How is Sumatra Coffee? What Are Its Characteristics? Recommended Coffee to Buy in Indonesia

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The lively acidity of Mandheling blends with the richest aroma, allowing you to easily perceive the vibrant elements within its gentle richness. Its extraordinary flavor has captivated many enthusiasts.

Coffee is mainly grown in Java, Sumatra, and Sulawesi, with Robusta varieties accounting for 90% of total production. Sumatran Mandheling, however, is the rare Arabica variety (now only considered a hybrid). These trees are planted on hillside slopes between 750 and 1,500 meters above sea level. The mysterious and unique Sumatra has endowed Mandheling coffee with rich aroma, full body, intense flavor, and distinctive hints of chocolate and syrup.

Mandheling coffee beans are relatively large with hard bean texture, making them prone to defects during cultivation. After harvesting, they typically undergo strict manual selection. If quality control is not sufficiently rigorous, it can easily lead to inconsistent quality. Additionally, different roasting levels directly affect the taste, making it a somewhat controversial single-origin coffee. Mandheling has a strong flavor with rich richness and vibrant, lively character. It's neither astringent nor acidic, fully expressing its body and bitterness. Mandheling coffee beans may have the most unattractive appearance, but coffee enthusiasts say that the less appealing Sumatran coffee beans look, the better, richer, and smoother their taste.

The well-known Mandheling comes from Indonesia, Asia's second-largest coffee-producing country. Although 90% of Indonesia's coffee is produced in low-altitude regions such as Java and Bali, belonging to the rough-flavored Robusta variety. However, the Arabica specialty coffees produced in the high-altitude regions of northern Sumatra, Sulawesi, and Java - accounting for only 10% of Indonesia's coffee production - have gained worldwide recognition for their mellow and rich flavor. These include Mandheling, Golden Mandheling, Golden Top Mandheling, Lake Toba, Lake Towuti, Mount Gayo, Aceh, and Sulawesi.

Golden Mandheling is one of the most precious and excellent specialty coffees among them. PWN company previously selected coffee beans in the Lindong region, but in the late 1990s, farmers in the Lindong area switched to high-yield hybrid varieties such as Catimor or Linie, making it difficult to find high-quality ancient Typica varieties. Therefore, PWN company began selecting the highest quality coffee beans in the high-altitude regions of the Gayo Mountains in Aceh.

PWN not only sends people to select high-quality cherries when coffee cherries mature, but also adds their own unique processing steps when using Indonesia's traditional wet-hulling method. Every processing step implements strict quality control, and before export, they undergo 5 manual selections, reducing the defect rate to nearly zero. The final green beans have uniform color, dark green appearance, relatively large bean size, and clean taste. Over time, they develop a captivating golden color.

Due to strict selection and processing systems, Golden Mandheling production is very limited each season. After nearly 60 years of heritage across two generations, PWN company still attracts worldwide attention for producing high-quality Golden Mandheling annually. Golden Mandheling from PWN company has a clean taste, basically without the typical earthy, herbal, and woody flavors of regular Mandheling. It has strong and rich flavor with creamy-like captivating taste and brown sugar sweetness. Fresh and gentle acidity combined with nutty aroma, creating a round and clean aftertaste with chocolate fragrance. It is the most famous coffee in Indonesia.

Knowledge Extension

Mandheling is not an Indonesian place name, product name, estate name, processing plant name, or variety name. Instead, it is a misspelling of Mandailing, the name of an ethnic group living in Sumatra.

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