Does Sumatra Coffee Have a Story? How to Drink Sumatra Coffee & How Much Do Sumatra Coffee Beans Cost

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The Origin of Mandheling

Indonesia's main coffee producing regions include Sumatra, Java, and Sulawesi islands, with Sumatra's "Mandheling" coffee beans being the most famous.

Mandheling is also known as "Sumatra Coffee." Coffee from the Lake Tawar area in the north can be called Aceh Coffee or Lake Tawar Coffee, while coffee from the Lintong and Lake Toba regions can be called Mandheling.

Mandheling has a rich flavor with intense body and vibrant, lively character. It's neither astringent nor acidic, with its body and bitterness fully expressed. The appearance of Mandheling coffee beans might be considered the ugliest, but coffee enthusiasts say that the less attractive Sumatra coffee beans look, the better, richer, and smoother their taste.

Mandheling's Unique Wet Hulling Method

Wet hulling, also known as Wet Hulling or "Giling Basah" in the local language, is a traditional Indonesian coffee processing method. While the name sounds similar to wet processing (washed method), these two processing methods produce distinctly different cup flavors. Coffee processed with wet hulling typically has a thick, intense flavor with a very distinct personality.

Wet Hulling Process Steps

1. Remove the skin and pulp, keeping the parchment and mucilage
2. Ferment in water tanks
3. Wash away the mucilage
4. Sun-dry with parchment for 2-3 days until moisture content reaches 20-24%
5. Remove the parchment
6. Dry the green beans until moisture content reaches 12-13%
7. Prepare for export

Why Use Wet Hulling?

a. Climate Reasons

Indonesia's tradition of using wet hulling stems from local weather conditions. Indonesia maintains humidity levels between 70-90% year-round with constant typhoons, and in some regions, annual rainfall can reach as much as 2,000mm. Since green beans are most vulnerable to rain, how does Indonesia overcome such harsh weather conditions to produce the rich, mellow Mandheling coffee? The answer lies in wet hulling.

Under tropical climate conditions, coffee takes an average of 2-3 weeks to dry. In Indonesia's humid climate, drying coffee becomes a significant challenge. Coffee drying requires more time, during which the coffee maintains high humidity, making it easier for bacteria to penetrate the green beans.

In standard washed processing, drying occurs with the parchment intact to protect the green beans from external damage. However, wet hulling removes the parchment for the final drying stage, allowing direct sunlight to hit the green bean surface, enabling rapid drying that is 2-3 times faster than washed processing.

b. Economic Benefits

Dutch colonizers first introduced coffee to Indonesia in the 17th century. These colonizers pursued greater and faster economic returns. Wet hulling significantly reduces time spent on farms and greatly decreases labor costs. This aligns with the investor mentality of pursuing quick profits and reducing costs, which is another reason driving the adoption of wet hulling.

c. Defects and "kuku kambing" (Goat Hoof Beans)

When wet hulling removes the parchment, the coffee's moisture content is still as high as 20-24%, whereas in typical processing methods, coffee moisture content drops to 10-12% before hulling. In this "semi-dry" state, parchment tends to adhere to the green bean surface, making removal more difficult than "fully dry" beans, requiring greater friction during hulling.

However, "semi-dry" green beans are very fragile at this stage, much less hard than "fully dry" beans, making them more susceptible to crushing and forming small chips. This is what we commonly call horse hoof or goat hoof beans (locally known as "kuku kambing").

The extremely fast processing speed of wet hulling also results in higher defect rates in Mandheling. Processing plants arrange employees for manual defect sorting, typically including DP (double picking) and TP (triple picking). Mandheling that undergoes triple picking will have better defect rates than double picking.

Summary:

To summarize the flavor profile of wet hulling, aside from subtle differences, we generally believe that wet-hulled beans have earthy, smoky, and chocolatey flavors, with what's considered "low acidity" - thick and rather mellow.

The low acidity comes from shorter, less effective fermentation and longer drying times. As for the "earthy" flavors of wet-hulled beans, opinions vary widely. Some say it's related to the bean varieties used in wet-hulling regions (Timor & Catimor varieties: with Robusta lineage), some say it's the result of organic interactions between green beans and the environment, and some even attribute it to too many defective beans! Of course, there are quite a few...

What is "Golden Mandheling"?

