Flavor Profile Comparison: Blue Mountain Coffee vs Indonesian Mandheling Coffee Beans

FrontStreet Coffee deeply understands that no two people in this world have exactly the same taste - everyone has their own preferences. Coffee is no different; some prefer sour, some prefer bitter, and some prefer balanced flavors. With one hundred thousand people, there are one hundred thousand different requirements. For those who love rich and full-bodied coffee, the pursuit of medium-dark roasts is ideal - aromatic, rich, and full-bodied are their favorites. FrontStreet Coffee recommends two options for you!

Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee

Jamaica is an island located in the Caribbean Sea, and the famous Blue Mountains are situated in Jamaica. The highest point of the Blue Mountains reaches 2400 meters, making it the highest peak in the Caribbean.

This area is located in the coffee belt, with fertile new volcanic soil, fresh air free from pollution, year-round rainfall, high humidity, and significant temperature differences between day and night. The soil here is rich in nitrogen and phosphorus, making it very suitable for coffee growth. The fertile volcanic soil, regular rainfall, and the hazy clouds on the island protect it from harsh sunlight. All these factors combined create what we know as Blue Mountain Coffee.

Blue Mountain Coffee is the only coffee growing region to date that uses wooden barrels for packaging raw beans, while all other coffee exports use burlap sacks. Moreover, coffee grown on the Blue Mountains is not necessarily Blue Mountain Coffee. The Jamaican certified authentic Blue Mountain Coffee growing region refers to four eastern administrative districts: St. Andrew, St. Thomas, St. Mary, and Portland, which are precisely the foothill areas that the Blue Mountains span. The altitude ranges from 1000-1700 meters, covering an area of approximately 6100 hectares. Only coffee planted in this region and meeting the 1000-1700 meter altitude requirement can be considered authentic Blue Mountain.

Even if planted within these four administrative districts but at an altitude of only 500-1000 meters, it must be downgraded to Jamaica High Mountain Coffee. Below 500 meters, it becomes the lower-grade Jamaica Supreme Coffee. The other 1.21 hectares outside this region cannot be called Blue Mountain Coffee at all. The Jamaican government has strict regulations for Blue Mountain Coffee, with at most 25% of Jamaican coffee qualifying for Blue Mountain status.

Clifton Farm

As early as the mid-18th century (around 1750), Clifton Farm began planting and producing coffee. Its coffee plantation and processing facilities are situated at an average altitude of 1310.64 meters. The sufficient altitude, gentle afternoon clouds and mist surrounding the mountain forests for shade, ample sunlight, and mineral-rich planting soil provide excellent growing conditions for coffee trees and extend the maturation period of coffee cherries.

The harvesting of Blue Mountain Coffee is done entirely by hand. Workers must travel between the bushes on the slopes, picking each ripe coffee cherry one by one. Since coffee cherries on the same tree mature at different rates, and the color changes from green to red during the ripening process, once fully red, they must be harvested immediately to prevent fermentation and spoilage. Therefore, it often requires dozens of separate harvests to collect all the coffee. The entire process is extremely laborious until the coffee beans are dried, followed by strict manual selection and machine grading.

All exported Blue Mountain Coffee must undergo detailed inspection by the Jamaican Coffee Industry Board. Only coffee that passes the Cupping Test conducted by professional quality control personnel can enter the global market.

Indonesia Gold Mandheling

Indonesia is the world's largest archipelagic country. Spanning both sides of the equator, Indonesia's hot and humid tropical rainforest climate brings abundant rainfall, and fertile volcanic soil provides rich nutrients for coffee. When it comes to "Gold Mandheling," we must first talk about PWN. This abbreviation is often mixed with the name of Mandheling coffee - it's actually the abbreviation for Pwani Coffee Company.

This company is a very famous coffee acquisition company in Indonesia, mainly dealing in Mandheling coffee. Almost all the best growing regions in Indonesia are acquired by them, so most of the beans from PWN Company are unique specialty coffees.

