Is Indonesian Golden Mandheling Coffee an Arabica Variety? The Difference Between Mandheling and Arabica Coffee Beans

Indonesia is the world's fourth-largest coffee producer, where coffee exhibits a very strong herbal character. When discussing coffee varieties globally, we can clearly distinguish between different coffee bean varieties. However, in Indonesia, after several introductions of foreign varieties, coffee has grown wildly in suitable environments, undergoing extensive hybridization, making variety distinction particularly challenging. Today, FrontStreet Coffee is here to help clarify the coffee stories within this context.

First, FrontStreet Coffee would like to introduce a concept: the three main coffee species widely cultivated by humans today are Arabica, Robusta, and Liberica. Among these, Arabica has the best flavor and highest production volume - what we commonly call small-grained coffee, accounting for 70% of the market. Next is medium-grained Robusta coffee, with a bitter taste and high caffeine content, generally used as raw material for coffee products, accounting for over 20% of the market. The remaining 2-5% consists of large-grained Liberica coffee beans, originating from West Africa and now widely cultivated in the Philippines and Malaysia.

In Indonesia, both Arabica and Robusta are cultivated. Now, let's introduce our main character: FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling. The FrontStreet Coffee Mandheling variety is a particularly special coffee type from Indonesia. It is said that the name "Mandheling" originated from the Mandailing people who grow coffee. Due to a misunderstanding, the Japanese thought this coffee bean was called "Mandheling" (due to their pronunciation inaccuracies), and this coffee bean, which particularly suited Japanese tastes, became famous under this name.

Initially, the Dutch brought the Typica variety to Sumatra Island. Typica is the authentic Arabica coffee species. Later, due to the leaf rust epidemic that swept through Indonesia in 1877, the local government had to introduce more disease-resistant coffee varieties. The Indonesian government went to great lengths, successively introducing Robusta, Timor from Timor Island, Catimor, Kent from India, and S795. From a biological perspective, except for Robusta, all introduced varieties belong to the Arabica species.

Today, Robusta is generally distributed in the low-altitude southern regions of Sumatra, while FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee is found in the high-altitude northern regions. The famous Mandheling producing areas "Two Lakes and Two Mandhelings" refer to Lake Tawa and Lake Toba. Lake Tawa is located in Aceh in the north, where the now-famous Gayo Mountain is situated, while Lake Toba is located in the Lintong region.

FrontStreet Coffee's Indonesian Mandheling Coffee Beans Characteristics

FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling offers rich flavor, sweet aroma, pure bitterness, and full body, with a hint of sweetness. Since FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee beans inherently have little acidity, they don't develop unpleasant sour or astringent notes even after extended保温 periods or when prepared as iced coffee.

After roasting, the coffee beans are relatively large, with green beans appearing brown or dark green, emitting a special caramel-like fragrance, and delivering a mellow, rich flavor in the cup. Most coffee enthusiasts prefer to drink it as a single-origin, but it is also an indispensable variety for creating coffee blends.

What are the common types of Mandheling?

Next, FrontStreet Coffee will continue to introduce four classic Indonesian Mandheling coffee beans: FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling, FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Gold Mandheling, FrontStreet Coffee's Tiger Mandheling, and FrontStreet Coffee's Aged Mandheling.

1. FrontStreet Coffee Lintong Mandheling Coffee Beans

These premium FrontStreet Coffee Mandheling coffee beans are produced in the Lintong region, with relatively large bean size and hard bean density.

Indonesian coffee quality is quite diverse, but what we typically refer to as Mandheling coffee beans are the Typica or its varieties grown in the mountainous areas surrounding Lake Toba. Coffee connoisseurs from around the world have commented: Sumatran Mandheling coffee beans are among the world's finest in terms of texture.

FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee beans are relatively large with hard bean density. Due to numerous defects, they require strict selection during coffee processing. FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee beans offer rich flavor, sweet aroma, pure bitterness, and full body, with a hint of sweetness and subtle acidity.

FrontStreet Coffee: FrontStreet Coffee Lintong Mandheling Coffee Beans

• Region: Lintong
• Altitude: 1100-1600m
• Variety: Ateng
• Processing Method: Wet-Hulled

FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling coffee beans have been selected by FrontStreet Coffee as Indonesia's representative daily brew. FrontStreet Coffee's daily brew series features affordable, high-quality coffee beans that showcase regional characteristics. As a traditional Mandheling coffee-producing region, Lintong has consistently maintained very high quality standards. This bean is Indonesia's G1 grade, also the country's highest level. Customers can experience the rich, full-bodied Mandheling flavor at a low price, making it suitable for beginners interested in pour-over black coffee.

2. FrontStreet Coffee PWN Gold Mandheling Coffee Beans

FrontStreet Coffee's Gold Mandheling has been trademarked by Indonesia's PWN company, making it exclusive to PWN.

These Gold Mandheling coffee beans are produced in the Gayo Mountains of North Sumatra, Aceh. The variety is Ateng, which is a hybrid between Arabica and Robusta, widely cultivated in Sumatra and other Indonesian islands. It is essentially a branch of Catimor, with "Ateng" being the local name. FrontStreet Coffee's Gold Mandheling coffee beans, at 19 screen size, undergo three rounds of manual selection, with higher quality requirements.

FrontStreet Coffee: FrontStreet Coffee PWN Gold Mandheling Coffee Beans

• Region: Gayo Mountains, Aceh
• Altitude: 1100-1600m
• Variety: Typica
• Processing Method: Wet-Hulled

FrontStreet Coffee PWN Gold Mandheling coffee beans are a selected premium coffee from the Indonesian green bean company Pawani. PWN Gold Mandheling is a trademark, crafted as Indonesia's top-tier coffee brand. As such, Pawani searches throughout Sumatra to acquire and purchase excellent quality coffee beans. FrontStreet Coffee PWN Gold Mandheling stands out among these selections.

