PWN Mandheling G1 vs Golden Mandheling: A World of Difference! Complete Guide to Authentic PWN Mandheling G1 Standards

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6203 Indonesian Mandheling

FrontStreet Coffee PWN Mandheling G1

According to Sumatran records, during World War II when Japan occupied Indonesia's Sumatra, a Japanese soldier drank exceptionally fragrant coffee at a café. Curiously, he asked the owner: "What is this coffee?" The owner mistakenly thought the Japanese soldier was asking: "Where are you from?" So the owner replied: "Mandailing tribe." After the war, the Japanese soldier remembered the delicious coffee he had in Indonesia seemed to be called "Mandheling," so he asked an Indonesian coffee broker to ship 15 tons of "Mandheling" coffee to Japan, which turned out to be extremely popular. "Mandheling" was thus created through this misunderstanding. Even more interestingly, this broker established today's renowned company in the Indonesian coffee industry:

PWN (Pwani Coffee Company), which is also the owner of the Golden Mandheling trademark. Excerpted from Han Huaizong's Coffee Studies.

Currently, the best coffee beans from Indonesia mostly come from PWN (Pwani Coffee Company), and G1 (Grade 1) represents the highest grade of this bean variety.

Coffee Bean Grading System

Grade 1: 00-03 defects (zero to 3 defects) - The highest grade for washed coffee beans

Grade 2: 04-12 defects (4 to 12 defects) - Standard grade for washed coffee beans

Grade 3: 13-25 defects (13 to 25 defects) - Highest grade for natural (dry-processed) coffee beans

Grade 4: 26-45 defects (26 to 45 defects) - Standard grade for natural (dry-processed) coffee beans

Grade 5: 46-90 defects (46 to 90 defects) - Basic export grade for natural (dry-processed) coffee beans

G1 is an extremely rare product, originally custom-made for Japanese trading companies. G1 allows a maximum of only 3 defective beans per 300 grams.

Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Mandheling G1 is your best choice!

Pawani is Indonesia's most renowned green coffee bean purchasing company, primarily focusing on Mandheling coffee varieties. They have complete acquisition rights in Indonesia's best-producing regions, and the finest Mandheling coffee definitely comes from Pawani.

Pawani Mandheling consists of native varieties from Indonesia's mountainous regions, undergoing strict cupping and screening. While Indonesia is the main production area for Mandheling, not all Arabica coffee beans from Indonesia are necessarily Mandheling. Pawani Mandheling offers an exceptionally strong aftertaste, emitting natural fruit aromas amidst the balance of bitter and sweet flavors—this is Pawani Mandheling's guarantee.

Among these, FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling is Pawani Company's most representative product. Its bean source consists of naturally growing native Mandheling, which after manual screening, undergoes additional screening by a small number of appraisers. The annual production is less than 1 ton, making it extremely rare, with its price comparable to high-altitude Blue Mountain coffee beans.

◎ Mandheling

Refers to semi-dry or natural processed coffee beans from the areas surrounding Lake Toba in north-central Sumatra, specifically the Lintong mountainous region at elevations of 900-1200 meters on the southwestern shore.

Indonesia's climate is humid, so coffee beans are dried for several hours to within a day until moisture content drops to 20-35%. The mucilage layer has not yet solidified when brokers purchase them, bringing them back to processing plants to mechanically remove the mucilage layer to prevent over-fermentation and sour odors. Because Lintong Mandheling coffee cherries have their mucilage scraped off while still moist, they exhibit lower fruit acidity and higher body. At this stage, after slight drying, the moisture content is about 18%. Finally, exporters from Medan purchase the still-moist coffee cherries, drying them in large sun-drying fields or with machines until reaching 12% moisture content for storage. The herbal and woody aromas result from the high humidity and three-stage drying process of the mucilage layer.

◎ FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling

Due to the numerous variables in the three-stage drying method and the prevalence of broken, moldy, black, and unripe beans, Japanese trading companies pioneered the adoption of stricter quality control. After drying, the green beans undergo density and color sorting, followed by four rounds of manual bean selection to remove defective beans, producing FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling with "dark green color and uniform bean appearance."

FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling tastes cleaner than regular Mandheling. The original herbal, earthy, and woody flavors of Mandheling are almost gone, but the caramel sweetness is more intense, and the fruit acidity is brighter and more elegant. Generally, FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling is best roasted until after the second crack to reduce off-flavors. However, FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling exhibits excellent clarity and sweetness both before and after the second crack, offering broader interpretation possibilities for roasting.

Therefore, the "PWN Mandheling G1" described in this article refers to:

(1) Being provided by the renowned purchaser PWN.

(2) Being of the native Typica variety.

(3) Having undergone selection—allowing a maximum of only 3 defective beans per 300 grams.

It belongs to the highest grade among general Mandheling coffees.

(4) However, it is not FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling, as Golden Mandheling requires four rounds of manual selection.

(5) "Golden Mandheling" has already been registered by PWN (Pwani Company). Japanese trading companies subsequently registered the name "Golden Top Mandheling"—known in Taiwan as "Ding Shang Golden Mandheling."

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473