What is the Single Origin Mandhing Made by Wang Junkai? Let's Analyze the Origin and Story of Single Origin Mandhing!

Indonesian Mandheling Coffee - Golden Mandheling - Mandheling Coffee Flavor Characteristics

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Recently, a heartwarming short film advertisement from TFBOYS member Wang Junkai has been blowing up social media. In the short film, Wang Junkai wears a light blue shirt with an apron, truly looking like a barista. The "single-origin Mandheling" mentioned in the film - Mandheling coffee is familiar to everyone. As a regular bean, it's quite a common sight in coffee shops. Today, let's explore the story of Mandheling!

Mandheling Coffee Origin:

Mandheling coffee is produced in Sumatra, Asian Indonesia, also known as "Sumatra coffee." The main production areas include five origins in the Aceh region: Lake Tawar, Mount Gayo, Gayo tribe, Aceh Mandheling, and Takengon Mandheling; and four origins in the North Sumatra region: Lake Toba, Lintong, Mandailing tribe, and Batak tribe. The finest traditional Arabica coffee produced in northern Sumatra is marketed under the names Lintong and Mandheling.

More precisely, Lintong refers to coffee grown in a small area in the southwestern part of Lake Toba in the Lintong administrative region. The coffee smallholder areas are scattered across a high, undulating clay plateau covered with ferns. Lintong coffee is grown without shade, without chemicals, and is almost entirely owned by small private owners. Mandheling is a broader term that includes Lintong coffee and growing areas in similar conditions in Diari [capital Sidikalang] and the northern part of Lake Toba.

Origin of the Name Mandheling Coffee:

A phonetic translation of the Indonesian Mandheling ethnic group.

During World War II when Japan occupied Indonesia, a Japanese soldier drank incredibly fragrant coffee at a café and asked the owner the coffee's name. The owner misunderstood and thought he was asking where he was from, so he replied: Mandheling. After the war, the Japanese soldier recalled the "Mandheling" he drank in Indonesia. He then commissioned an Indonesian coffee merchant to ship 15 tons to Japan, and it became surprisingly popular. The name Mandheling thus spread, and that coffee merchant is now the renowned Pwani Coffee Company (PWN).

Mandheling Coffee Flavor Description:

Due to the naturally pollution-free volcanic ash soil and special varieties, Mandheling coffee is full of rounded and rich texture, strong, with a thick mouthfeel and excellent consistency. It has a syrup-like round taste with extremely low acidity, making it one of the most popular single-origin coffees in Asia. After dark roasting, it has a deep woody aroma and cheese-like fragrance, with prominent bitterness and mild acidity. The aftertaste is like the rich astringency of Bordeaux red wine.

Mandheling Coffee Processing Method (Wet Hulling):

First, use a wooden peeler to remove the fruit skin and pulp, extracting the sticky parchment beans. Some may continue fermentation for flavor enhancement, while others are exposed to sunlight for several hours until the moisture content of the parchment beans drops to semi-dry and semi-wet at 30-50%. Then use a hulling machine to grind off the parchment shell and continue with the subsequent drying process, which takes 2-4 days until the moisture content drops to 12-13%.

When the semi-hard and semi-soft moist green beans are hulled, they are easily crushed and split open like goat hooves, becoming one of the identifying characteristics of Mandheling coffee beans. Mandheling green beans processed by wet hulling have reduced acidity due to the shortened fermentation period, increased thickness, and significantly more caramel and fruit aromas, with slight woody and herbal notes.

Mandheling Coffee Grades:

The grading method uses various perforated screens for grading. The screens come in various specifications identified by numbers, which are related to the mesh holes. The size of the mesh holes is calculated in 1/64-inch units. If the mesh hole diameter is 18/64 inches, the screen number is 18; if the mesh hole diameter is 17/64 inches, the screen number is 17. By analogy, there are screens numbered 19, 16, 15, 14, etc.

The screening process involves placing coffee beans on a screen and shaking them back and forth by machine or manually. Beans smaller than the mesh holes fall and are eliminated; the eliminated beans are then screened through smaller numbered screens. After layer-by-layer screening, the grade of the coffee beans is determined.

Golden Mandheling Coffee:

We must start with PWN. This abbreviation is often mixed with the name Mandheling coffee; it's actually an abbreviation for a company - Pwani Coffee Company. This company is a very famous coffee acquisition company in Indonesia, mainly acquiring Mandheling coffee. Almost all Mandheling from the best producing regions in Indonesia is "contracted" by them, so most beans from PWN company are unique specialty coffees.

Golden Mandheling is a product produced by this company. After acquiring the green beans, they undergo multiple manual selections to pick out full, flawless beans. Only these fine beans that have undergone layer-by-layer screening like an audition can be classified as Golden Mandheling. However, PWN company has trademarked Golden Mandheling, meaning only Golden Mandheling produced by PWN company can be considered authentic "Golden Mandheling" in the future. The Golden Mandheling produced by this company also captures countless coffee lovers' hearts with its solid richness, strong dark chocolate aroma, creamy fragrance, and high cleanliness.

