Sumatra Coffee Bean Varieties - Starbucks Tiger Packaging Features Story - Indonesian Mandheling Taste Flavor

Sumatran Coffee and the Sumatran Tiger

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The use of the Sumatran tiger for Sumatran coffee packaging is highly appropriate. The Sumatran tiger is the only tiger species that lives on an island far from the mainland, found exclusively on Indonesia's Sumatra island. Their habitat ranges from lowland forests to high mountains, with only about 400-500 wild Sumatran tigers remaining, primarily in five national parks on the Indonesian island.

Similarly, Sumatran coffee beans are one of the most representative coffee beans from the Indonesian island. FrontStreet Coffee specializes in freshly roasted premium coffee, including five Mandheling coffee beans. Due to different origins or processing methods, these coffee beans exhibit subtle flavor differences.

Sumatran Coffee Regions

Sumatra Island is mainly divided into two major growing regions. The southern region primarily centers around Medan, Lake Toba, and the Lintong area - this is the traditional "Mandheling" region where various Mandhelings we know originate. We often see Mandheling G1, Golden Mandheling, Tiger Mandheling, etc., all produced in this region.

Lintong region Mandhelings are basically pure Arabica varieties. It's said that in recent years, some Robusta heritage has been mixed in, but specifics are unknown. From bean appearance, they look more like pure Arabica, and processing is mainly traditional washed methods. In recent years, processing stations like WHANA have begun using natural and semi-natural processing methods, with significantly improved quality.

FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling Collection

Lintong Mandheling: FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling comes from the Sumatran Lintong region, grown at 1100-1600 meters altitude. Typica and Caturra varieties use Indonesia's common wet-hulling processing method, with flavor notes: toasted bread, nuts, caramel, pine, and herbs.

Golden Mandheling: FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling comes from Sumatra's Aceh Gayo Mountain, grown at 1100-1600 meters altitude. The Ateng variety uses wet-hulling processing, with flavor notes: spices, herbal, caramel, pine, nuts, and chocolate.

Unlike other Mandhelings, Golden Mandheling coffee beans undergo G1-grade selection with 3 rounds of manual sorting, resulting in very uniform bean sizes. Golden Mandheling specifications are 18 mesh or above, with fewer than 3 defective beans (300g green bean sample), belonging to the highest G1 grade. The color is dark green, and the shape is uniform flat beans. After strict selection, Golden Mandheling not only eliminates the characteristic earthy impurities of regular Mandheling but also tastes cleaner and more transparent, with stronger sweetness.

Tiger Mandheling: FrontStreet Coffee's Tiger Mandheling comes from Sumatra, grown at 1500 meters altitude. Caturra, Typica, and Sidikalong varieties use wet-hulling processing, with flavor notes: nuts, cream, dark chocolate, caramel, and pine.

Aged Mandheling: FrontStreet Coffee's Aged Mandheling comes from Sumatra, grown at 1500 meters altitude. Caturra and Typica varieties also use wet-hulling processing. The special processing of Aged Mandheling gives it more rounded and deep flavors, as intoxicating as Pu'er tea.

Aged coffee actually has a long history in Indonesia. Because early shipping wasn't so developed, transporting coffee from Indonesia to other countries required considerable time. As time passed, the originally moisture-rich fresh coffee beans gradually dried, and the exposure to sea winds added a very special flavor. Due to modern shipping advances that significantly reduce transport time, this special flavor has become a specialty processing method for coffee beans.

Baking and Processing

Notably, those with thorough knowledge of Mandheling should know that Mandheling coffee beans are mostly dark roasted. The reason we commonly see Mandheling as dark roast is twofold: first, due to its processing method and mixed varieties, this bean has a relatively high defect rate, and dark roast perfectly masks this flaw; second, Mandheling was first discovered and developed by the Japanese, who tend to prefer body-focused coffee in their coffee tasting, so it's understandable why Mandheling is roasted so dark.

In addition to the four wet-hulled Mandheling coffee beans mentioned above, FrontStreet Coffee has another "uncommon" Mandheling coffee bean - Natural Mandheling.

Natural Mandheling comes from Sumatra's Lake Toba region, from the Wahana Estate. This area grows at 1000-1700 meters altitude. Bourbon and Typica variety coffee beans use natural processing. For roasting level, FrontStreet Coffee experimented with medium-light roast for Natural Mandheling, with flavor notes: melon, fermented aroma, mango, tropical fruits, and peach.

Brewing Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee's recommended brewing method for Sumatran coffee:

Hand Drip Method

FrontStreet Coffee recommends using Kalita trapezoid drippers or KONO drippers, flannel filters - mainly immersion extraction-based drippers - to brew these four wet-hulled Mandheling coffee beans.

Brewing Parameters:

• Water Temperature: 86-88°C (Due to dark roasting, high water temperature can easily cause over-extraction)
• Grind Size: Medium grind (Slightly coarser than for light roast beans to reduce extraction rate)
• Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:13-1:14 (Use smaller ratio to highlight Sumatran coffee's rich body)

FrontStreet Coffee's Four Mandheling Coffee Beans Hand Drip Parameters:

Brewing Parameters:

1. Filter: KONO
2. Water temperature: 86-88°C
3. Grind: Fuji Royal R440 #4
4. Roast level: Dark roast
5. Bloom time: 30 seconds

Brewing Technique:

15g coffee, 1:15 ratio, Fuji Royal R440 #4 grind, KONO dripper, 86-88°C water temperature. First pour to 30g water for 30s bloom, second pour to 125g, wait for water level to drop to halfway, continue pouring to 225g. Total extraction time 2 minutes.

Particularly, because Natural Mandheling uses medium roast, its brewing technique differs from medium-dark roast Mandheling coffee beans.

FrontStreet Coffee has accumulated extensive experimental experience in brewing techniques and has unified brewing parameters for coffee beans with different roast levels as much as possible.

For example, FrontStreet Coffee's light-medium roast coffee bean brewing parameters are: V60 dripper, 1:15 ratio, 15g coffee, 90°C water, grind (80% pass-through rate with #20 standard sieve). For medium-dark roast coffee beans: KONO dripper, 1:15 ratio, 15g coffee, 88°C water, grind (70-75% pass-through rate with #20 standard sieve).

Natural Mandheling Coffee Brewing Parameters:

Brewing Parameters:

1. Filter: Hario V60 #01
2. Coffee amount: 15g
3. Ratio: 1:15
4. Water temperature: 90°C
5. Grind size: Fine sugar

Brewing Technique:

First pour 30g water for 30s bloom, second pour 95g water (scale shows 125g), completed in about 1 minute. Third pour 100g water (scale shows 225g), completed in about 1 minute 40 seconds. Total extraction time 2 minutes 10 seconds, remove filter to complete brewing.

Flavor Profile Summary

Hand Drip Mandheling Flavor Descriptions:

Golden Mandheling: Multi-layered, rich and clean, high balance, intense nut and caramel aroma with chocolate notes, persistent aftertaste.

Lintong Mandheling: Herbal medicine notes on entry, dark chocolate, caramel, sweet aftertaste.

Tiger Mandheling: Pine and spice aromas, relatively balanced palate with distinct cream, dark chocolate, and nut flavors.

Aged Mandheling: Woody, malt, and caramel aromas greet you. The palate lacks the wildness of traditional Mandheling, replaced with richness and refinement, with a mature and composed feeling. Lower acidity, with aged Pu'er tea, caramel, herbal, and chocolate flavors, full of sweetness.

Natural Mandheling: Tropical fruits, fermented notes, moderate acidity, smooth texture, obvious sweetness.

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Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473