Best Brewing Methods and Tips for Indonesian Mandheling Coffee Beans - Introduction to the Characteristics, Flavor, and Taste of Hand-Poured Golden Mandheling

Unlike African coffee beans with their bright fruity acidity, FrontStreet Coffee's Indonesian Mandheling coffee stands out with its intense bitter aroma, high body thickness, and deep flavor profile. So how should one brew such a heavy-bodied coffee? FrontStreet Coffee will analyze how to hand-brew a good cup of FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee by examining the characteristics of FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling.

Sumatran Mandheling Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee comes from the northern part of Sumatra Island in Indonesia. This region has higher altitudes and climate characteristics ideal for growing Arabica varieties. The areas around Lake Tawa in Aceh Province and around Lake Toba in North Sumatra Province are particularly representative, with the Lindong producing area located within North Sumatra Province.

Mandheling coffee is grown on the Gayo highlands at altitudes of 750-1500 meters. Located near the equator, this area has a typical tropical rainforest climate with year-round rainfall and high temperature and humidity, making it perfect for Arabica cultivation. However, Arabica accounts for only 25% of Indonesia's total coffee production, as locally, Robusta is predominantly grown at lower altitudes.

Mandheling coffee is primarily grown using two varieties: Ateng and Tim Tim. Tim Tim is a natural hybrid of the Arabica Typica and Robusta varieties, also known as Timor. It inherits Robusta's high yield and disease resistance, with a flavor profile characterized by strong mouthfeel.

Ateng is also a common local coffee variety, what we commonly call Catimor, discovered in the central Aceh region of Aceh Tengah and named after the location. Ateng is a hybrid descendant of the Arabica Bourbon variety Catucca and Timor, with several subtypes carrying 1/4 Robusta bloodline. It possesses extremely high disease resistance and is widely planted in Sumatra and other Indonesian islands. The FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling that FrontStreet Coffee sourced is the Ateng variety.

Wet Hulling Process Creates Mandheling's Unique Aroma

The local environment of high temperature and humidity in Indonesia compelled locals to innovate a "new" processing method suitable for the region—wet hulling.

The initial steps of wet hulling are the same as the washed process. Indonesians first remove the pulp from coffee cherries and ferment them in water for 3 hours. After washing away the mucilage, the parchment-covered green coffee beans are dried for a short period of 2-3 days. When the moisture content reaches 20-24% in a semi-soft, semi-hard state, the hull is removed while still in parchment form, then drying continues until the coffee's moisture content reaches 13% for packaging. Since the fermentation time is much shorter than the washed process, fewer acidic substances are produced. FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee processed this way has very weak acidity and higher body thickness after roasting.

FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling Coffee Varieties

FrontStreet Coffee currently has two FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee beans on its regular bean menu, including FrontStreet Coffee's Lindong Mandheling daily drinker bean and FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Golden Mandheling.

FrontStreet Coffee's Lindong Mandheling Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee's Lindong Mandheling refers to Mandheling coffee produced in the Lindong mountain area of northern Sumatra. Lindong is located near the southwest side of Lake Toba, at altitudes between 1000-1500 meters. This area has multiple volcanoes and volcanic lakes, with fertile volcanic soil combined with local tropical rainforest climate and abundant year-round rainfall, allowing coffee trees to flourish. The Mandheling produced here presents unique flavors of wood and spices. FrontStreet Coffee believes that FrontStreet Coffee's Lindong Mandheling processed with wet hulling has typical Mandheling flavors, so it has been added to FrontStreet Coffee's daily drinker bean series.

FrontStreet Coffee · Indonesia Lindong Mandheling Coffee Beans

Origin: Indonesia, Sumatra

Grade: G1

Altitude: 1100m-1600m

Variety: Ateng, TimTim

Processing: Wet Hulling

Flavor: Nuts, spices, chocolate, caramel

FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Golden Mandheling Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling is produced by the well-known Indonesian coffee purchasing company Pwani Coffee Company (PWN). PWN Company mainly procures high-quality local Mandheling coffee beans, and most of the coffee beans they produce are of specialty grade. It should be noted here that PWN Company has registered the trademark "Golden Mandheling," meaning only Golden Mandheling produced by PWN Company can be called "Golden Mandheling" coffee.

The high quality of FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling lies in PWN Company's three rounds of manual hand-sorting of G1 grade Mandheling green coffee beans. G1 grade is the highest standard for green bean export in Indonesia, meaning the bean size is strictly controlled above 18 mesh, with fewer than 3 defective beans per 300-gram green bean sample. PWN Company's multiple manual screenings minimize the defect rate of Golden Mandheling coffee beans, producing higher quality batches with clean sweetness and more intense aroma.

