Golden Mandheling vs Espresso Coffee: Which Tastes Better - Flavor Profile and Characteristics of Indonesian Sumatra Coffee Beans

The rich, mellow flavor of FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee beans has led many to develop a small misconception: that "Mandheling coffee equals espresso." In reality, FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee beans and espresso differ significantly in both flavor profile and brewing methods. Let's start with the brewing approach: FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee can be extracted through various methods, such as drip, immersion, or pressure-based extraction. Espresso, however, is specifically extracted through pressure-based methods using either blended coffee beans or single-origin beans (coffee beans from a single source, with Mandheling being one such example) at a water temperature of 90°C and atmospheric pressure of 9 bar ± 2. Nearly all espresso-based drinks commonly found on the market—such as Americano, latte, and cappuccino—are made with espresso as their base.

In this article, FrontStreet Coffee will provide an in-depth explanation of what FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee is and how it differs from espresso.

Q1: What are single-origin coffee beans? What are blended coffee beans?

The most important characteristic of single-origin coffee beans is traceability—the ability to trace them back to specific farms or even individual growers in their growing regions. This traceability helps improve cultivation standards in producing regions to yield higher-quality coffee. However, it's important to note that single-origin coffee beans are not necessarily specialty coffee beans. Specialty coffee beans refer to single-origin beans that, when evaluated using the Cup of Excellence (COE) cupping standard, achieve a cupping score of 80 points or higher. FrontStreet Coffee only considers coffee beans for sale if they meet the COE cupping standard with scores of 80 points or above.

Blended coffee beans gained popularity with the rise of espresso-based coffee culture. Initially, strong, bitter Italian espresso was popular, but single-origin coffees often have pronounced flavor characteristics, meaning they possess both distinct advantages and disadvantages. Additionally, high-quality single-origin beans are expensive, which led to the development of blends that maintain the strengths of one bean while using beans from other regions to compensate for its weaknesses, creating a more balanced coffee. To ensure consistency in every espresso-based drink, FrontStreet Coffee uses its "Sunflower Sunshine Blend" coffee beans, which combine FrontStreet Coffee's sun-dried Yirgacheffe with FrontStreet Coffee's Honduras Sherry Barrel-Aged beans.

Q2: What is drip brewing? What is immersion brewing?

Drip brewing is what FrontStreet Coffee commonly refers to as pour-over coffee. The equipment options for drip coffee are quite extensive, including V60, Kono, Origami, Wave dripper, Kalita, and many others. Coffee brewed by pouring water through coffee grounds and filtered through paper can all be considered drip coffee. FrontStreet Coffee believes the greatest characteristic of drip coffee is its rich flavor layers, and different flavors can be expressed through various drippers, brewing techniques, water flow rates, and brewing temperatures.

Immersion brewing, as the name suggests, simply involves steeping coffee grounds in water for extraction, then filtering before enjoying. Examples include Clever Dripper, French press, cupping, and others that belong to immersion extraction. FrontStreet Coffee believes the greatest characteristic of immersion coffee is its ability to completely express the coffee's flavor with excellent body. Different flavor expressions can be achieved by changing grind size, water temperature, and steeping time.

Q3: What is pressure-based extraction?

When making espresso, the coffee grounds in the portafilter basket are extracted under 9 bar of pressure. The substances in the coffee grounds are quickly dissolved under pressure, making espresso extraction time very short. While pour-over coffee typically takes 2-3 minutes, espresso can complete extraction in just 20-30 seconds. This extraction method leads us to classify espresso as "pressure-based extraction." FrontStreet Coffee believes the greatest characteristic of pressure-based extraction is its ability to quickly extract a concentrated shot of espresso, which can then be used to create different espresso-based drinks by adding various ingredients (such as water, milk, etc.).

Q4: What are Mandheling coffee beans?

FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee beans come from the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, Asia, and are also known as "Sumatran coffee." Mandheling is a premium coffee bean grown on highland plateaus at elevations of 750-1500 meters. "Mandheling" only represents the name of coffee from the Sumatra region, not a coffee variety. FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee beans typically use a hybrid variety of Catimor and Caturra called Ateng, also known as Indonesian Catimor. Because of its strong adaptability and lack of requirement for high-altitude cultivation, it has long been a favorite among Indonesian coffee farmers. When it comes to FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling, FrontStreet Coffee loves its rich aroma, full body, and intense flavor, with the unique herbal spice notes being the signature characteristic of FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee.

