Which Brand of Indonesian Mandheling Coffee is Best? What Does the Courage of Sumatran Coffee Signify?

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

FrontStreet Coffee - Indonesian Coffee Brand: Golden Mandheling Introduction

Indonesian coffee is primarily produced in three main islands: Sumatra, Java, and Sulawesi. Among these, the "Mandheling" coffee from Sumatra is the most renowned.

Mandheling, also known as "Sumatran coffee," is mainly grown in North Sumatra. Most of the coffee from this region is Gayo variety, predominantly featuring the Ateng cultivar. The northern Lake Tawar area can be referred to as Aceh coffee or Lake Tawar coffee, while the southern Sumatra region around Lintong and Lake Toba can be called Mandheling. The Lintong area is the true Mandheling producing region. The finest Mandheling varieties include four main types: Sidikalang, Bergendar, Siborong Borong, and Telok Sanggul.

Lake Toba, located in central North Sumatra Province, saw Dutch colonialists relocate "Java Mandheling" north to the Lake Toba region in 1888, establishing the modern Mandheling legend.

Lake Tawar, situated in the central Aceh Special Autonomous Region, lies at the northern tip of Sumatra Island, with an area less than one-tenth of Lake Toba. However, in recent years, the quality and yield of coffee from this region have surpassed that of Lake Toba.

Golden Mandheling is a product produced by the PWN company. After acquiring raw beans, they undergo multiple rounds of manual selection to pick out full, flawless beans. Only these carefully selected premium beans, which have gone through selection rounds akin to a talent show, can be classified as Golden Mandheling. However, PWN has registered "Golden Mandheling" as a trademark, meaning that only Golden Mandheling produced by PWN can be considered authentic "Golden Mandheling" in the future. Many beans on the market labeled as Golden Mandheling but not produced by PWN should actually be called specialty Mandheling. Golden Mandheling is a famous coffee from Indonesia.

Sumatra Island is mainly divided into two major producing regions. The southern region primarily surrounds Medan, Lake Toba, and the Lintong area. This is the traditional "Mandheling" producing region, and all the various Mandheling varieties we know come from here. We often see Mandheling G1, Golden Mandheling, Tiger Mandheling, etc., all produced in this region. However, generally speaking, most coffee from this region has created an impression of poor quality in the specialty coffee industry—poor cleanliness, straw-like flavors, earthy notes, and swill-like tastes.

The second producing region in Sumatra, where once-famous anti-Chinese riots and anti-government unrest occurred, is the Gayo Mountain and Aceh producing region. This region is located in northern Sumatra and is predominantly Islamic. The main varieties planted here include the TIMOR variety (half Robusta heritage) and Catimor variety (quarter Robusta heritage), but in this region, they are basically not named with our common terminology. We often see them called tim tim, bon bon, ateng, etc., along with some other local unique varieties. Most coffee in this region uses the wet-hulling processing method, which is unique to this area worldwide. The coffee beans produced in this region are large and elongated, extremely uneven in appearance, and all display a deep green color, making them exceptionally distinctive.

Knowledge Extension

Mandheling from the Lintong region basically belongs to pure Arabica varieties. Observing the bean shape, they appear similar to pure Arabica, and the processing method is mainly based on the most traditional washed processing.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473