Is Sumatra Mandheling Coffee from Indonesia Good? What Are the Characteristics of Mandheling?

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

Unlike the popular "acidic" coffees on the market today, Indonesian Mandheling coffee is characterized by its mellow, bitter profile. Although its popularity may not be as high as it once was, it still has many "fans" who seek it out. In the top right corner of FrontStreet Coffee's bean list, there is always at least one Mandheling coffee bean available for customers to choose from. Today, FrontStreet Coffee will introduce this "bitter coffee" - Mandheling coffee.

When Did Coffee Cultivation Begin in Sumatra?

As the world's second-largest coffee-producing country, Indonesia has a long history of coffee cultivation. According to research by FrontStreet Coffee, Indonesia's coffee history dates back to the late 17th century. Coffee was introduced to Java Island by Dutch colonizers and later spread widely to Sumatra Island, where large-scale cultivation began.

In the 19th century, Indonesian coffee trees were severely affected by leaf rust disease, causing a significant blow to production. As a result, the government began introducing more disease-resistant varieties, including Robusta, Tim, and Catimor, to replace the fragile Typica and Bourbon varieties. Today, Tim and Catimor varieties with Robusta genes have become the main local varieties. After many years of adapting to Sumatra's terroir, Catimor and Tim have developed unique local herbal and spice flavor characteristics. Combined with their strong disease resistance and considerable yield, they are highly favored by Indonesian coffee growers.

Since Catimor was discovered in the central part of the Aceh region, locals call Catimor "Ateng," which is an abbreviation for Aceh Tengah. Tim is simply called Tim Tim. The Indonesian Mandheling coffee on FrontStreet Coffee's bean list belongs to both Ateng and Tim Tim varieties.

About Wet Hulling

Due to Indonesia's humid and hot climate, local people face many challenges when processing green coffee beans, such as mold growth and unstable sunlight. To shorten processing time and reduce labor costs, a unique method gradually emerged - wet hulling.

Coffee cherries undergo flotation to remove underripe beans, then machine pulping removes the skin. The mucilage layer still feels slippery to the touch. After a night of fermentation, the mucilage layer comes off more easily under flowing clean water, at which point the parchment bean's surface becomes rough. Next, the coffee beans are dried in the sun for two days, bringing the parchment bean's moisture content to 30-50%, leaving them in a semi-dry state. Locals use special hulling machines that utilize friction to peel off the still-hard parchment layer, and finally continue drying the hulled beans for another two days until the moisture content reaches 12%.

Due to shortened fermentation and drying times, plus the entire process taking place in a high-temperature, humid environment, the resulting Mandheling coffee carries mellow herbal aromas and pine notes. The emergence of wet hulling was a local adaptation, but it precisely gave Mandheling coffee flavor characteristics that distinguish it from other full-bodied coffees, making it one of the classic representatives among many coffees. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee offers Indonesian Mandheling coffee beans in small packages as daily coffee, hoping that friends who want to explore different coffee origins can try this classic flavor.

What is Golden Mandheling Coffee?

Although wet hulling brings unique flavor characteristics, because the semi-dry parchment layer is forcibly removed with considerable force before drying, the coffee beans are easily squeezed and deformed. During subsequent high-temperature sun exposure, one side of the bean cracks open like a goat's hoof, hence they are also called "goat hoof beans." Goat hoof beans are not considered defective beans, but their appearance is unattractive, so to improve overall quality, they need to be manually sorted out.

The famous Indonesian green bean purchasing company PWN processes wet-hulled Mandheling green beans using one machine selection plus three manual hand selections to ensure that each batch reaches Indonesia's highest G1 grade. The purpose of machine selection is to first screen for beans with sizes above 18 mesh. The subsequent multiple manual selections aim to remove uneven defective beans. The reduction in defect rate greatly improves Mandheling coffee quality. These Mandheling coffee beans, selected through layer after layer of screening, are said to emit a golden luster under sunlight, hence they were named Golden Mandheling Coffee. Early on, to obtain exclusive supply rights for Golden Mandheling Coffee, PWN registered the English trademark "Golden Mandheling," so when purchasing, please pay attention to identify whether it is PWN Golden Mandheling Coffee.

Through cupping comparisons, FrontStreet Coffee found that the selected Golden Mandheling coffee has extremely high cleanliness, with various aromas and sweetness more prominent, and flavors clearer and more transparent. As fans of Mandheling coffee, FrontStreet Coffee naturally hopes everyone can share in the excellent quality of Mandheling coffee. Therefore, in addition to the regular Lintong Mandheling daily coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee has also added the refined PWN Golden Mandheling coffee to its daily bean list.

Is PWN Golden Mandheling Coffee Good?

As FrontStreet Coffee mentioned above, Mandheling coffee is characterized by its full-bodied, bitter profile. Through multiple cupping comparisons, FrontStreet Coffee has chosen a medium-dark roast degree to present rich, aromatic, full-bodied flavors like dark chocolate, while preserving more herbal, spice notes and some acidity.

Roasted Mandheling coffee beans are rich in carbon dioxide and need a process to release internal gases for better flavor extraction. The resting period is related to the coffee roast degree. Light roast coffee beans need 4-7 days of degassing after roasting, while medium-dark roasts need about 7-10 days. As coffee beans pass their peak degassing period, aroma gradually decreases, so the freshness of coffee beans is very important. All coffee shipped by FrontStreet Coffee ensures it is freshly roasted within 5 days, so when you receive it, it will be close to the optimal tasting period.

For pure, aromatic, high-quality coffee beans like Golden Mandheling Coffee, FrontStreet Coffee believes that black coffee form best presents the coffee's refined aromas. You can use pour-over, siphon, French press, AeroPress, and other methods for extraction. Here, FrontStreet Coffee uses the hot pour-over method commonly used in their stores.

Golden Mandheling Coffee Pour-over Parameters: 87-88°C water temperature, medium grind (70% pass-through rate on Chinese standard #20 sieve), coffee powder: 15g, powder-to-water ratio 1:15, three-stage pour-over.

Use twice the amount of water as the coffee powder to wet the coffee bed, forming a dome and let it bloom for 30s. Then use a small water stream to pour in circles from inside to outside until 125g, then segment. Wait for the coffee bed to drop to half the filter cup's height, then continue with the same fine water stream for the third stage to 225g, until all coffee liquid has filtered through, then remove the filter cup. Time is approximately 2 minutes. Finally, shake the coffee liquid in the server to evenly mix before enjoying~

Pour-over PWN Golden Mandheling Coffee shows multi-layered complexity, full-bodied richness, and clean mouthfeel. Nut and caramel aromas with chocolate notes, persistent aftertaste, and high balance.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473