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What Does Two Lakes Double Mandheling Mean? What Are the Characteristics of Two Lakes Double Mandheling Coffee?

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, Both the Lake Toba region in North Sumatra Province and the Lake Tawar area in Aceh produce Mandheling coffee, which is famously known as Two Lakes Double Mandheling. The common characteristic of Two Lakes Double Mandheling is that both are rich and mellow, with the difference being that Lake Toba's Mandheling is more muted, deep, and even has hints of grass jelly flavor, while Lake Tawar Mandheling has brighter fruit acidity and occasionally

The Origins and Characteristics of Mandheling Coffee

Both Lake Toba in North Sumatra and Lake Tawar in Aceh produce Mandheling coffee, which is famously known as the "Two Lakes, Double Mandheling."

The common characteristic of the "Two Lakes, Double Mandheling" is their rich and mellow flavor. The difference lies in the fact that Mandheling from Lake Toba is more subdued, deep-toned, and even carries a hint of herbal grass flavor, while Lake Tawar Mandheling has brighter fruit acidity and occasionally carries notes of cedar or wood.

FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling is not a specific coffee bean variety, but rather a collective term or designation.

Historical Background

Historically, Mandheling coffee has quite a long history. In the 17th century, the Dutch first introduced Arabica coffee seedlings to Indonesia. In 1877, a large-scale disaster struck the Indonesian islands. Coffee rust disease devastated nearly all coffee trees, forcing people to abandon the Arabica they had cultivated for many years and introduce Robusta coffee trees from Africa, which had strong disease resistance.

On February 14, 1942, Japanese troops attacked Sumatra, and the Dutch surrendered a month later. On March 15, Japanese forces occupied Indonesia. However, since Indonesia had been successively colonized by the British and Dutch, the Indonesian people did not have any particularly strong reaction to the arrival of Japanese troops. One day, a Japanese soldier was drinking coffee at a café in Sumatra and found the taste quite good. He asked the owner what kind of coffee it was. The owner mistakenly thought the soldier was asking about his ethnicity, so he replied, "Mandailing people." Thus, "Mandheling coffee" was born.

Indonesia consists of 17,508 large and small islands. The main coffee-producing regions include Java Island, Sulawesi Island, and Sumatra Island. A large portion of the varieties are Robusta, while Mandheling is also known as "Sumatra coffee," belonging to the Arabica species (though some are Timor varieties). This gives most Mandheling coffee the characteristics of rich bitter aroma, excellent body, and a slight chocolate flavor. Therefore, as long as coffee is grown on Sumatra Island, regardless of the bean variety, it can be called "Mandheling coffee."

Distinctive Features

FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling: Rich and solid mouthfeel with herbal medicinal notes, pleasant acidity, strong aftertaste, and a substantial, mellow texture. The aroma is fragrant and mellow, with moderate acidity and abundant sweetness that is truly intriguing. It is suitable for dark roasting, releasing a rich aroma.

The Gentleman of Coffee—FrontStreet Coffee's Sumatra Mandheling

FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling is premium coffee grown on plateau mountainous land at altitudes of 750-1500 meters, with the highest quality Mandheling produced in Takengon and Sidikalang. Due to FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling having an irreplaceably fragrant and mellow taste, Japan's largest coffee company, UCC Ueshima Coffee, collaborated with the renowned Sumatran coffee merchant PT Gunung Lintong in 1995 to operate their first coffee plantation in Asia, demonstrating how important FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling is in the coffee world.

Some say FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling is heavy and intense, while others say it's gentle and easygoing. FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling has always expressed its most unique sweetness through its most distinctive bitterness, much like the bittersweetness of life. No amount of sugar can mask that bitterness—at first taste, it's truly surprising. Yet the captivating aroma it emits makes us unable to control our crazy fascination with it. Its bitterness is like the thorns beside a flower, making one self-aware, while its fragrance is refreshing. FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling's bitterness won't make you irritable; instead, it will make you feel more clear-headed. Before you encounter true suffering, Mandheling is just an ordinary beverage with a bitter taste—just a liquid to refresh you, just a tool to make you pause temporarily; when you truly encounter suffering, she will smile and tell you: "Because love is refined from bitterness." Letting you calm down and savor it carefully.