The Difference Between Indonesian Mandheling SOE and Espresso Coffee: An Introduction to Mandheling Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee has noticed that novice coffee enthusiasts often find FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling quite bitter, as is espresso coffee (of course, it's not bitter when milk and sugar are added). Sometimes they even think both should taste the same, or they might subconsciously compare: which is more bitter, FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling or espresso? When buying coffee beans in supermarkets or malls, you might sometimes see so-called Mandheling flavor coffee and Italian style flavor coffee. What exactly are the differences between these two flavors? Today, FrontStreet Coffee is here to clear up these questions for everyone.

What is Mandheling Coffee? What is Espresso Coffee?

Let's briefly understand the differences between these two coffee beans.

FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee is actually a type of single-origin coffee bean. So-called single-origin coffee refers to coffee beans from a single variety or single origin. Single-origin coffee is generally extracted through different coffee brewing equipment, suitable grind size, generally with a water-to-coffee ratio of 1:15, suitable water temperature and brewing time. Tasting single-origin coffee is like tasting red wine—each single-origin coffee has its own unique charm. For example, bitterness, acidity, sweetness, body, plus special flavors from specific origins.

FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee has a very rich flavor—aromatic, bitter, and full-bodied, with a hint of sweetness. The taste is rich and robust, with a pleasant acidity. The aroma is mellow, with moderate acidity and abundant sweetness that is intriguing, suitable for dark roasting, emitting a rich fragrance. FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling has always used its unique bitterness to express its most unique sweetness.

Espresso Coffee

Espresso is typically presented as coffee with milk, such as cappuccino, latte, and mocha (excluding espresso and Americano). The equipment used is the semi-automatic espresso machine often seen on coffee shop counters.

The semi-automatic espresso machine uses high temperature and pressure (hot water at 90.5-96°C with about 9 bar pressure) to extract the essence in just 20-30 seconds (like a pressure cooker principle). The resulting coffee liquid is generally two to three times the amount of coffee grounds used—this is espresso.

Although espresso has a strong bitterness when it first enters the mouth, with careful tasting, you can also distinguish the unique aroma of coffee, while also having a strong sweet aftertaste. This unique oily richness is something that pour-over coffee cannot have. The various fancy coffees that everyone usually sees, such as Americano, latte, cappuccino, caramel macchiato, etc., are actually evolved from espresso through different proportions of milk and milk foam, and then further演绎 with various flavored syrups.

Can Single-Origin Coffee Beans Be Used to Make Espresso?

The answer is: Yes.

Espresso made from single-origin coffee beans is called "Single Origin Espresso," originally known as Single Origin Espresso, which everyone knows as SOE. Well-known single-origin coffee beans, such as FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe, FrontStreet Coffee's Kenya Little Tomato, FrontStreet Coffee's Panama Geisha, FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaica Blue Mountain, etc., all have their own unique flavors. The extraction of espresso can highlight the flavors in coffee, but this approach might backfire, turning some originally pleasant citrus notes into face-wrinkling vinegar-like acidity.

Because of this, single-origin beans are generally used for making pour-over coffee; the coffee beans used for espresso extraction are generally blended coffee beans, which are blends of coffee beans from two or more different regions, thus making the flavor of espresso more balanced.

Some friends also ask: FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling and espresso cannot be simply compared as to which is more bitter and which is not. If we use FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling beans to make espresso, it will likely be more bitter than espresso extracted from regular blended beans because Mandheling has a strong herbal flavor. But if we compare FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling single-origin coffee with espresso, then espresso is definitely more bitter~

Of course, with the development of the coffee market, the choices for FrontStreet Coffee's espresso blend beans and FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee beans have also diversified. Different choices will result in different coffee flavors when brewed. Next, FrontStreet Coffee will recommend some of the more popular FrontStreet Coffee espresso beans and single-origin FrontStreet Coffee Indonesian Mandheling beans currently available in FrontStreet Coffee's store.