FrontStreet Coffee · PWN Golden Mandheling Coffee Beans

Origin: Indonesia, Sumatra

Grade: G1, Triple Hand-Sorted

Altitude: 1100m-1600m

Variety: Ateng

Processing: Wet Hulling

Flavor: Nuts, spices, herbs, caramel

In addition to these two varieties mentioned above by FrontStreet Coffee, there are many other unique styles of Mandheling coffee, such as Tiger Mandheling with traditional Chinese medicinal herb aromas, Aged Mandheling where aging reduces acidity, and natural process Mandheling coffee with characteristics different from wet hulling—each with its own features. FrontStreet Coffee won't introduce them all here. Below, using FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee sourced by FrontStreet Coffee stores as an example, let's discuss how to brew FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee to bring out that "Mandheling flavor."

How to Brew FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling Coffee for Best Taste

Some might ask FrontStreet Coffee, which Mandheling should they choose? If you're a coffee beginner just starting out and want to understand different regional flavors, FrontStreet Coffee suggests starting with our cost-effective FrontStreet Coffee's daily drinker beans. This way, you can understand the flavor characteristics of multiple major producing regions before choosing the type that suits your taste preferences. But if you're already a coffee connoisseur, FrontStreet Coffee believes FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Golden Mandheling coffee is an excellent choice. Here FrontStreet Coffee will compare the brewing of these two beans.

Since Mandheling's flavor profile is rich in nuts and chocolate, FrontStreet Coffee's roasters choose dark roasting to maximize its full body. Therefore, we'll see oily black FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee beans, with the beans much larger than the original green beans and very loose in texture—crushable with fingers. When ground into coffee powder, they absorb water very easily. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee uses water temperature a few degrees lower than for brewing medium-light roasted beans to reduce excessive bitterness extraction. Similarly, for grinding degree, FrontStreet Coffee uses a coarser grind to reduce the coffee liquid extraction rate. Since everyone's home grinding equipment varies, FrontStreet Coffee here calibrates the grinding degree based on the sieve pass rate of China's No. 20 standard sieve. Therefore, Mandheling coffee brewing will select a grinding degree with 70% sieve pass rate using China's No. 20 standard sieve and water temperature of 87 degrees Celsius.

Friends who regularly read FrontStreet Coffee's brewing suggestions should know that FrontStreet Coffee prioritizes KONO drippers when brewing coffee beans that express full body. We can observe from the KONO dripper's appearance that it only has ribs in the middle and lower parts, while the upper part of the dripper is a smooth curved surface. This way, when we wet the dripper, it fits tightly with the filter paper, restricting gas expulsion during coffee extraction. Therefore, hot water stays longer in the dripper, increasing coffee extraction rate and concentration, resulting in richer, fuller coffee flavor. That's why KONO drippers are also suitable for full-bodied flavored beans like FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen Estate and FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee.

Generally, FrontStreet Coffee uses 15g of coffee powder. The choice of powder amount is usually based on the dripper's designed specifications, and FrontStreet Coffee's dripper is suitable for 1-2 person servings, between 15-20g of powder. Too much can easily affect extraction. Regarding powder-to-liquid ratio, 1:15 is most commonly used, with ratios between 1:13-1:17 being acceptable. FrontStreet Coffee believes everyone's taste is different—1:13 might be too strong for some, while 1:17 might be too weak—so we take the middle value of 1:15.

Brewing parameters: KONO dripper, 87°C water temperature, 1:15 powder-to-liquid ratio, grinding degree with 70% pass rate using China's No. 20 standard sieve, 15g coffee powder, three-stage extraction.

First wet the dripper to ensure the filter paper fits tightly with the dripper, then pour in the ground coffee powder, trying to level the powder layer. Begin by pouring 87°C hot water from the center with 30g to bloom for 30s. At this point, you'll see the dark-roasted FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee form a high dome. Then start evenly pouring the second stage until the liquid weight reaches 125g. When the coffee liquid drops to halfway, begin pouring the final 100g. Note to pour steadily with a small water flow throughout to avoid uneven extraction. Once all coffee liquid has finished dripping, remove the dripper, shake the server to mix the coffee liquid evenly, and begin tasting.

All brewing parameters mentioned by FrontStreet Coffee are based on fresh coffee beans, so freshly roasted coffee is the primary condition. Coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee are freshly roasted within 5 days. When received from logistics, they are正好 in their optimal flavor window, hoping every guest can enjoy good coffee with the most complete flavors.

Freshly brewed FrontStreet Coffee's Lindong Mandheling coffee has Indonesian-style spice notes, with prominent roasted nuts and chocolate aromas and some sweet aftertaste. Meanwhile, FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Golden Mandheling coffee clearly has a solid mouthfeel, with more intense spice and dark chocolate aromas, elevating the flavor profile—allowing one to perceive caramel sweetness and lingering finish.

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