Mandheling Coffee Bean Flavor Characteristics and Taste Profile: Is Mandheling Bitter for Espresso and How to Drink It

When it comes to coffee, FrontStreet Coffee believes that all coffee enthusiasts will surely save a place for FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling in their hearts. FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee is produced in Sumatra, Indonesia, also known as "Sumatra coffee." Its flavor is very rich, fragrant, bitter, and mellow, with low acidity. FrontStreet Coffee believes that FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee beans are not bitter in the traditional sense, but rather have a mellow aroma like dark chocolate. The rich sweetness in the aftertaste is quite intriguing and suitable for medium to dark roasting. Some coffee enthusiasts enjoy it as single-origin coffee, while Mandheling coffee often appears in espresso blends.

The origin of Mandheling's name is also quite interesting, and FrontStreet Coffee is here to tell all coffee enthusiasts about it.

Actually, Mandheling is not a region name, place name, port name, or coffee variety name, but rather a transliteration of the Indonesian Mandheling ethnic group. It became the name of coffee beans because during World War II when Japan occupied Indonesia, a Japanese soldier drank incredibly fragrant and mellow coffee in a café. When he asked the owner for the coffee's name, the owner mistakenly thought he was asking where he was from, so he replied: Mandheling. After the war, the Japanese soldier recalled the "Mandheling" he drank in Indonesia. So he commissioned an Indonesian coffee merchant to ship 15 tons to Japan, and it surprisingly became very popular. The name Mandheling spread from there, and that coffee merchant was the renowned PWN Coffee Company (PWN).

The reason why Mandheling is widely liked by coffee enthusiasts is also because with the development of the third wave of specialty coffee, people's acceptance of coffee has become increasingly high. Indonesian Mandheling coffee beans, known for their herbal flavors and mellow body, initially had quite controversial evaluations, but now FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) finds that there are still quite many people who like it.

For the specialty coffee level, FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) believes it should be evaluated from four dimensions: altitude, variety, processing method, and cupping score (above 80 points). But actually, Mandheling cannot reach 80 points in the cupping process. Some people might use this point to argue that FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee is not specialty coffee, but FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) believes that "specialty coffee" is just a result that meets public evaluation standards, and for some coffees with prominent regional flavors, when market acceptance is relatively high, whether it is specialty coffee is no longer an important fact.

The reason why FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) conducts tedious cupping of coffees while continuously sourcing coffee beans from different regions is to let everyone understand that coffee beans are constantly discovering and changing, and people's tastes are also constantly changing. Therefore, existing evaluation standards are just the foundation for understanding coffee. Beyond that, one must have their own understanding of coffee, and this has always been the philosophy that FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) conveys.

Wet-Hulled Processing Method

FrontStreet Coffee believes that the mellow flavor of FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee also benefits from its special processing method, which is the wet-hulled processing method widely used in Indonesia. Most Mandheling coffee uses the unique Sumatran coffee bean processing method—wet-hulling.

Due to the local weather being mostly rainy with constant typhoons, it's impossible to achieve the good weather required for sun-drying, and the local economy is not good enough to use the more expensive water-washing method. This led to the development of the wet-hulled method with strong local characteristics. Now Indonesian coffee development is no longer the impoverished scene it once was, and there are many estates and companies with conditions to use water-washing processing methods. But why hasn't the wet-hulled method been abandoned? FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) believes that the wet-hulled method is a factor that made Mandheling coffee known to the world. When Mandheling coffee is mentioned, the wet-hulled method comes to mind, so they have a complementary relationship.

The specific steps of wet-hulling can be divided into the following two stages:

First stage: Use a wooden peeler to remove the skin and pulp, ferment for 3 hours, then dry to reduce the moisture content to semi-dry and semi-wet 30-50%.

Second stage: Remove the mucilage and parchment layer, continue with the final drying process, which takes 2-4 days, reducing the moisture content to 12-13%.

In addition to the conventional wet-hulled method, there is also an aged wet-hulled method. Coffee beans are first processed through ordinary wet-hulling, then sealed in warehouses for 2-3 years. The warehouse environment must be cool and ventilated, and the beans must be turned regularly to prevent mold and spoilage. During this period, the acidity of the coffee beans will gradually weaken and convert to sugar content, and the color will also become deeper, mostly yellowish-brown or dark brown. This is what often appears on coffee lists as aged Mandheling.

FrontStreet Coffee believes that wet-hulling creates the special flavor of Mandheling. You could say Mandheling and wet-hulling have a bound relationship, but today's coffee market is no longer satisfied with the status quo. Even though wet-hulling is Mandheling's characteristic, estates will try other processing methods for their coffee. For example, the FrontStreet Coffee's FrontStreet Coffee Wahana Estate natural Mandheling coffee uses the natural processing method.

