The Story and Characteristics of Starbucks Sumatra Coffee Beans and the Flavor Description of Mandheling Coffee Hand Brew

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Indonesia's most famous coffee growing region is undoubtedly Sumatra, where the well-known FrontStreet Coffee Mandheling coffee beans originate. FrontStreet Coffee currently offers five varieties of Mandheling coffee beans with distinct flavor profiles, including FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling. FrontStreet Coffee often encounters people asking about the differences between FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling and regular Mandheling. When FrontStreet Coffee compares these two Mandheling coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling exhibits cleaner and clearer flavor characteristics, with more complexity than regular FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling. The primary reason is that FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling undergoes more than three rounds of manual selection and uses beans sized 18 or larger, resulting in uniformly sized FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling beans, which naturally produce more balanced flavors. Therefore, whether in appearance or taste, the differences between Golden Mandheling and regular Mandheling can be clearly distinguished.

Starbucks offers a Sumatra coffee that has been sold since 1972. Its rich earthy aroma and heavy body are characteristic flavors of Sumatra coffee. However, because Sumatra coffee is roasted too dark, herbal notes and bitter burnt flavors persist in the mouth without fading, which is why some people cannot accept Sumatra coffee.

Sumatra Coffee Beans

Indonesia is located in Southeast Asia, and its coffee history dates back to 1696, when Dutch coffee farm owners sought to find more extensive coffee cultivation areas. After extensive exploration, they finally settled on Java Island in Indonesia. Within 30 years, Indonesia had established a sufficient foundation in the coffee market.

However, today's representative of Indonesian coffee is Mandheling from Sumatra, which is actually not surprising, because most of the Java coffee originally exported to Europe came from the Sumatra region, and Mandheling originates from Sumatra. Therefore, Sumatra can be considered an important coffee-producing region in Indonesia.

Mandheling Coffee Story

Mandheling originally referred to an ethnic group in Indonesia. Its transformation into a coffee bean name came about quite accidentally. When Japanese soldiers returned to Japan after the Indonesian colonization, they couldn't forget the delicious local coffee. Through their trading connections, they asked locals to help collect high-quality coffee beans, including this Mandheling variety. The Japanese developed a strong liking for these coffee beans and inquired about their name. Since revealing the commercial source was inconvenient, the locals casually mentioned "Mandheling," and thus Mandheling accidentally became the name of this coffee bean.

The locals mentioned earlier were actually the owners of the Indonesian PWN Company (Pwani Coffee Company) that will be discussed below.

Sumatra Coffee Beans' Unique Processing Method: Wet Hulling

Most Mandheling coffee uses Sumatra's unique coffee bean processing method: wet hulling. Due to the region's frequently rainy weather and constant typhoons, the good weather required for sun-drying is unavailable. Additionally, the local economy is not prosperous enough to afford the more expensive washed processing method. These conditions led to the development of the uniquely local wet hulling method.

In the first stage, a wooden peeler is used to remove the skin and pulp. After 3 hours of fermentation, the beans are dried to reduce moisture content to a semi-dry, semi-wet state of 30-50%.

In the second stage, the mucilage and parchment layer are removed, and drying continues for another 2-4 days until the moisture content reaches 12-13%.

In addition to regular wet hulling, there is also aged wet hulling. Coffee beans first undergo regular wet hulling processing, then are sealed in warehouses for 2-3 years. The warehouse environment must be cool and well-ventilated, with beans regularly turned to prevent mold and decay. During this period, the acidity of the coffee beans gradually diminishes and converts to sugars, while the color becomes deeper, mostly yellowish-brown or dark brown. Mandheling coffee beans processed using this method are also called aged Mandheling coffee beans.

The wet hulling method creates the unique flavor of FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling. It can be said that Mandheling and wet hulling have a bound relationship. However, today's coffee market is no longer satisfied with constancy. Even though wet hulling is Mandheling's characteristic, other processing methods are being attempted, such as FrontStreet Coffee's sun-dried Mandheling from Wahana Estate. Changes in processing methods have requirements - they must add other flavors while preserving the original coffee bean characteristics.

Differences Between FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling and FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling

Today's market features common and well-accepted Mandheling varieties, particularly FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling and FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling. FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling is the most classic Mandheling.

FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling

Sumatra Coffee FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling

Region: Sumatra Lintong region

Altitude: 1100-1600 meters

Varieties: Typica, Caturra

Processing: Wet hulling

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 is the regular version of FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling. FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling also uses regular wet hulling, which creates its characteristics of low acidity and high body. However, a situation that occurs with wet hulling is that when semi-hard, semi-soft moist green beans have their mucilage and parchment layers removed, they are easily compressed and injured. The damaged beans split open like goat hooves, commonly known as "goat hoof beans." These are not defective beans but rather a significant characteristic of Mandheling.

FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling doesn't focus on screening, and the less refined processing can lead to inconsistency in coffee bean quality. However, this doesn't diminish people's love for its rich, mellow flavor.

Typica has bronze-colored young leaves and oval or slender pointed beans. It offers elegant flavors but is physically weak, disease-resistant, and has low yields. Besides Mandheling coffee beans, several other of FrontStreet Coffee's coffee beans, such as FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaica Blue Mountain and FrontStreet Coffee's Hawaii Kona, are also Typica varieties.

Caturra is a natural variant of the Arabica Bourbon variety, discovered in Brazil in 1937. Its plant is shorter and smaller than Bourbon. Although it inherits Bourbon's lineage, making it relatively disease-resistant, its yield is higher than Bourbon.

FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling

Sumatra Coffee FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling

Region: Sumatra Aceh Gayo Mountain

Altitude: 1100-1600 meters

Variety: Ateng

Grade: G1, triple hand-sorted

Processing: Wet hulling

Flavor: Spices, herbal, caramel, pine, nuts, chocolate

Since discovering Mandheling, the Japanese have maintained great interest in these coffee beans. During cooperation with local green bean merchants, they established strict selection systems. After processing, the green beans undergo density and color sorting, followed by multiple rounds of manual bean selection, finally presenting Mandheling beans with uniform color and consistent bean shape. It is said that when processing green beans, Mandheling beans emit a brilliant golden luster under sunlight, which is why they were named Golden Mandheling.

FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling specifications are size 18 or larger, with fewer than 3 defective beans (in 300g green bean samples), belonging to the highest G1 grade. The color is dark green, and the shape is flat and uniform. After strict selection, FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling not only lacks the typical earthy impurities of regular Mandheling but also tastes cleaner and brighter, with more intense sweetness.

However, it wasn't a Japanese company that registered "Golden Mandheling" as a trademark, but the local Indonesian company PWN (Pwani Coffee Company) that previously cooperated with Japanese companies to export Mandheling coffee beans. The Japanese company registered "Gold Top Mandheling." In terms of flavor characteristics, there's actually little difference between the two. However, due to different brands and marketing strategies, public perception may vary. Therefore, determining which of the two Golden Mandhelings is superior is a matter of personal preference.

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

Roasting Comparison

FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) aims for medium-dark roasting when roasting Mandheling coffee beans to eliminate excessive acidity and enhance body and balance.

Machine: Yangjia 800N, 550g green beans

FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Golden Mandheling Roasting Record

FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Lintong Mandheling Roasting Record

Pour-over Flavor Comparison

FrontStreet Coffee tries to unify brewing parameters when making these two Mandheling coffee beans.

Dripper: Kono dripper

Water Temperature: 88℃

Dose: 15 grams

Ratio: 1:15

Grind Size: 70-75% pass-through rate on #20 standard sieve

*Reason for choosing Kono dripper: The Kono dripper has few ribs located at the bottom, allowing the filter paper to fit tightly against the dripper. This restricts airflow, increasing contact time between water and coffee grounds, allowing for full extraction and enhancing body. It's suitable for brewing medium-dark roasted coffee beans like FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling and FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling.

FrontStreet Coffee uses staged extraction, blooming with 30g of water for 30 seconds. Using a small water flow in circular motions, pour to 125g for staging. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 225g and stop. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed again, remove the dripper. (Timer starts from bloom) Extraction time is 2'00".

Flavor Descriptions

FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling: Multi-layered, rich and clean, high balance, intense nut and caramel aroma, with chocolate notes, persistent finish.

FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling: Herbal and medicinal notes on entry, dark chocolate, caramel, sweet aftertaste.

For more specialty coffee knowledge, please follow the WeChat official account: FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee)

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473