Some friends who have operated coffee shops for several years say that "Golden Mandheling" is actually aged Mandheling. Speaking of "Golden Mandheling," we must start with PWN, an abbreviation often mixed with Mandheling coffee names. It's actually the abbreviation for Pwani Coffee Company.

This company is a very famous coffee purchasing company in Indonesia, mainly acquiring Mandheling coffee. Nearly all of Indonesia's best-producing regions are purchased by them, so most beans from PWN Company are unique specialty coffees. Golden Mandheling is a product produced by this company. After purchasing green beans, they undergo multiple manual hand-sortings to select full, defect-free beans. Only these premium beans that undergo层层筛选 (layer-by-layer selection) can be classified as Golden Mandheling.

However, PWN Company has trademarked "Golden Mandheling," meaning that only Golden Mandheling produced by PWN Company can be considered genuine "Golden Mandheling" in the future. Many beans on the market not produced by PWN Company but labeled as Golden Mandheling should actually be called Premium Mandheling.

"Golden Mandheling" is not an aged bean but simply a product named by the company.

Differences between [Mandheling and Golden Mandheling]:

Coffee friends have asked, as coffee beginners, what's the difference between Golden Mandheling and Mandheling G1? They really can't tell the difference. For professional-level coffee connoisseurs and taste-sensitive coffee enthusiasts, drinking these two coffees simultaneously will reveal very obvious comparisons. Golden Mandheling's sweetness and cleanliness, body, and wild spice flavors are superior to G1, which is one reason why Golden Mandheling is much more expensive than G1.

Mandheling requires layer-by-layer screening, which I believe is absolutely necessary. Its defect rate is too high, and with its ugly appearance, even good beans sometimes look like defects. Every time I sort Mandheling, I can pick out a handful of defective beans, but when I look back at the defective beans, I feel they can't really be considered defective - they just look that unappealing. 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.

Golden Mandheling, on the other hand, has a defect rate of 2% and is very beautiful.

What about Aged Golden Mandheling?

Aged coffee actually has a long history in Indonesia. Because early shipping wasn't so developed, transporting coffee from Indonesia to other countries took a considerable amount of time. As time passed, the originally moisture-rich fresh coffee beans slowly dried, and the sea breeze added a rather special flavor.

Due to modern shipping advances that have significantly reduced transportation time, coffee with such special flavors has become a specially processed coffee bean.

Processing aged beans is a technical skill that requires close monitoring during the aging process. Warehouse humidity and temperature have standard requirements, and green beans must be periodically turned to prevent humidity differences or mold that would cause spoilage. The aging process isn't about losing flavor but creating another kind of flavor - and a pleasant one at that.

I collected four types of Mandheling:

• Golden Mandheling
• Ma Mian Mandheling (Timtim Mandheling long berry) - Sumatra Island, Mandehling Longberry, Timtim Belangele
• Lintong Mandheling G1 - Lintong Mandheling Grade -1
• Emerald Mandheling (Sumatra Aceh Province)

Green Bean Photos

Above: Golden Mandheling semi-washed green beans

Above: Ma Mian Mandheling natural processed green beans, a hybrid of Arabica and Robusta, called Timor, known as timtim variety in Indonesia.

Above: Lintong Mandheling G1, although Grade-1, still can't escape the high defect rate characteristic of Indonesian beans, with about 8% defect rate

Above: Emerald Mandheling (Sumatra Aceh Province), 19 screen+, green beans are individually full, green, and crystal clear, just like emeralds

The Gayo mountain range is located in the Aceh producing region of northern Sumatra. Most coffee farmers working locally in Gayo are native farmers. The term "Gayo" originates from tribes in Indonesia's Aceh region. This area has ideal growing conditions, long historical culture, and unique flavors. The region widely uses organic methods to grow coffee without chemical fertilizers and is considered a world green coffee production area. Therefore, Gayo coffee is often called green coffee or Gayo organic coffee.

In the specialty coffee system, Sumatra coffee is a fascinating existence. You see, the famous Mandheling - it's not actually the name of a producing region, nor the name of a coffee bean variety, and even its variety origins are quite chaotic.

Ateng —

A hybrid variety between Arabica and Robusta with several subtypes, widely grown in Sumatra and other Indonesian islands. Simply put, it's a branch of Catimor, with Ateng being the local name.

Djember —

Djember, when searched on Baidu, is a place name in Sumatra. It looks quite mysterious, but the variety is actually S-795. Since this variety was spread to the island by the Jember Coffee Research Center, locals call S-795 by this name.

