Which Beans Taste Best with Wet Hulling? What Should Mandheling Wet-Hulled Coffee Taste Like?

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Indonesian Coffee Islands

Coffee from several major islands in Indonesia is very famous, including: Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, Bali, and others.

Mandheling: Sumatra's Renowned Coffee

The renowned coffee bean from Sumatra—Mandheling—is the most familiar to everyone. Based on our bean tasting experience, Mandheling from Lintong and Aceh provinces are the most outstanding. The reason Mandheling can have different flavors, besides climate and geographical location, the special post-processing method—Wet-Hulling—is also one of the important factors. Simply put, Wet-Hulling means that when the raw beans are half-dried, still with a moisture content of 30% to 50%, the parchment hull is removed, and then they are left to continue drying to solve the problem of overly long drying time, which can be completed in just four days.

Quality Challenges

However, the high proportion of defective beans in Mandheling is a common problem. The proportion of insect-damaged and partially sour beans is extremely high. Based on our experience, even raw beans marked as G1 grade still have very many defective beans. Only部分黄金 Mandheling grade above or specially hand-selected batches can meet specialty coffee standards.

Baking Perception

Many people often ask, 'Why does Mandheling need to be roasted so heavily?' If general commercial or affordable Mandheling is not heavily roasted, the defective beans are obvious. Therefore, 'Mandheling = bitter coffee' has become the general impression of Mandheling. For us who specialize in specialty coffee, promoting high-quality Mandheling becomes even more difficult.

Characteristics of Premium Mandheling

You might ask us, 'What is premium Mandheling?' and 'What should Mandheling taste like?'

With high-quality raw beans and precise roasting, premium Mandheling should have the aroma of "herbs and licorice fragrance," with some acidity but not too strong. In particularly premium growing regions, it can even have caramel sweetness and a high body is its greatest characteristic. In roasting, how to control and retain good body without stimulating acidity and bitterness is something that roasters must control. Common defective flavors in Mandheling include: earthy flavors from improper processing methods, complex unclean tastes caused by defective beans, or bitterness and sharp acidity from improper roasting.

Conclusion

After all this discussion, are you one of those coffee lovers who enjoys the rich flavor of Wet-Hulled Mandheling? If you haven't yet tasted the premium flavors mentioned above, please come to FrontStreet Coffee to have a taste.

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse bean varieties, where you can find various famous and lesser-known beans, while also providing online store services. https://shop104210103.taobao.com

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473