Coffee culture

How to Identify Authentic Gold Mandheling and Compare Gold Top Mandheling vs Gold Mandheling

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) Gold Top Mandheling (BIWA Gold Top Mandheling) Introduction: Country: Indonesia Sumatra Region: Lintong Variety: Typica Processing Method: Semi-washed (washed in early stage, sun-dried in later stage) Cupping Report: (ci
BIWA Gold Top Mandheling Coffee Beans

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BIWA Gold Top Mandheling Coffee Profile

Origin: Indonesia, Sumatra
Region: Lintong
Variety: Typica
Processing: Semi-washed (initial washing followed by sun-drying)

Cupping Notes (City Roast)

Dry Aroma: Woody (cedar) + spices (coriander seed) + aged tangerine peel aroma
Wet Aroma: Coffee blossom + citrus (ripe fruit) + sweet vegetal notes
Sipping: Medium acidity + rich mouthfeel + toffee sweetness + red wine acidity that easily stimulates salivation

Special Features

Gold Top Mandheling comes from old Typica trees around Lake Toba in Lintong. Only carefully selected beans with unique aroma qualify for this grade. Unlike regular Mandheling which is machine-harvested, Gold Top Mandheling is completely hand-picked and manually sorted to produce the highest grade Mandheling coffee. Additionally, export certification is provided by the local government.

The Lintong region is located in northern Sumatra and requires that coffee beans from estates be harvested by hand and processed using the SEMI-WASHED method for hulling and drying, followed by a hand-selection process of "secondary cleaning + four rounds of manual sorting" to qualify as Gold Top Mandheling!

When it comes to coffee in Taiwan, everyone thinks of Mandheling, mainly because of its rich mouthfeel and flavor. However, it's worth noting that there are actually many classifications of Mandheling sold in Taiwan. Take Gold Top Mandheling for example - it's also divided between PWN and BIWA. Based on my experience, BIWA has better clarity and balance than PWN, making it more stable in roasting levels.

Gold Top Mandheling Production Process

Gold Top Mandheling, produced in the Lintong region of northern Sumatra, Indonesia, involves harvesting limited to fully hand-picked single ripe fruits to ensure initial bean quality. The coffee cherries are processed using the SEMI-WASHED method, naturally sun-dried, hulled, then undergo another refined drying process, two rounds of green bean cleaning, and four rounds of manual sorting. This can be described as a strictly selected premium Mandheling coffee.

The predecessor of Gold Top Mandheling was Golden Mandheling. Golden Mandheling was originally a Japanese product that was introduced to Taiwan about ten years ago. At that time, it was called Golden Mandheling, which we translated as "黄金曼特宁" (Golden Mandheling). However, a few years ago, a local Indonesian company registered Golden Mandheling as their trademark, causing all Japanese companies importing this product to remove the Golden Mandheling name and cease using it. Therefore, Japanese importers changed Golden Mandheling to Gold Top Mandheling, simultaneously changing its translated name to "黄金鼎上曼特宁" (Gold Top Mandheling).

Gold Top Mandheling Coffee Bean Processing Procedure:

1. Local purchasing companies directly acquire deep red coffee fruits from farmers.

2. The coffee pulp is removed to extract the parchment, which is then placed in small water tanks for washing.

3. After washing, the beans are sun-dried and directly transported to export companies in Medan. The export companies then subject these beans to two days of sun-drying and hulling. Because the moisture content of processed beans remains as high as 40%, sun-drying methods must be used to reduce moisture to 12.5%.

4. Thoroughly dried beans must undergo density processing, air sorting, and screen sorting to remove small beans, defective beans, and foreign objects. Finally, they undergo HAND-PICK processing to achieve the highest grade GOLD TOP MANDHELING.

5. GOLD TOP MANDHELING is packaged in 10kg straw mats, with one package per box.

Gold Top Mandheling Coffee Bean Brand Recommendation

Indonesian PWN Gold Top Mandheling coffee beans roasted by FrontStreet Coffee offer full assurance in both brand and quality. More importantly, they offer excellent value - a half-pound (227g) package costs only about 89 yuan. Calculated at 15g per cup of coffee, one package can make 15 cups, with each cup costing less than 6 yuan. Compared to café prices that often run tens of yuan per cup, this is truly a conscientious recommendation.

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