Aged Golden Mandheling:

Aged coffee actually has a long history in Indonesia. Because early shipping was not so developed, transporting coffee from Indonesia to other countries took quite a long time. Over time, the originally moisture-rich fresh coffee beans gradually dried, forming unique flavors. Due to improvements in modern shipping that greatly reduce transport time, such special-flavored coffee has become a specially processed coffee bean.

Processing aged beans is a technical skill that requires strict monitoring during the aging process of the coffee beans. The warehouse's humidity and temperature have standard requirements, and the coffee green beans must be turned periodically to prevent differences in upper and lower humidity or mold that would render them useless. The aging process is not about losing flavor but creating another flavor, and a pleasant one at that.

Taste: Very rich, similar to high-quality Pu'er tea. Successful aged beans eliminate the unrefined acidity of Mandheling. Acidic and astringent components mature into sugars, making the coffee smoother. Failed aged Mandheling is like a coffee zombie, with a taste that's hard to swallow.

Emerald Mandheling:

This Emerald Mandheling from Lake Tawar, Aceh Province, Sumatra, grows at an altitude of 1200-1600 meters. The green beans are crystal clear and full, graded as beans above 19 mesh. They are processed using Sumatra's traditional wet hulling method. They once scored 93 points on the famous cupping website Coffee Reviews. They have very high sweetness with ginseng candy, malt sugar, butter, toast, hazelnut, chocolate, Southeast Asian spices, and mango-like flavors. The fruit acidity is lively, the mouthfeel viscosity is excellent, with cream and pine notes.

Aceh Mandheling:

This Mandheling, also from Aceh Province, Sumatra, although still using the traditional wet hulling processing method, undergoes three screenings to maximize its cleanliness. It also has very distinct regional characteristics and black tea aroma, with a hint of pear juice when cooled.

The cooperative that produces this coffee bean has a somewhat tragic color. As a place in Sumatra that has long suffered from natural disasters and constant warfare, adult men in this area have almost all participated in local armed conflicts, while picking and planting has become the most important and only economic source for many single mothers.

Tiger Mandheling:

This from the Lintong Lake production area in North Sumatra grows at an altitude of 1800 meters. After multiple manual screenings, it appears in Fox's coffee list in medium roast form, presenting excellent osmanthus and peach sweetness, roasted almonds, and raw Pu'er aftertaste. Although it still has a slight herbal plant feeling, it still has good cleanliness and charming floral notes that endlessly circulate in the mouth.

Perhaps you think Mandheling only has wet hulling processing, and the flavors mostly feature osmanthus, almonds, tea feeling, and herbal plants, but in other two production areas, there are still natural-processed Mandheling coffees.

First up is from Wahana Estate. This coffee estate is located between Lake Toba and the Lintong production area, with production altitude between 1300-1500 meters. The estate owner also improved the production environment of coffee trees, provided free coffee tree varieties, increased shade tree coverage, and used rack-based natural drying. The flavors feature jackfruit, strawberry jam, black tea, brown sugar, and rich berry notes, with dried almond acidity. The mouthfeel is smooth and sweet.

Natural Process Gayo:

The biennial harvest season gives coffee more sweetness and flavor. Rich tropical fruits, bananas, guava, and red wine aromas are intoxicating.

Recently, friends were invited to visit the Gayo production area. In that region, they saw that coffee farmers live happily every day. Whether working or not, they always wear smiles on their faces. When visitors arrive, they celebrate extravagantly as if it were a festival. How could coffee produced in such a region not make people fall in love with it?

How to Brew Mandheling Coffee?

So the question comes: how should Mandheling coffee be brewed? Here are FrontStreet Coffee's recommended brewing methods. If you don't mind, you can use them as reference:

Medium-dark roasted beans generally have higher moisture loss rates, so they're lighter. During brewing, the powder doesn't completely sink to the bottom. When water is first injected, it's immediately absorbed. Due to vigorous degassing, bubbles surround the powder, creating channels. The fresher the beans, the longer these channels persist, causing the water level to drop quickly. I usually use a coarse water flow and circle slowly.

1. Dripper: KONO

2. Water Temperature: 88°C

3. Grind Size: Small Fuji grinder setting 4

4. Roast Level: Medium-dark roast

5. Bloom Time: 25 seconds

Flavor: Multi-layered, clean, balanced, with persistent caramel sweetness in the aftertaste

Specific Technique: 15g of coffee, ground with Small Fuji ghost tooth grinder setting 4, KONO dripper, 88-89°C water temperature. First infusion with 30g water for 25s bloom, then inject to 104g and stop water. Wait until the powder bed water level drops to half before continuing infusion. Slowly pour until reaching 220g total, discarding the last 5g. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time around 2:00.

Dear bosses, stock up on more "single-origin Mandheling."

Next, there should be many young ladies ordering Wang Junkai's choice!

"The most nagging person is the one who loves you most."

Visit home when you have time.

The Sumatra Coffee You Don't Know — Indonesian Mandheling: Unique Climate Creates Bizarre Processing Methods

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