FrontStreet Coffee Sunflower Warm Sun Espresso Blend Coffee Beans

Flavor: Obvious fruit acidity, light berry aroma, wine aroma, rich chocolate flavor, obvious sweet aftertaste.

Formula: FrontStreet Coffee Honduras Sherry : FrontStreet Coffee Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry = 7:3

For this blend, FrontStreet Coffee uses FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry and FrontStreet Coffee's Honduras Sherry. FrontStreet Coffee's design concept for this espresso blend is that it can be used for both espresso and pour-over. When used to make espresso, it emits obvious fermentation wine aroma. When tasted, citrus and berry acidity immediately emerge, with whiskey aroma, and the aftertaste is dark chocolate.

When brewing this FrontStreet Coffee Sunflower Warm Sun blend with pour-over method, the flavor is not as rich as when making espresso. After brewing, there are fermentation wine aroma and a little citrus aroma. When tasted at high temperature, there are only obvious wine aroma and dark chocolate aftertaste. When the temperature drops, the citrus and berry acidity are slightly reflected. The overall feeling is clean and fresh, without vanilla cream texture.

FrontStreet Coffee Premium Espresso Blend Coffee Beans

Flavor: Soft and slightly acidic, sweet, nutty aftertaste, overall feeling is not too stimulating, peaceful, medium crema.

Formula: Colombia : Brazil = 3:7

For this FrontStreet Coffee Premium Blend, FrontStreet Coffee uses coffee beans from Brazil and Colombia for blending. It tastes with a light roasted grass aroma, fresh and slightly bitter, sweet and smooth, with a pleasant aftertaste. This is because coffee beans from Colombia's Huila region have a pleasant acidity, mellow aroma, moderate acidity, and abundant sweetness that is intriguing. Coffee beans from Brazil's Cerrado region have a comfortable bittersweet taste, extremely smooth when entered. So the combination is simply wonderful, meeting the daily needs of coffee shops.

FrontStreet Coffee Commercial Espresso Blend Coffee Beans

Flavor: Caramel sweetness, nuts and cocoa, dark chocolate flavor, balanced sweet and sour, slightly bittersweet, persistent aftertaste.

Formula: Colombia : Brazil : Robusta = 3:6:1

For this FrontStreet Coffee Commercial Blend, FrontStreet Coffee uses coffee beans from Brazil, Colombia, and 10% Robusta coffee beans. The taste is classic. FrontStreet Coffee thinks this FrontStreet Coffee Commercial Blend tastes with rich crema and texture and caramel sweetness, also with nuts and cocoa, dark chocolate flavor, balanced sweet and sour, slightly bittersweet, persistent aftertaste. This commercial blend, like FrontStreet Coffee's Premium Blend, uses coffee beans from Colombia and Brazil, but the difference is that Robusta is added, which provides rich crema, making the coffee texture more full-bodied, suitable for daily production in coffee shops.

FrontStreet Coffee Basic Espresso Blend Coffee Beans

Flavor: With soft fruit acidity, caramel sweetness, nuts, dark chocolate flavor, smooth and viscous, but the taste is on the lighter side.

Formula: Yunnan : Brazil = 3:7

For this FrontStreet Coffee Basic Blend, FrontStreet Coffee uses Brazil and Yunnan for blending. FrontStreet Coffee thinks it tastes with soft fruit acidity and caramel sweetness, as well as nuts, dark chocolate flavor, smooth and viscous, but the taste is on the lighter side. This is because Yunnan's natural conditions are very similar to Colombia's—high altitude, large temperature difference between day and night, the flavor is mellow type, moderate acidity, rich and mellow taste, uniform particles, high oil content, and with fruit aroma. Its quality and texture are similar to Colombian coffee. But the taste is slightly lighter than Colombia's, while coffee beans from Brazil's Cerrado region have a comfortable bittersweet taste, extremely smooth when entered. Therefore, the flavor of these two coffee beans mixed together is also good, and this basic blend coffee bean is very cost-effective, suitable for espresso beginners, home users, and small coffee shops who prioritize cost and have general flavor requirements.