What is S-795? It's a hybrid created by Indian botanists crossing the Typica mutant Kent with S-288.

What is S-288? It's a natural hybrid of Arabica and Liberica.

TimTim —

It's the Timor Hybrid, translated as East Timor hybrid, which is a hybrid of Arabica and Robusta. The familiar Catimor is created by further hybridization with it.

Tim Tim — Ma Mian Mandheling longberry

Tim Tim is a bean from Indonesia. Due to its long shape, many people call it horse face bean, while others call it long Mandheling. Actually, tim tim is not a pure variety but a natural hybrid of Arabica coffee trees and Robusta coffee trees. This variety was discovered on Timor Island in the 1940s and was cultivated due to its natural disease resistance. In America, this variety is called Hybrido de Timor, abbreviated as Tim Tim, while in Indonesia, this variety is also called Bor Bor.

Mandheling Roasting

Comparing Mandheling at three roast levels: light roast, medium-dark roast, and dark roast.

Equipment choice: Hario V60

Bloom time: 25 seconds

1. Light roast: Fuji "ghost tooth" grinder 3.5, water temperature 90°C, water-to-coffee ratio 1:15
2. Medium-dark roast: Fuji "ghost tooth" grinder 4, water temperature 88°C, water-to-coffee ratio 1:15
3. Dark roast: Fuji "ghost tooth" grinder 4.5, water temperature 86°C, water-to-coffee ratio 1:15

Test Results

1. Light roast: Fruit acidity is obvious but comfortable on entry, slightly bitter, with a mouth-watering sensation on both sides of the mouth, average smoothness.
2. Medium-dark roast: Very good balance, fragrant and mellow, bitterness is more obvious, chocolate and slight sweetness more prominent, licorice aroma obvious, smoother than light roast, strong aroma.
3. Dark roast: Almost no acidity, very heavy bitterness, improper roasting can also produce burnt flavors.

Where do over-extraction or under-extraction problems mainly occur?

Over-extraction phenomenon: Coffee becomes too bitter and astringent, caused by water soaking coffee grounds for too long.

Under-extraction phenomenon: Taste is rather thin, feeling like water and coffee are separated.

Different Equipment, Different Brewing Methods

Taste will also be different

Pour Over

1. Filter: Hario V60
2. Water temperature: 88°C
3. Grind size: Fuji grinder setting 4
4. Roast level: Medium-dark roast
5. Bloom time: 25 seconds

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

Specific technique: 15g coffee, Fuji "ghost tooth" grinder setting 4, V60 filter, 88-89°C water temperature, first pour 30g water for 25s bloom, pour to 104g then stop, wait until water level drops to half before continuing to pour, slowly pour until reaching 220g, discard the last 5g, water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time around 2:00

AeroPress

1. Water temperature: 85°C
2. Grind size: Fuji grinder setting 3.5
3. Roast level: Medium-dark roast
4. Bloom time: 2 times, first 20 seconds, second 50 seconds

Specific technique: Prepare AeroPress for regular pressing, recommend adding 20g coffee grounds, water-to-coffee ratio 1:17, first pour 83°C hot water to 100g, stir 3-5 times to fully wet the coffee grounds, let sit for 20s, add remaining hot water to 240g, let sit for 40s, stir for 5s, when reaching 1 minute 50 seconds, insert plunger and press, total time 2 minutes 5 seconds.

Flavor: Rich, complex, prominent spice notes, fresh forest aroma

Siphon

1. Water temperature: 90°C
2. Grind size: Fuji grinder setting 3.5
3. Roast level: Medium-dark roast
4. Bloom time: 30 seconds

Specific technique: Side-burn extraction, recommend 20g coffee for 2 servings, water-to-coffee ratio 1:12, water level marking 2, use post-addition method, add coffee after bubbling, stir 4-5 times, extract for about 30 seconds then turn off heat, finally, stir twice, let coffee liquid fall freely.

Flavor: Round, rich, prominent herbal and bitter notes, with prominent caramel sweetness

Sumatra Coffee Bean Brand Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee's roasted Sumatra Mandheling coffee beans offer full guarantees in both brand and quality. More importantly, the cost-performance ratio is extremely high - a 227-gram package costs only 89 yuan. Calculating at 15g per cup, one package can make 15 cups of coffee, with each cup costing only about 6 yuan. Compared to coffee shops selling cups for tens of yuan, this is truly a conscientious recommendation.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473