How to Drink Sumatra Aceh Gayo Coffee Beans? What is the Taste of Aceh Coffee?

Introduction to Mandheling Coffee

Indonesian Mandheling coffee is the representative coffee from Indonesia in Asia. Mandheling is not actually the name of a coffee-producing region, but rather a homophone of the Mandheling tribe in northwestern Sumatra, Indonesia. During World War II when Japan occupied Indonesia, a Japanese soldier tasted an incredibly fragrant coffee at a cafe. When he asked the owner the name of the coffee, the owner misunderstood and thought he was asking "Where are you from?" and replied: "Mandailing." After the war, the Japanese soldier recalled the coffee he drank in Indonesia was called "Mandheling," and people later began referring to Arabica beans from Sumatra as Mandheling coffee.

Mandheling coffee is produced on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. Indonesia is a Southeast Asian country and the world's largest archipelagic nation, with Jakarta as its capital. It shares borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Malaysia. Indonesia was one of the first places to cultivate coffee outside of Yemen.

At the end of the 17th century, the Dutch introduced Arabica seedlings to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and Indonesia for the first time. The Dutch first transplanted Arabica Typica to Jakarta on Java island. Due to the favorable local climate and soil conditions, Arabica quickly spread to Sumatra in the northwest of Java and to another large island, Sulawesi, in the northeast. In 1877, a large-scale disaster struck the Indonesian islands when coffee leaf rust disease destroyed nearly all coffee trees. People had to abandon the Arabica they had cultivated for many years and introduced Robusta coffee trees from Africa, which had strong disease resistance.

Today, Indonesia is a major coffee-producing country, with coffee cultivation mainly concentrated in Java, Sumatra, and Sulawesi. Robusta varieties account for 90% of total production. Sumatra Mandheling, however, is a rare Arabica variety. Currently, Mandheling coffee generally refers to Arabica coffee beans from Sumatra island in Indonesia.

Indonesian Coffee Bean Growing Environment

Indonesia has a typical tropical rainforest climate with an average annual temperature of 25-27°C, no distinct seasons, and annual precipitation of 1600-2200mm. Indonesia is located in a volcanic zone with fertile, mineral-rich soil that is conducive to coffee bean cultivation and growth. Indonesia's elevation ranges between 900-2100 meters, with major coffee-growing areas concentrated around 1200 meters above sea level.

Indonesian coffee beans have two main harvest seasons. The primary harvest season is approximately from September to October, while the secondary harvest season is from May to June. This year, Indonesia's coffee bean exports have increased significantly compared to last year. Analysis suggests this is due to reduced exports last year when Indonesian coffee prices were high, combined with increased production in the current season, resulting in a significant increase in Indonesian coffee exports this year.

Indonesia's main coffee-producing regions include Sumatra, Java, and Sulawesi islands, with "Mandheling" from Sumatra being the most famous. In the northern Lake Tawar region, coffee can be called Aceh coffee or Lake Tawar coffee. The Lintong and Lake Toba areas can be called Mandheling. The region is divided into eight provinces, but only two provinces cultivate coffee extensively - Aceh Province and North Sumatra Province. The most representative coffee-producing areas in these two provinces are the Gayo mountains around Lake Tawar in Aceh Province, where coffee is grown by the local indigenous Gayo people. Coffee from North Sumatra Province is grown around Lake Toba, an enormous lake that is the world's largest volcanic lake. Mandheling from Lake Tawar and Lake Toba constitutes the famous "Two Lakes, Two Mandhelings," while south of Lake Toba lies the Lintong producing region.

Lake Toba Region

Lake Toba is located north of Medan, the capital of Sumatra island, and is a high-altitude freshwater lake. The average height is about 900 meters above sea level. The lake is diamond-shaped, 100 kilometers long and 30 kilometers wide, with an area of 1,130 square kilometers. It is a highland lake at an average elevation of 1100-1600 meters and is also the world's largest volcanic lake. Generally, when people refer to Mandheling, they mean Typica or its variant coffee beans grown in the mountainous areas around Lake Toba. Among these, Lintong is the most famous Mandheling coffee-producing region in the Lake Toba area, also known as Lintong Mandheling coffee.

Lintong Mandheling with unsorted green beans may sometimes have inconsistent quality, but it largely retains the flavor characteristics of Sumatra coffee: strong, rich taste with unique spice and herbal aromas. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee also lists Lintong Mandheling as part of its high cost-performance daily bean series, allowing everyone to experience the unique taste of Indonesian coffee.

Aceh Gayo Mountain Region

The Gayo Mountain (Gayo) region is located in Aceh Province in northern Sumatra. Coffee in the Gayo Mountain region is grown on the slopes around Takegon town and Lake Tawar. The growing altitude in production areas averages between 1,110 and 1,600 meters. Coffee is grown by small farmers under shade trees, processed using the wet-hulled method to exhibit unique flavors with deep and lively richness. Aceh, located at the northernmost tip of Sumatra island, is a fascinating and complex place.

Due to long-term political instability, Aceh is not a region that ordinary people typically visit. The Gayo Mountains are located in the Aceh-producing region of northern Sumatra. Most coffee farmers working in Gayo are local farmers. The term "Gayo" originates from a tribe in Indonesia's Aceh region. This area has ideal growing conditions, a long historical culture, and unique flavors. The region widely adopts organic methods for coffee cultivation without using chemical fertilizers and is considered a world green coffee production area. Therefore, Gayo coffee is often called green coffee or Gayo organic coffee.