FrontStreet Coffee noticed that some friends want to use a Moka pot to brew coffee as rich and mellow as an espresso machine. FrontStreet Coffee recommends using FrontStreet Coffee's espresso blend beans or medium-dark roasted single-origin beans. Due to the lack of equipment at home, some friends will leave a note for grinding service when purchasing coffee beans from FrontStreet Coffee.

Because coffee beans become more active in degassing after being ground into powder, coffee flavor substances will also dissipate faster. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee suggests that friends who have grinding equipment at home buy whole beans and grind fresh before brewing to taste the best flavor. The coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee are freshly roasted within 5 days. When they reach the customer, they have already undergone a 4 to 7 day resting period, which is also when the flavor is at its best.

FrontStreet Coffee Indonesian Golden Mandheling Coffee Beans

Country: Indonesia

Region: Sumatra, Aceh, Gayo Mountain

Altitude: 1100-1600m

Variety: Ateng

Processing: Wet-hulled

Flavor: Toasted bread, nuts, pine, caramel, herbal

This FrontStreet Coffee Golden Mandheling on FrontStreet Coffee's bean list is from PWN company. The region of this FrontStreet Coffee PWN Golden Mandheling is Gayo Mountain in Aceh, Sumatra. According to FrontStreet Coffee's cupping and brewing of this latest FrontStreet Coffee PWN Golden Mandheling coffee, FrontStreet Coffee found that this FrontStreet Coffee Golden Mandheling has more toasted bread flavor and is also very full-bodied in taste.

Moreover, the specification standard for FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling is above 18 mesh, with less than 3 defective beans (in 300g green bean sample), belonging to the highest grade G1 level, with a color偏向深绿色，形状呈工整的平豆。In addition, it also undergoes 3 manual selections to ensure complete removal of defective beans, thereby guaranteeing a clean taste. After strict screening, FrontStreet Coffee found that not only does FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling not have the typical earthy impurities of ordinary Mandheling, but it also tastes cleaner and more transparent, with a more obvious sweetness.

Because Golden Mandheling has good quality and excellent flavor, it is pursued by many coffee connoisseurs who love full-bodied coffee. The quality of Golden Mandheling is also reflected in its price. Some merchants, in order to sell their Mandheling at a good price, even use ordinary Mandheling coffee beans, select those above 18 mesh with a color偏向深绿色，and remove the defective beans inside. To maximize the replication of Golden Mandheling, they even really perform 3 manual selections.

This also makes consumers worry whether the Golden Mandheling they buy is really PWN's Golden Mandheling. When PWN Golden Mandheling green coffee beans are sold, they are packed in sacks printed with PWN logo and accompanied by certificates. To dispel consumers' concerns about this, FrontStreet Coffee's store walls hang the aforementioned certificates to prove that the FrontStreet Coffee Golden Mandheling sold in the store comes from Indonesia's PWN company.

Of course, FrontStreet Coffee's bean list has two FrontStreet Coffee Mandheling coffee beans. The other one is FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling from FrontStreet Coffee's daily bean series. FrontStreet Coffee's daily bean series covers seven important regions, allowing coffee novices to quickly understand regional terroir and prepare for in-depth exploration of regional flavors later. At the same time, FrontStreet Coffee's daily beans are affordably priced and cost-effective, so they are very suitable for beginners who are new to pour-over coffee or for daily consumption by coffee enthusiasts.

Product Name: FrontStreet Coffee · Indonesia Lintong Mandheling

Country: Indonesia

Region: Sumatra (Lintong)

Altitude: 1100-1600m

Variety: Typica, Caturra

Processing: Wet-hulled

Flavor: Toasted bread, nuts, caramel, pine, herbal

FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling comes from the Lintong mountainous area in north-central Sumatra, near Lake Toba. The entry-level daily beans from FrontStreet Coffee's Indonesian Mandheling region come from here. FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling also uses the unique wet-hulled method, which creates its characteristics of low acidity and high body.

For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style)

For professional coffee knowledge exchange, please add WeChat ID: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473