Comprehensive Guide to Lintong Mandheling, Golden Mandheling, Tiger Mandheling, and Aged Mandheling Coffee

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Mandheling: The Pride of Sumatra

Mandheling, also known as "Sumatra Coffee," primarily comes from North Sumatra, where most production is Gayo, mainly featuring the Ateng variety. The Tawar Lake area in the northern region can be called Aceh coffee or Tawar Lake coffee, while the Lintong and Lake Toba areas in South Sumatra can be referred to as Mandheling. The Lintong area is the true Mandheling producing region. Mandheling originates from the mountainous areas surrounding Lake Toba, located north of Medan, the capital of Sumatra Island. This high-altitude freshwater lake averages approximately 900 meters above sea level.

Typically, when people refer to Mandheling, they mean Typica or its variant coffee beans grown in the mountainous areas surrounding Lake Toba.

The Mandheling from the Lintong region has also become increasingly subdivided in recent years. The market has begun to see some Mandheling varieties named after their regions (for example: Sidikalang, abbreviated as SDK Mandheling). The meaning of the Lintong region has gradually narrowed to become the producing area near Lintongnihuta.

Golden Mandheling: Premium Selection

Golden Mandheling is produced in the Lintong region of northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The harvesting process is limited to manual single-berry picking of fully ripe fruits, ensuring initial bean selection quality. The coffee cherries are processed using the SEMI-WASHED method, naturally sun-dried, then undergo another drying refinement process after hulling, along with two rounds of green bean cleaning and four Hand-Pick processes! Therefore, it can be said to be a strictly selected premium Mandheling coffee.

Tiger Mandheling and Local Trade

In Aceh, coffee ranks as the second most important export economic crop. Local estimates suggest approximately 60,000 small-scale coffee farmers, each owning about 1-2 hectares of coffee plantation. Traditional Indonesian coffee trade follows a multi-point supply chain model, starting from farmers and passing through multiple intermediaries before gradually accumulating into large export quantities. In Indonesia's coffee trading system, direct trade through a single window that purchases from farmers and arranges exports is quite rare locally.

Aged Coffee: Time and Patience

Aged coffee beans do not refer to green beans that have been stored for a long time without proper handling, as this is not acceptable. Green beans that are stored for too long will still deteriorate, changing from fresh green to white, then to yellow, becoming bland, and even growing insects. Like aged wines, green beans must undergo proper processing and long-term storage before they can be called true "Aged Coffee." So-called Aged beans refer to green beans that achieve natural aging through extended storage time (usually 2-3 years). These changes include reduced acidity, color changes, and increased bean density. The storage environment must be cool and well-ventilated. Due to the relatively dark storage environment and longer time period, aged coffee often carries complex flavors similar to mold or what is commonly known as burlap bags or leather.

Careful observation of green beans reveals that Mandheling beans contain relatively more elephant beans (deformed beans). This is caused by hulling when the beans have high moisture content and soft texture.

FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling Varieties

FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling has a screen size of 19+, making it significantly larger than other Mandheling beans. Due to higher moisture content, the green beans tend to be darker green. FrontStreet Coffee's Tiger Mandheling green beans are round, slightly yellowish-green, with good uniformity. FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling green beans are gray-green, varying in size and relatively less uniform. FrontStreet Coffee's Aged Mandheling, due to its processing method, has a distinctive orange-black color, appears wrinkled on the surface, and has relatively uniform bean sizes.

FrontStreet Coffee's requirements for Tiger Mandheling include having aromatic notes of traditional Chinese herbal medicine and a defect rate below 4% for beans above 17 screen size to be called "Tiger."

The "PWN" marking on FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling is the abbreviation for Indonesia's Pawani Company, whose Golden Mandheling coffee has been registered in Indonesia!

Flavor Profiles of FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling Collection

FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling: Herbal, chocolate, caramel, overall well-balanced.

FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling: Nuts, spices, herbal plants, licorice, chocolate, caramel, with clean and gentle flavor.

FrontStreet Coffee's Tiger Mandheling: Nuts, cream, dark chocolate, caramel, traditional Chinese herbal medicine, with noticeable sweetness and relatively clean, clear flavor.

FrontStreet Coffee's Aged Mandheling: Ripe pu-erh tea, caramel, herbal, chocolate, with lower acidity.

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