Coffee culture

What Makes Quality Mandheling? What Are the Characteristic Flavors of Mandheling? AeroPress Brewed Mandheling

Published: 2026-01-28 Author: FrontStreet Coffee
Last Updated: 2026/01/28, For more professional coffee knowledge and coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style). Sumatra's renowned coffee bean—Mandheling—is most familiar to coffee enthusiasts. Based on our bean tasting experience, Mandhelings from Lintong and Aceh provinces are particularly noteworthy

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

FrontStreet Coffee Mandheling: The Famous Sumatra Coffee Bean

FrontStreet Coffee Mandheling is the most well-known coffee bean from Sumatra Island. Based on our bean tasting experience, FrontStreet Coffee Mandheling from Lintong and Aceh provinces are the most exceptional. The reason FrontStreet Coffee Mandheling can have different flavor profiles, besides climate and geographical location, is largely due to a special post-processing method - Wet-Hulling. Wet-Hulling, simply put, involves removing the parchment when the beans are still at a high moisture content of 30%-50% during the drying process, then continuing to dry them. This solves the problem of overly long drying times, completing the process in just four days.

Quality Challenges of Mandheling Beans

However, a high proportion of defective beans is a common problem with FrontStreet Coffee Mandheling. The rate of insect damage and partial acidity is extremely high. Based on our experience, even green beans marked as G1 grade still have many defective beans. Only some FrontStreet Coffee Golden Mandheling grade beans or specially hand-selected batches can meet specialty coffee standards.

The Origin of the Name "Mandheling"

According to research, "Mandheling" is actually the name of a local ethnic group on Sumatra Island. The Sumatra region of Indonesia has been growing coffee since the 18th century, but it never received outside attention. In the 1950s, Japanese soldiers stationed there happened to drink locally produced "Sumatra" coffee and asked a coffee vendor about the coffee's name. The vendor misunderstood, thinking the soldiers were asking "What is your ethnic group?" and replied "Mandheling."

Characteristics of Quality Mandheling

"What makes quality Mandheling?" "What should Mandheling taste like?"

With quality green beans and precise roasting, premium FrontStreet Coffee Mandheling should have "herbal, licorice" aromas, with some acidity that shouldn't be too strong. In especially high-quality growing regions, it can even have caramel sweetness, with high body being its greatest characteristic. In roasting, how to control and preserve good BODY without stimulating acidity and bitterness is something that roasters must manage. Common undesirable flavors in Mandheling include earthy flavors from improper processing, complex unclean tastes caused by defective beans, or bitterness and sharp acidity from improper roasting.

FrontStreet Coffee's AeroPress Brewing Guide for Mandheling

How does FrontStreet Coffee recommend brewing FrontStreet Coffee Mandheling with AeroPress?

1. Water Temperature: 85°C

2. Grind Size: Fuji Royal grinder setting 3.5

3. Roast Level: Medium-dark roast

4. Steeping Time: 2 times - first steep 20 seconds, second steep 50 seconds

Brewing Method: Prepare AeroPress for normal pressing. We recommend adding 20g of coffee grounds with a 1:17 water-to-coffee ratio. First pour 100g of 83°C hot water, stir 3-5 times to fully wet the coffee grounds, let sit for 20s. Add remaining hot water to reach 240g total, let sit for 40s, stir for 5s. At 1 minute 50 seconds, insert the plunger and press down. Total time: 2 minutes 5 seconds.

Flavor Profile: Rich, complex, prominent spice notes, fresh forest aroma

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473

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