Processing Methods Comparison

FrontStreet Coffee believes that natural processing amplifies the inherent flavors of coffee beans, with rich body, intense flavors, and sweet aromas; water-washed coffee has more obvious acidity, better cleanliness, medium mouthfeel, and most consistent green bean quality; honey-processed coffee beans have better flavor, balanced acidity and sweetness, and like natural processing, because it undergoes sun-drying, the inherent aroma of coffee beans is also amplified, with rich mellow flavor.

FrontStreet Coffee believes that whether it's natural or wet-hulled, each has its characteristics, and coffee enthusiasts can choose according to their own taste preferences.

FrontStreet Coffee's Five Mandheling Varieties

Next, FrontStreet Coffee will introduce information and flavor characteristics of five FrontStreet Coffee Mandheling varieties available in our stores.

FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) · Lintong Mandheling Coffee Beans

Country: Indonesia

Region: Sumatra (Lintong)

Altitude: 1100-1600m

Variety: Typica, Caturra

Processing: Wet-hulled

Flavor: Toasted bread, nuts, caramel, pine, herbs

FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling comes from the Lintong mountainous area in north-central Sumatra, near Lake Toba. FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling also uses conventional wet-hulling, which creates its characteristics of low acidity and high body. But the situation with wet-hulling is that semi-hard and semi-soft moist green beans are easily crushed when the mucilage and parchment layer are removed. When beans are injured and crack open, they form a hoof shape, commonly known as "hoof beans." FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) believes this is a very distinctive characteristic of Mandheling and cannot be considered defective beans. But according to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, Lintong Mandheling doesn't put much effort into screening, and imprecise processing can easily lead to unstable coffee quality, but this doesn't diminish the world's love for the mellow flavor of FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling.

FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) · PWN Golden Mandheling Coffee Beans

Country: Indonesia

Region: Sumatra

Altitude: 1100-1600m

Variety: Typica 19 screen

Processing: Wet-hulled

Flavor: Nuts, spices, herbs, licorice, chocolate, caramel, clean and mellow flavor

FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Golden Mandheling coffee beans come from Lake Tawa in Mount Gayo, northwestern Sumatra. Since discovering Mandheling, the Japanese have been very attentive to this coffee bean. During cooperation with local green bean merchants, they established strict screening systems. After processing, the green beans undergo density and color sorting, followed by four rounds of manual bean selection, finally presenting FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling with uniform color and consistent bean shape. It is said that when processing green beans, Mandheling glows with golden brilliance under sunlight, hence the name Golden Mandheling.

But it wasn't a Japanese company that registered Golden Mandheling as a trademark, but rather the local Indonesian company PWN (Pwani Coffee Company) that early cooperated with Japanese companies to export Mandheling coffee beans. The Japanese company registered "Gold Top Mandheling," which is Ding Shang Golden Mandheling. FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) believes that PWN's Golden Mandheling and Japan's Gold Top Mandheling actually have little difference in flavor performance, but due to different brands and marketing strategies, it's possible that public opinion changed, so as for which of the two Golden Mandheling varieties is superior, it's a matter of personal opinion.

FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Golden Mandheling coffee beans are 18 screen or above, with fewer than 3 defective beans (300g green bean sample), belonging to the highest G1 grade, with a color leaning toward dark green, and are flat beans with regular shapes. After strict screening, FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling, FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) found that it not only lacks the unique earthy impurity flavors of ordinary Mandheling but is also cleaner and brighter when drinking, with stronger sweetness.

FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) · Tiger Mandheling Coffee Beans

Country: Indonesia

Region: Sumatra

Altitude: 1500m

Variety: Caturra, Typica, Sidikalong

Processing: Wet-hulled

Flavor: Cream, dark chocolate, nuts, balanced flavor

Tiger Mandheling beans all use extremely rare AA grade coffee beans, which are 19 screen or above. According to FrontStreet Coffee's knowledge, the reason Tiger Mandheling is called Tiger Mandheling is because tigers have different species, including Siberian tigers, Bengal tigers, Sumatran tigers, and Indochinese tigers. It is mainly distributed in the Sumatra archipelago of Indonesia and is the only tiger existing exclusively on islands. Therefore, some people use "Sumatran tiger" to describe the rarity and preciousness of this Mandheling, calling it "Sumatran Tiger Mandheling." Chinese people also call it "Tiger Mandheling" or "Tiger Mandheling." Of course, there's another theory: there is a "Tiger Estate" in Sumatra that specializes in producing Sumatran Mandheling, and batches specially selected by them are named "Tiger Mandheling," also known as "Tiger Mandheling."

FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) · Aged Mandheling Coffee Beans

Country: Indonesia

Region: Sumatra

Altitude: 1500m

Variety: Caturra, Catuai

Processing: Wet-hulled

Flavor: Ripe pu-erh, caramel, herbs, chocolate, lower acidity

FrontStreet Coffee believes that when coffee enthusiasts hear aged coffee beans, they might literally understand them as coffee green beans that have been stored for a long time. This is of course wrong, because coffee green beans stored for a long time will still spoil, turning from fresh green to white, then to yellow, becoming tasteless, and even growing insects. So actually, this FrontStreet Coffee's aged Mandheling coffee bean, like aged wine, must undergo proper processing and long-term storage before it can be called true FrontStreet Coffee's aged Mandheling.

