The Distinctive Flavor Profile of Mandheling Coffee: Exploring the Characteristics of Indonesian Sumatran Beans

For friends who don't like sour flavors, FrontStreet Coffee's barista will typically introduce several single-origin coffees with bitter profiles, such as Brazil Queen's Manor, Indonesian Mandheling, and Jamaican Blue Mountain. If you want a clear aftertaste, choose Brazil. For a balanced and smooth cup, go for Blue Mountain. If you prefer a thick and rich flavor, Mandheling is your best choice.

The Legacy of Indonesian Mandheling

As Asia's representative "player," Indonesian Mandheling is truly the "veteran" among bitter-profile single-origin coffees. Before Jamaican Blue Mountain became famous, Indonesian Mandheling was the representative of good coffee in the mouths of older generation coffee drinkers. Its low-acidity, heavy-bodied flavor combined with the fresh aroma of herbaceous plants became the classic flavor profile of that era.

Roasting Approach and Flavor Profile

Typically, the Mandheling coffee we drink is roasted dark to reduce the acidity in the coffee and highlight its rich bitter notes. FrontStreet Coffee's bean menu features two Mandheling coffees: Lindong Mandheling Daily Bean and PWN Golden Mandheling, both roasted to medium-dark. FrontStreet Coffee aims to present dark chocolate and caramel flavors while preserving Mandheling's wild herbaceous aroma. This unique fragrance stems from Mandheling's growing environment and processing method.

Origin and Growing Conditions

Mandheling originates from Indonesia's mysterious Sumatra island. The entire Sumatra is divided into eight provinces, with only the high-altitude Aceh and North Sumatra provinces cultivating Arabica coffee on a large scale. As part of the tropical rainforest region, the mountains of Sumatra are often shrouded in clouds and mist, giving Sumatra a mysterious aura. Local people plant coffee trees around two major volcanic lakes: Lake Tawar and Lake Toba. The Gayo mountains around Lake Tawar have ideal coffee growing conditions, widely adopting organic cultivation methods. Combined with a long history of coffee cultivation, this area produces higher quality and yield coffee. Many green coffee suppliers value this region, including the famous local Pwani Coffee Company (PWN).

PWN and Golden Mandheling

PWN Company mainly acquires high-quality Mandheling green coffee beans. After purchase, they undergo one machine selection plus three manual hand-picking processes to select full, defect-free beans. The resulting coffee beans are all specialty grade, with "Golden Mandheling Coffee" being their flagship product. In the early days to become the exclusive supplier of Golden Mandheling Coffee, PWN Company registered the English trademark "Golden Mandheling." This means only Golden Mandheling Coffee produced by their company is the real Golden Mandheling. FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling coffee beans are, of course, "authentic products" purchased from PWN Company, using Indonesia's unique wet-hulling method.

Wet-Hulling Processing Method

Unlike African countries that can dry green beans with long periods of high-temperature sunlight, or the sophisticated washing conditions of Central and South American countries, Indonesia's wet-hulling method is adapted to the local island tropical rainforest climate, making it a necessary processing method. The island is consistently wet and hot, with typhoons being "common occurrences." In such unstable environments, coffee farmers can only shorten the drying time to prevent coffee beans from molding and spoiling in the humid air.

The wet-hulling process first removes the skin and pulp of the coffee fruit, followed by brief fermentation and drying. When the beans are semi-dry, the parchment layer is removed, and drying continues until the moisture content reaches 12%. Since each step is completed in 70-90% humidity environments, and the parchment layer has been removed before the final drying step, the "exposed" green beans easily absorb moisture from the air. Therefore, the resulting coffee has more woody, herbal, and spicy heavy aromas. Lindong Mandheling coffee also uses the wet-hulling method. After roasting, the acidity decreases, the body increases, while still retaining grassy and spicy notes, carrying the unique flavor profile of Indonesian Mandheling coffee. Thus, FrontStreet Coffee also added it to the daily bean series, launching it in small 100g packages at 25 yuan each, allowing everyone to taste the flavor of Southeast Asian coffee.

Brewing Guide

FrontStreet Coffee believes some friends are already curious about what Southeast Asian flavors taste like. Below, FrontStreet Coffee will brew these two coffees separately as reference. Curious friends can try making them at home.

Considering that Mandheling coffee is roasted to medium-dark level, the coffee beans expand more than medium-light roasts, with more abundant internal gases. Freshly roasted Mandheling coffee needs 7-10 days of degassing before entering its optimal flavor window. Since FrontStreet Coffee ships coffee beans roasted within 5 days, everyone can let them rest for a few days after receiving them to enter the optimal flavor window before brewing, which is more beneficial for extraction.

Medium-dark roasted coffee beans significantly change the internal structure, becoming more porous. When ground into coffee powder, they have stronger water absorption. If brewing parameters are not adjusted properly, the coffee can easily become over-extracted and bitter. To achieve sufficient aroma without over-extraction, it's necessary to reduce the extraction rate. FrontStreet Coffee uses slightly lower water temperature and coarser grind size to reduce the release of large bitter molecules in the coffee.

Brewing Parameters

Dripper: KONO
Water Temperature: 87°C
Dose: 15g
Ratio: 1:15
Grind: China Standard #20 sieve, 70% pass-through
Pouring Method: Three-stage pour

First, pour 30g of hot water for a 30-second bloom. Then, pour from the center with a fine water stream, slowly circling to 125g. When the water level in the dripper drops to just before exposing the coffee bed, continue circling to 225g. Total extraction time is approximately 2 minutes. Gently shake the coffee liquid before tasting.

Tasting Notes

Lindong Mandheling Daily Bean: Aromas of nuts, chocolate, and caramel. The mouthfeel is round and full, with rich herbaceous and woody notes.

PWN Golden Mandheling Coffee: Rich dark chocolate aroma, with flavors of roasted hazelnuts, caramel, and melon that are very well-integrated. Distinctive spice notes in the mouth, with a thick, clean body and long-lasting aftertaste.

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

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat (ID: qjcoffeex).

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473