How to Tell if It's Black Coffee: Is Mandheling Coffee Considered Black Coffee?

FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Black Coffee

Black coffee is coffee with nothing added. Simply put, it means coffee without sugar, milk or any other accompaniment, and it offers the original experience of tasting coffee.

Black coffee embodies coffee's five flavours: fragrant, sweet, mellow, acidic and bitter. It is primitive yet rugged, deep yet intriguing. Yet we always seem to know too little about black coffee, and that elusive distance only adds to its mystery. In fact, black coffee is right beside us, and once you fall in love with it, you will surely find it.

The Aroma of Black Coffee

Black coffee emphasises the natural aroma of the coffee itself. Aroma is the lifeblood of coffee quality and best reflects the production process and roasting technique. The climate of the producing region, the variety, the processing method, the harvest, the storage, and whether the roasting is appropriate all determine the aroma of the beans.

Bitterness is the fundamental taste of black coffee, varying in intensity and texture. Raw beans contain only trace amounts of bitter compounds; coffee's most characteristic bitterness is produced through the caramelisation and carbonisation of sugars and some starches and fibres during roasting.

Black coffee also has acidity. Proper heat treatment produces an appropriate acidity, which enhances flavour and adds depth. The sweetness in black coffee is intrinsically linked to bitterness, so a refreshing, high-quality black coffee will always carry a sweet taste.

Sumatra Mandheling Coffee

Sumatra is an Indonesian island that produces coffee, and Sumatra Mandheling is described by connoisseurs as the world's most textured coffee. It grows in the Sumatran highlands at elevations of 750-1,500 metres and was introduced to the island in the 18th century.

Pour-over is the best way to bring out Mandheling's flavour. Wetting the ground coffee with warm water around 80°C and letting the liquid slowly pass through the filter paper into the pot brings out the caramel sweetness in the aftertaste and presents the coffee's most original flavour. If you dislike coffee acidity, Mandheling is probably an excellent choice.

Pour-over coffee is considered specialty coffee, focusing on tasting the original flavour of coffee, which is black coffee without any additives.

Knowledge Point

To brew a delicious cup of pour-over, the keys are grind, water temperature and the ratio of coffee to water. Compared with machine-made coffee, there is more to consider.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

For black coffee, FrontStreet Coffee often recommends a wet-hulled Indonesian Mandheling. Sumatra's rainy, humid climate, where annual rainfall can exceed 2,000mm, makes the long sun-drying used in Africa impossible, and washed processing is too costly in water and labour, so local producers developed wet-hulling: the parchment is removed while the beans are still half wet, exposing them to the air to speed drying while they absorb microbes from their surroundings. That is what gives Mandheling its famously wild character.

FrontStreet Coffee carries two: the FrontStreet Lindong Mandheling and the FrontStreet PWN Golden Mandheling, both medium-dark roasted to soften the acidity while keeping the herbal wildness. The Lindong is rich and full-bodied with clove, woody and mint-like notes and a strong, lasting sweetness. The PWN Golden Mandheling is the cleanest expression: the green beans are 18 mesh or larger with fewer than 3 defects in a 300-gram sample, the top G1 grade, sorted by machine once and by hand three times, which leaves it uniform and bright with a clean cup and a full, sweet body.

To brew it, FrontStreet Coffee suggests a pour-over at 87-88°C with 15 grams of coffee, a 1:15 ratio and a coarse-sugar grind, using three pours: a 30ml bloom, then 100ml to raise the bed and release the golden foam, then a gentle 95ml centre pour to lift the sweetness. The cup shows a thick body, caramel sweetness and chocolate and nut flavours. If you prefer milk drinks, the FrontStreet Classic Blend adds medium-dark Mandheling to Brazilian beans for buttery, roasted-chestnut and caramel notes, along with sandalwood, herbal and spice accents, so it layers beautifully in a latte or a Dirty.