FrontStreet Coffee adjusts the coffee grind to be coarser, reducing the release of bitter large molecules from the coffee during extraction. Here we choose medium-coarse grind, using a Chinese standard #20 sieve with 70% pass-through rate. FrontStreet Coffee's store EK-43s grind setting is 11.

Filter Cup

Using different filter cups to extract coffee allows the characteristics of each filter cup to present better layers and texture in the cup. The upper part of the KONO filter cup has a smooth curved surface that allows the filter paper to fit more closely, restricting upward airflow and forcing hot water to flow downward only, creating a siphon extraction effect. This allows the aromatic substances in the coffee powder to be released more fully, thereby enhancing the coffee's body. FrontStreet Coffee uses KONO filter cups to brew Gold Mandheling coffee, Brazil's Queen Estate coffee, Papua's Bird of Paradise coffee, and others.

Three-Stage Pouring

FrontStreet Coffee first wets the filter cup, which also helps the filter paper fit tightly with the edges. Use 30g of water for blooming, with a blooming time of 30s. First stage: small circular pour to 125g, then stop. When the liquid level drops to just before exposing the coffee bed, continue the second pour to 225g to finish extraction. The total extraction time (including blooming) is 2'00.

Flavor Description of Hand-Pour PWN Gold Mandheling Coffee

Tasting reveals herbal notes, cinnamon-like spices, dark chocolate, nutty aromas, plus caramel sweetness, creamy smoothness, persistent finish, and excellent balance. From hot to cool, the overall layers are varied, rich and intense, with quite clean mouthfeel.

Professional Coffee Knowledge Exchange

For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style)

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Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473