Q5: How is Mandheling coffee brewed?

FrontStreet Coffee uses drip brewing to prepare Mandheling coffee. So what's the difference between FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Gold Mandheling and FrontStreet Coffee's regular Mandheling? Taking FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Gold Mandheling coffee beans as an example, they come from Lake Tawa in Mount Gayo, northwestern Sumatra. FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Gold Mandheling specifications require beans to be screen 18 or larger, with fewer than 3 defective beans (in a 300g green bean sample), classified as the highest G1 grade. The beans are dark green in color and have uniform, flat shapes. After strict selection, FrontStreet Coffee found that FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Gold Mandheling not only lacks the typical earthy impurities found in regular Mandheling but also tastes cleaner and brighter.

FrontStreet Coffee recommends using freshly roasted coffee beans for brewing to fully experience the rich flavors of coffee. The coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee are all roasted within 5 days, as FrontStreet Coffee deeply understands that coffee bean freshness significantly impacts flavor. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy is "freshly roasted good coffee," ensuring that every customer who places an order receives the freshest coffee possible. The resting period for coffee is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive their coffee, it's at its peak flavor.

FrontStreet Coffee uses a Kono dripper for brewing. The greatest characteristic of the Kono dripper is that while it performs drip brewing, it also incorporates immersion functionality. Unlike the spiral ribs of V60, the Kono dripper's divergent rib design and small-diameter filter hole result in slower filtration speed, overall leaning toward immersion extraction, which creates fuller-flavored coffee. Using a Kono dripper to brew FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Gold Mandheling coffee beans better enhances the rich body of these beans.

FrontStreet Coffee's brewing parameters: 15g coffee; coffee-to-water ratio 1:15; water temperature 88°C; grind size: medium-coarse (65% retention rate on 0.85mm sieve)

FrontStreet Coffee's brewing technique: First, wet the filter paper, then pour in the ground coffee and level the bed gently. For the first pour, inject 30g of 88°C hot water for blooming, with a bloom time of 30 seconds. After blooming, pour the second stage to a total of 125g, using gentle circular pouring to avoid bed collapse. After pouring, let the water filter and extract slowly. When the water level drops to one-third, pour the final stage to a total of 225g, completing the pour around 1 minute 30 seconds, and finish extraction by removing the dripper at around 2 minutes.

FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Gold Mandheling brewing flavor: nuts, spices, herbal notes, licorice, chocolate, caramel—with clean and smooth flavors.

Q6: What is espresso?

Espresso is a type of coffee originating from Italy. It's made by forcing near-boiling, high-pressure water through finely ground coffee. Traditionally, a single shot of espresso contains about one ounce.

Q7: How is espresso extracted?

FrontStreet Coffee uses the Faema E98 espresso machine with the following extraction parameters:

Pressure: 9 bar ± 2
Temperature: 90.5~96°C
Time: 20~30 seconds
Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:1.7~1:2
Dose: 12g (single shot) 20g (double shot)
Yield: 20ml (single) 40ml (double)

FrontStreet Coffee uses FrontStreet Coffee's Sunflower Blend coffee beans, combining FrontStreet Coffee's sun-dried Yirgacheffe with FrontStreet Coffee's Honduras Sherry Barrel-Aged beans. The extracted flavor profile shows distinct fruit acidity with subtle berry aromas, rich wine and chocolate flavors, and a comfortable sweet aftertaste.

Q8: Can FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling single-origin coffee beans be used to make espresso?

While it's technically possible, FrontStreet Coffee doesn't recommend it. First, FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling is already a full-bodied coffee. If extracted through pressure-based methods, the flavors would be infinitely amplified, potentially making the richness that's enjoyable when brewed by pour-over become intense and difficult to swallow. The second reason for not recommending it is that Mandheling's suggested brewing temperature is 88-89°C, while espresso machines extract at temperatures above 90°C. This higher temperature can lead to over-extraction during the brewing process, resulting in bitter and other unpleasant flavors in the extracted coffee.

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

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat account: 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