Lake Toba and Lake Tawar Regions

Lake Toba is located in central North Sumatra Province. In 1888, Dutch colonialists moved "Java Mandheling" north to the Lake Toba area. Coffee from Lintong and Lake Toba in South Sumatra can be called Mandheling, with Lintong being the actual Mandheling-producing region. Mandheling is produced in the mountainous areas around Lake Toba. This lake is located north of Medan, the capital of Sumatra island, and is a high-altitude freshwater lake with an average height of about 900 meters above sea level. Generally, Mandheling refers to Typica or its variant coffee beans grown in the mountainous areas around Lake Toba.

Lake Tawar is located in central Aceh Special Administrative Region. Situated at the northern tip of Sumatra island, most coffee produced in North Sumatra is Gayo, primarily of the Ateng variety. Coffee from the northern Lake Tawar can be called Aceh coffee or Lake Tawar coffee. Its area is less than one-tenth of Lake Toba. However, in recent years, coffee quality and production have surpassed Lake Toba.

Because Indonesia has thousands of islands, not all coffee from the country tastes the same. Besides Java island, coffee beans from Sumatra island are world-renowned for their heavy body, low acidity, and earthy, spicy, and herbal aromas, making Mandheling coffee beans famous globally.

Indonesia's Unique Coffee Processing Method - Wet Hulling

Wet hulling, also known as Wet Hulling or Giling Basah in the local language, is a traditional Indonesian coffee processing method. Judging by the name alone, wet hulling appears similar to wet processing (washed processing), but these two processing methods produce distinctly different cupping flavors. Coffee processed with wet hulling typically yields a rich and intense flavor with a very distinctive character.

The uniqueness of Mandheling coffee flavor originates from the local unique post-processing method for green coffee beans. Due to year-round rainfall and high air humidity in Sumatra, using the dry processing method would cause coffee cherries to become contaminated by rain or even over-fermented, leading to spoilage. Therefore, conditions for dry processing cannot be met.

Additionally, washed processing requires ample water supply and sufficient funds. Local economic conditions are limited and cannot fully meet washed processing requirements. Consequently, the uniquely Sumatran wet hulling processing method emerged, which requires a shorter drying time and uses less water during the process.

In the wet hulling process: after removing the pulp from coffee cherries, the parchment beans with sticky mucilage are briefly washed and then placed in water tanks for a short fermentation period. The longer the fermentation time, the stronger the acidity. Some processing plants or estates even skip the fermentation step entirely, directly spreading the parchment beans evenly for drying. This approach inhibits acidity and increases the viscosity of the taste. The parchment layer serves as a protective layer for green coffee beans to some extent, protecting them from external damage.

However, the local climate in Sumatra is too humid, and coffee drying requires a longer time. In this short period, maintaining high humidity attracts bacterial infection, causing coffee beans to spoil. Removing the parchment layer allows sunlight to directly contact the surface of green coffee beans, enabling them to dry quickly.

During the process of removing the parchment layer, significant friction occurs between green coffee beans and between beans and machinery, generating excessive heat that may cause rapid aging of coffee, resulting in the unique woody and earthy flavors found in Sumatra coffee.

This special wet hulling method causes Mandheling coffee beans to have cracks and asymmetrical shapes, which we call "sheep hoof shape." These are not defective beans but are normal. Some friends even say that the uglier the Mandheling coffee beans, the better their flavor.

Gold Mandheling Coffee

Another frequently mentioned Mandheling coffee bean is "Gold Mandheling," where the word "Gold" reflects the high quality of this coffee bean. FrontStreet Coffee sources Gold Mandheling from PWN company. PWN company adopts extremely strict standards when producing Gold Mandheling - green coffee beans must be size 18 or larger, with fewer than 3 defects per 300-gram sample. Meeting G1 grade standards, plus three rounds of manual sorting, ensures complete removal of defective beans, thereby maximizing the cleanliness of the taste and enhancing the sweetness.

Traditional Mandheling coffee has a rich taste due to its deep roast level. To present the traditional Mandheling flavor, FrontStreet Coffee uses a medium-dark roast when roasting Mandheling.

FrontStreet Coffee's Brewing Parameters for Mandheling Coffee

The special feature of the Kono dripper lies in its "ribs" - the guide channels extend to the bottom of the hole where coffee liquid flows out. Because the ribs are at the bottom and are short, they fit closely with the filter paper, resulting in a slower flow rate than V60. This increases the extraction rate and enhances the coffee's richness.

Dripper: KONO dripper, Water temperature: 88°C, Coffee amount: 15 grams, Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15, Grind size: Medium-coarse grind (75% pass rate through China standard #20 sieve).

Using segmented extraction, bloom with twice the amount of water as the coffee grounds, i.e., bloom with 30g water for 30 seconds. The blooming process is necessary to allow coffee grounds to release internal carbon dioxide, ensuring more stable extraction in later stages. Pour water in a small circular motion to 125g, then continue pouring to 225g and stop. Remove the dripper once all water has dripped through. Time from the start of pouring: 2'00". Next, take the entire cup of coffee, shake it well, and then pour into cups for tasting.

[FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling Coffee Flavor Characteristics]: Herbal, chocolate, caramel, overall relatively balanced.

[FrontStreet Coffee's Gold Mandheling Coffee Flavor Characteristics]: Nuts, spices, herbal plants, licorice, chocolate, caramel.

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