Gold Mandheling is a product produced by this company. After acquiring the raw beans, they undergo multiple manual selections to pick out full, flawless beans. Only these fine beans that seem to have undergone layer-by-layer selection like talent shows can be classified as Gold Mandheling. Known as the "King of Mandheling," Gold Mandheling is a top-grade authentic rare variety from Sumatra, highly regarded within Indonesia and quite a rare exquisite gem. It is currently the world's highest quality Mandheling, with scarce production, specifically selecting huge green raw beans over 20 mesh (top-grade 8cm). The vibrant fresh green beans are as appetizing as seeing full, fresh fruit, and are all exported to Japan. High altitude and fertile soil nurture the long, large Stone Mandheling beans. The bean appearance is more robust and imposing than regular Mandheling, and it undergoes three manual selections to remove defective beans. The flavor profile is rich and intense, even more so than Gold Mandheling, making it the first choice for dark coffee enthusiasts.

Coffee Story

The Japanese were the first to drink Sumatran coffee and also the first to implement refined processing procedures for Sumatran coffee. "Gold Mandheling" is a product of Japanese collaboration in the Lake Toba area. Gold Mandheling is purely hand-picked and undergoes delicate processing procedures to improve the quality of Mandheling. This makes Gold Mandheling not only possess the intense, wild, and rugged aroma that regular Mandheling coffee should have, but also adds an elegant touch, making it a rare coffee gem.

Beans that can be called Gold Mandheling undergo three manual selections, and it's ensured that every bean is above 18 mesh (0.8cm) to be considered true Gold Mandheling coffee beans.

Processing Method Comparison

Blue Mountain Washed Processing Method:

1. Select floating beans
2. Remove pulp and skin
3. Ferment for 18-36 hours
4. Wash
5. Dry to 12% moisture content
6. Hull and store
7. Select and grade

Gold Mandheling Wet Hulling Processing Method:

1. Remove skin and pulp, keep parchment and mucilage
2. Ferment in water pool
3. Wash off mucilage
4. Sun-dry with parchment for 2-3 days until moisture content reaches 20-24%
5. Hull off parchment
6. Dry raw beans to 12-13% moisture content
7. Prepare for export

Gold Mandheling vs. Jamaica Blue Mountain Raw Beans

Blue Mountain Coffee's variety is Typica, which is an ancient coffee variety. The basic standard for No.1 Blue Mountain raw beans includes beans above 17 mesh, defect rate below 3%, moisture content around 13%, appearing as beautiful, full blue-green raw beans.

Gold Mandheling's coffee variety is also Typica. The raw beans are basically above 19 mesh, appearing in deep green, neat flat beans. There might seem to be more "goat hoof" beans, but this is not a defect. This is because when hulling off the parchment during wet hulling, the coffee's moisture content is still as high as 20-24%, whereas in regular processing methods, coffee moisture content drops to 10-12% before hulling. In the "semi-dry" state, the parchment tends to adhere to the surface of the raw beans, making hulling more difficult than when "fully dry," requiring greater friction during the hulling process.

FrontStreet Coffee Jamaica Blue Mountain & FrontStreet Coffee Gold Mandheling

Let's compare the differences between Gold Mandheling and Blue Mountain Coffee using pour-over method, both using KONO dripper with the same brewing parameters.

Brewing Parameters:

Dripper: KONO Dripper
15g coffee
Water temperature: 88°C
Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15
Grind size: BG#6M

FrontStreet Coffee's Pour-over Method:

30g water for bloom, bloom time 30s; first pour to 125g then stop; vertical water flow, small flow slow circular pour; second pour to 225g.

FrontStreet Coffee Jamaica Blue Mountain Flavor Description:

Very clean taste, with black chocolate, nuts, cream, and a balanced sweet, sour, and bitter profile.

FrontStreet Coffee Gold Mandheling Flavor Description:

Entry brings prominent nut, chocolate, spice, and herbal flavors, with persistent caramel aftertaste.

Although both Blue Mountain and Gold Mandheling have full-bodied mouthfeel, Gold Mandheling has prominent herbal and spice flavors, while Blue Mountain has a cleaner flavor profile with better balance between sweet, sour, and bitter notes. Everyone likes different things - if you prefer balance, drink Blue Mountain; if you prefer rich and full-bodied, drink Mandheling.

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style). For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473