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What is Golden Mandheling Coffee & How Does It Differ from Regular Coffee - Is Golden Mandheling Expensive?

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, Professional coffee knowledge exchange. For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style). What is Golden Mandheling Coffee? How does it differ from regular coffee beans? Some people say Mandheling coffee is simply coffee beans produced on Sumatra island? We don't define it so simply. For coffee enthusiasts, Mandheling coffee refers to coffee processed through wet hulling.

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For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style)

What is Golden Mandheling Coffee? How is it Different from Regular Coffee Beans?

Some people say that Mandheling coffee is simply coffee beans produced on the island of Sumatra? We don't define it so simply. For coffee enthusiasts, Mandheling coffee refers to Sumatran Arabica coffee processed using the wet-hulled method. This special wet-hulling process involves preliminary washing of the parchment coffee, followed by one to two days of sun exposure. Although the moisture content of the green beans is still 30%-50%, the parchment is first removed before continuing the drying process to shorten the drying time. With about 2 more days of drying, the moisture content of the coffee green beans can be reduced to 12-13%.

Please note that this special wet-hulled method (wet-hulled) can easily cause mold growth in green beans. Therefore, commercial-grade Mandheling is not recommended for consumption. Previously, we tried to use more economical Mandheling G1 as an entry-level product. Although marked as Grade 1, which would be the highest grade by green bean standards from other countries, for Indonesia, the defect rate of Mandheling G1 is still quite high (close to 10%), making the sorting cost too high. We ultimately decided to choose high-grade Golden Mandheling or better Emerald Mandheling as our products.

The image below shows defective Mandheling G1 beans, which can easily have entire moldy defective beans, distinguishing them from other coffee defects.

Defective Beans in Golden Mandheling

The Finest Among Mandheling - Lake Tawar Emerald Mandheling

Lake Tawar is located in the Gayo Highlands of northern Aceh Province, Sumatra. Indonesia, which straddles both sides of the equator, is well understood by coffee lovers to know that Mandheling produced in Aceh Province is of the highest quality. This region's humid tropical rainforest climate has abundant rainfall and fertile volcanic soil that provides rich nutrients for coffee. However, due to its remote location and inconvenient transportation, coffee cultivation didn't begin until 1924, mostly using traditional shaded, pesticide-free organic cultivation methods. The Mandheling green beans produced at Lake Tawar are emerald green, have undergone three manual selections at the origin, and feature large beans (19+ screen) that are clean and uniform, like finely carved gemstones.

This high-quality green bean can achieve cupping scores of up to 93 points. Combined with our current roast sweetness-return technique, light to medium roasting best fully expresses the excellent characteristics of this premium top-tier Mandheling.

Golden Mandheling Coffee Bean Brand Recommendations

The Indonesian PWN Golden Mandheling coffee beans roasted by FrontStreet Coffee offer full guarantees in both brand and quality. More importantly, they provide extremely high value for money. A half-pound (227-gram) package costs only about 89 yuan. Calculating at 15 grams of coffee powder per cup, one package can make 15 cups of coffee, with each cup costing less than 6 yuan. Compared to cafés selling coffee for tens of yuan per cup, this is truly a conscientious recommendation.