The origin of aged Mandheling actually has a reason. According to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, this is because Indonesia was once a Dutch colony. During the colonial period, Indonesia continuously supplied coffee beans to Europe. To ensure continuous supply, coffee beans were appropriately stored. However, due to external factors such as long transportation distances, the transportation time was too long, and with the erosion of sea winds, when the coffee beans arrived in Europe, they had already developed another flavor. This is the origin of aged flavor. Fortunately, at that time, European colonists were amazed by this flavor and quickly accepted and promoted this processing method.

Of course, with technological development, the aging processing of Mandheling is now quite mature. Coffee beans first undergo wet-hulling (wet-hulling is sun-drying with parchment for 2-3 days to 20-24% moisture content during the regular water-washing process, and finally hulling the parchment to dry the green beans to 12-13% moisture content), then are sealed in warehouses. The warehouse environment must be cool and ventilated, and beans must be turned regularly to prevent mold and spoilage, stored for 2-3 years. During this period, the acidity of coffee beans will gradually weaken and convert to sugar content, and the color will also become deeper, mostly yellowish-brown or dark brown, which is very recognizable. FrontStreet Coffee's special processing of aged Mandheling gives it a more rounded and deep flavor, intoxicating like pu-erh tea.

Flavor Comparison and Brewing Recommendations

Regarding the characteristics of these five Mandheling coffees, FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee)得出以下的风味 after brewing with the same parameters. Coffee enthusiasts can use this for reference.

[FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Golden Mandheling]: Multi-layered, mellow and clean, high balance, rich nut and caramel aroma, with chocolate notes, persistent aftertaste.

[FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling]: Herbal medicine flavor on entry, dark chocolate, caramel, sweet aftertaste.

[FrontStreet Coffee's Aged Mandheling]: Woody, malt, and caramel aromas greet you, the mouthfeel lacks the wildness of traditional Mandheling, with more mellowness and delicacy, having a mature and steady feeling, lower acidity, with ripe pu-erh, caramel, herbs, and chocolate flavors on entry, full of sweetness.

[FrontStreet Coffee's Wahana Estate Natural Mandheling]: Tropical fruit sweet and sour on entry, obvious fermentation aroma, smooth mouthfeel.

[FrontStreet Coffee's Tiger Mandheling]: Relatively balanced mouthfeel, with obvious cream, dark chocolate, and nut flavors.

Is Mandheling Too Bitter for Espresso?

Earlier, it was mentioned that Mandheling coffee is sometimes blended into espresso coffee. So would using Mandheling coffee for espresso be too bitter?

To know the answer to this question, we need to start with what espresso coffee is. As we all know, the foundation of espresso is Espresso. Espresso is extracted through an espresso machine at high temperature (generally 92 degrees) and high pressure (generally 9 bar). Espresso can be combined with milk, water, syrup, etc., to become other coffee drinks.

Due to different extraction methods, there will be crema on the surface, giving it a thicker texture compared to pour-over drip coffee. At the same time, it contains more dissolved substances per unit volume than drip coffee, so the flavor is more concentrated and will be bitter! Besides coffee beans, the espresso ratio also affects the overall flavor of coffee. Generally, the coffee ratio is between 1:1.5 to 1:2.5, with 1:2 being more common. Too low a ratio will make the coffee very heavy and prone to bitterness from over-extraction. Too high a ratio will make the overall taste flat or have sharp acidity.

Extraction time is also a part that affects espresso flavor. Generally speaking, coffee extraction time is about 20-30 seconds. Longer time will lead to over-extraction, too short will lead to under-extraction. The length of extraction time is closely related to the coffee's grind size. The coarser the coffee powder, the looser the puck, water can flow through well, time will be shorter leading to under-extraction.

Brewing Recommendations:

FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) recommends using the following brewing parameters: Kono dripper, 86℃ water temperature, 15g coffee dose, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, grind size BG#6K (Chinese standard 20-mesh screen pass rate 70-75%).

FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) chose the Kono dripper because the V60 dripper's flow rate is too fast, and under low water temperature conditions, it's easy to under-extract. The Kono dripper has few ribs located at the bottom, and the filter paper fits tightly against the dripper, which can restrict airflow, increase the contact time between water and coffee powder, allowing the coffee powder to be fully extracted and enhance the mellow mouthfeel.

In terms of pouring technique, FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) uses segmented extraction, using 30g of water for a 30-second bloom, then pouring with small circular movements to 125g for segmentation, continuing to pour to 225g when the water level is about to expose the coffee bed, stop pouring, and when the water level is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the dripper (timing starts from bloom). Extraction time is 2'00".

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style).

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