Indonesian Golden Mandheling vs. Lintong Mandheling: Differences and Brewing Flavor Profiles

Many friends have asked FrontStreet Coffee's baristas: What's the difference between FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling and FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling? Is there gold added? Haha, of course that's just joking. In this article, FrontStreet Coffee will discuss the differences between FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling and FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling, both from Sumatra, Indonesia.

Mandheling

Mandheling refers to the semi-dried or natural processed beans most famous from the Lintong mountainous area at elevations of 900-1200 meters on the southwest shore of Lake Toba in north-central Sumatra. The Batak people are the main coffee farmers in this region. Once praised as the world's fullest coffee beans, Mandheling is a trademark used for Arabica coffee from North Sumatra, originating from the Mandailing people of the Tapanuli region in northwest Sumatra. FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling has a rich flavor with intense body and vibrant, lively character—neither astringent nor acidic, fully expressing its body and bitterness. Mandheling coffee beans can be said to be the ugliest in appearance, but coffee aficionados say that the less attractive Sumatra coffee beans look, the better, richer, and smoother they taste.

Golden Mandheling

If FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling is a premium among Indonesian coffees, then FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling is the finest among Mandhelings. FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling consists of carefully hand-selected full, vibrant-colored Mandheling coffee beans—truly a beauty among coffees. In fact, to improve the high defect rate problem in Mandheling, the Japanese began implementing meticulous quality control long ago, using four rounds of manual selection to eliminate defective beans.

Unfortunately, "Golden Mandheling" has already been trademarked by Indonesia's Pawani Coffee Company, making Golden Mandheling exclusive to PWN. PWN was also one of the first companies to sell Mandheling coffee beans to Japan. Compared to other Mandhelings, FrontStreet Coffee's new season Golden Mandheling has a stronger aftertaste and sugarcane aroma. Although everyone knows that only PWN's Mandheling can be called true Golden Mandheling, PWN's annual production is actually quite limited. Therefore, a large portion of large-grain selected Golden Mandheling does not come from PWN. If you're unsure, you can ask the seller to provide raw bean bags with PWN markings or certificates included with the beans to determine if they are PWN Golden Mandheling.

The True Golden Mandheling

PWN's is the true FrontStreet Coffee Golden Mandheling. FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling stamped with the PWN brand undergoes three rounds of manual screening and one machine selection—the beans are beautiful and very uniform, resulting in cleaner coffee when roasted. PWN company has trademarked Golden Mandheling, meaning only Golden Mandheling produced by PWN can be considered the true "Golden Mandheling." FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling comes from PWN company. FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling originates from Mandheling and can be understood as selected Mandheling—this is why FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) chose to stock it. FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) cup tests 300-500 batches of beans annually, selecting one-fifth with the most regionally representative flavors. FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling is a representative work under this selection. We believe it excellently represents the Sumatran style.

Comparing FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling and Golden Mandheling

For professional-level coffee connoisseurs and taste-sensitive coffee friends, drinking these two coffees simultaneously will reveal very obvious comparisons. The Golden Mandheling's sweetness and cleanliness, rich body, and wild spice flavors are superior to G1, which is one reason why Golden Mandheling is much more expensive than G1.

FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling requires layer-by-layer screening, which I believe is absolutely necessary. Its defect rate is too high, and with its ugly appearance, sometimes even good beans look like defects. Every time I sort Mandheling, I can pull out a handful of defective beans, then looking back at the defective beans, I feel they can't really be considered defective—that's just how they look. However, roasted Mandheling is like a caterpillar breaking out of its cocoon to become a butterfly—the roasted beans are very full and quite pleasing to the eye. FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling has a defect rate of only 2% and is very beautiful.

Brewing Flavor Comparison

FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling tastes cleaner than FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling. The original herbal, earthy, and woody flavors of FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling are almost gone, but the caramel sweetness is stronger, and the fruit acidity is brighter and more elegant. Generally, FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling is best roasted past the second crack to effectively reduce off-flavors, but FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling has good clarity and sweetness whether roasted before or after the second crack, offering more flexibility in roasting interpretation.

The October 2020 harvest season's FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling coffee beans were affected by the pandemic, making shipping schedules quite tight. They finally arrived in China in late November! FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) was among the first to receive the October harvest Golden Mandheling coffee beans. Next, FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) will compare the roasting and brewing of May 2020 harvest's FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling with October harvest's FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling to see how both harvests perform.

FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Golden Mandheling Coffee Beans

Origin: Aceh Gayo Mountain, Sumatra
Altitude: 1100-1600 meters
Variety: Ateng
Grade: G1, 3 hand selections
Processing: Wet-hulled method

Processing Method: Wet-Hulled Method

Due to local weather that's often rainy with constant typhoons, it's impossible to achieve the good weather needed for natural processing, and the local economy isn't good enough to use the more expensive washed method. For these various reasons, the unique local wet-hulled method was developed (wet-hulling involves natural drying with parchment for 2-3 days during normal washed processing until moisture content reaches 20-24%, then hulling the parchment). The ultra-fast processing speed of the wet-hulled method causes Mandheling to have a higher defect rate, which FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling effectively avoids. FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling specifications are 19 screen or above, with fewer than 3 defective beans (300g raw bean sample), belonging to the highest G1 grade, with deep green color and flat, uniform shape.

FrontStreet Coffee's Roasting Analysis

FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling belongs to raw beans with higher moisture content, having a larger deviation value from natural beans in moisture, so special attention is needed during dehydration. For high-moisture raw beans, you can immediately close the air damper after charging beans, steam for 30 seconds, then open to 3 until the beans turn light green or white, then open the damper to 4, and after first crack open to 5 (maximum). FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) suggests keeping detailed records before roasting: bean moisture content, density, origin, processing method, roasting room temperature and humidity, etc., and planning your roasting curve. Record relevant chemical and physical changes during roasting—this will help you better understand the final roasting results and improve your roasting curve.

FrontStreet Coffee's Roasting Record

Heat roaster to 200°C, charge beans with damper at 3. After 1 minute, reduce heat to 160°C, damper unchanged. Roast to 5'40'', temperature 148°C, bean surface turns yellow, grassy smell completely gone, dehydration complete. Adjust heat to 140°C, damper to 4. At 9'40'', bean surface shows ugly wrinkles and black spots, toast aroma clearly turns to coffee aroma—this can be defined as prelude to first crack. Listen carefully for the sound of first crack. At 9'54'', first crack begins, reduce heat to 60°C, damper fully open (adjust heat very carefully, not so low that cracking stops). Discharge at 204.5°C.

The October 2020 harvest's FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling has higher moisture content than the May harvest's FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling. Under the same development time and discharge temperature, FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee)'s roaster extends the dehydration time when roasting the October harvest, extending the yellowing point to 6 minutes 30 seconds.

FrontStreet Coffee's Brewing Analysis

For daily brewing, I generally use the KONO dripper because it brings out a rounder, fuller body and more direct flavor expression. However, the KONO dripper has relatively poor gas release because its ribs are straight and only extend one-quarter of the dripper depth. Above this quarter, the surface forms a sealed state against the cup wall.

So when beans have passed their resting period, I choose the KONO dripper because the only gas release area is in those quarter ribs. When water level rises above the rib area, the water level in the dripper continuously rises, increasing pressure through water weight. Since the outlet is relatively small, it can prolong the contact time between coffee particles and water, effectively extracting soluble substances through water flow. This generally achieves the high body thickness that customers expect. Medium-dark roasted beans generally have higher dehydration rates, so they're lighter in weight. During brewing, the grounds don't completely sink to the bottom—they're immediately absorbed when water is first poured. Due to vigorous gas release, bubbles form around the grounds, creating channels. The fresher the beans, the longer these channels maintain, causing water level to drop quickly. I generally use a coarse water flow and slowly pour in circles.

Brewing Parameters

1. Dripper: KONO
2. Water temperature: 88°C
3. Grind size: Fuji grinder setting 4
4. Roast level: Medium-dark roast

In terms of brewing technique, FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) uses bloom water amount twice the coffee dose, meaning 30g of water for blooming, with a bloom time of 30 seconds. Using a small water flow, pour in circles to 125g for分段, then continue pouring to 225g when the water level is about to expose the coffee bed. Stop pouring and wait for the water level to drop until it's about to expose the coffee bed, then remove the dripper. Extraction time is 2'00" (starting from bloom timing).

May harvest FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling coffee beans brewing flavor: Nuts, spices, herbal plants, licorice, chocolate, caramel—clean and soft flavors.

October harvest FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling coffee beans brewing flavor: Acidity is more obvious than the May harvest coffee, with dark chocolate-like subtle acidity, nutty and herbal notes, and a caramel sweetness in the aftertaste—overall cleaner than the May harvest.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473