The coffee variety of the new harvest season's FrontStreet Coffee PWN Gold Mandheling coffee beans is "Ateng" - which seems to be a very unfamiliar coffee variety. In fact, local Indonesian names for coffee varieties differ somewhat. For example, what Indonesians call "Tim Tim" is what we call "Timor." "Ateng" is the local Indonesian name for Catimor. The Ateng variety is particularly suitable for cultivation and flavor development in the Aceh region.

FrontStreet Coffee PWN Gold Mandheling Coffee Beans Roasting Record

At 200°C roaster temperature, load beans with air damper at 3 and heat at 160;

Return to temperature point at 1'45", temperature 93.5°C

Yellowing point at 5'40", temperature 148°C - at this point, bean surface turns yellow, grassy aroma completely disappears, dehydration complete.

Increase heat to 140, air damper to 4;

At 9'40", bean surface shows ugly wrinkles and black spots, toast aroma clearly transitions to coffee aroma - this can be defined as pre-first crack.

Key point: Listen carefully for the first crack sound. First crack begins at 9'45", temperature 191.8°C, air damper fully open; discharge at 204.5°C, development time 3'30.

FrontStreet Coffee PWN Gold Mandheling Coffee Beans Cupping Report

• 1/ Agtron color value #61, classified as dark roast in SCA standards;
• 2/ PWN Gold Mandheling coffee beans at this roast level exhibit low acidity, richness, herbal notes, and spices,

Cupping flavor description: Syrup-like viscous mouthfeel with stronger caramel sweetness and relatively bright, elegant fruit acidity.

FrontStreet Coffee PWN Gold Mandheling Coffee Beans Brewing Process Sharing

First, the grind size for brewing this PWN Gold Mandheling coffee bean should be slightly coarser than that for light-roast coffee beans (70% passing through 0.85mm screen, around setting 11 on EK43S).

Unlike light-roast coffee beans where we hope to highlight regional characteristics and increase complexity, FrontStreet Coffee wants customers to obtain a fuller, richer mouthfeel, so we chose the KONO dripper for brewing. For the dose, FrontStreet Coffee used 15 grams of coffee beans, with a coffee-to-water ratio of 1:15, meaning 225g of water injection; for water temperature, we used 88°C water, hoping to reduce bitterness brought by high-temperature extraction.

FrontStreet Coffee's standard brewing dose is 15 grams of coffee, with a coffee-to-water ratio of 1:15.

First, preheat the dripper, then slowly pour in the coffee grounds, keeping them as level as possible during the process, avoiding vigorous shaking or even tapping the dripper.

For the first stage, pour 30g of water in small circles in the center for a 30-second bloom, during which the coffee grounds will gradually expand into a "hamburger" shape.

For the second stage, pour 100g of water in circles from the center outward, keeping the pouring height as close to the coffee bed as possible, with slow movements to avoid over-stirring. For the final stage, inject 95g, also using small circular motions in the center. End extraction when all coffee liquid has dripped into the server below. Extraction time should be between 1 minute 50 seconds and 2 minutes.

Extended Reading: KONO Dripper

The KONO dripper was designed by Toshio Kawano. It is a conical dripper with ribs extending linearly upward from the bottom to the middle, while the upper part has no ribs, presenting a smooth dripper wall. The purpose of this dripper is that, without pre-wetting the filter paper, it uses the ribs to exhaust air for better blooming; subsequently during brewing, as the water level rises, it allows the filter paper to adhere closely to the wall, creating a sealed pseudo-vacuum area.

When the upward channels are sealed by water and filter paper, air can only escape through the gaps between the lower ribs and filter paper. At this point, water in the dripper will push against the coffee grounds, eventually draining downward with the air, creating a siphon effect and resulting in a rich coffee mouthfeel.

3. FrontStreet Coffee Tiger Mandheling Coffee Beans

Only Mandheling coffee beans with a defect rate below 4% for beans larger than 17 screen size can be called FrontStreet Coffee's Tiger Mandheling coffee beans. The main varieties of FrontStreet Coffee's Tiger Mandheling coffee beans are Caturra and Typica. Caturra offers citrus and lemon acidity in taste, while Typica has a persistent aftertaste with full sweetness. The overall taste of this FrontStreet Coffee Tiger Mandheling coffee bean is relatively uniform with high clarity.

FrontStreet Coffee: FrontStreet Coffee Tiger Mandheling Coffee Beans

• Region: Aceh
• Altitude: 1500m
• Varieties: Typica, Caturra, Sidikalong
• Processing Method: Wet-Hulled

4. FrontStreet Coffee Aged Mandheling Coffee Beans

FrontStreet Coffee's aged coffee beans are not simply green beans left sitting for a long time - this is absolutely not acceptable. Because green beans will also deteriorate over time, changing from fresh green to white, then to yellow, and finally becoming flavorless or even developing insects. Similar to aged wines, green beans must undergo proper processing and long-term storage before they can be called truly aged coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee: FrontStreet Coffee Aged Mandheling Coffee Beans

• Region: Sumatra
• Variety: Typica
• Altitude: 1500m
• Processing Method: Wet-Hulled

Extended Reading: What Are Aged Coffee Beans?

Green beans achieve natural aging through extended storage time (typically 2-3 years). These changes include reduced acidity, color changes, and thickened bean structure. The storage environment must be cool and well-ventilated.

Due to the dimmer storage environment and longer time period, aged coffee often carries complex flavors similar to mold or what is commonly described as burlap or leather.

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