Is Sun-Dried or Washed Mandheling Better? Characteristics of Medium Roasted Indonesian Mandheling Coffee Beans

FrontStreet Coffee - Mandheling Coffee Introduction

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In the 17th century, the Dutch first brought Arabica coffee seedlings to Sri Lanka and Indonesia. However, in 1877, a massive coffee rust disease in Indonesia destroyed almost all coffee trees. People had to abandon the Arabica variety they had cultivated for years and introduced the more disease-resistant Robusta variety from Africa. Today, Indonesia is a major coffee-producing country, with coffee cultivation concentrated on the islands of Java, Sumatra, and Sulawesi. However, Robusta coffee beans account for 90% of the total production.

Only the finest Arabica coffee beans produced in Sumatra are honored with the names Lintong or Mandheling. These coffee beans are premium varieties grown in highland mountainous areas at elevations of 750-1,500 meters. Among them, Mandheling produced in the Gayo Highlands of Aceh Province, northern Sumatra, typically reaches estate grade and uses traditional wet-hulling processing. Compared to Lintong, Mandheling, or coffee beans from eastern regions of Sumatra, Gayo Highlands coffee is often brighter and richer in flavor. Famous estates include Takengon and Sidikalang.

Mandheling green coffee beans have their unique and globally distinctive characteristic: the wet-hulled processing method. After processing plants purchase green coffee beans from farmers—where the fruit skin and pulp have been initially removed, leaving moist beans with their seed coats (and some residual mucilage)—the beans are further sun-dried to approximately 50% moisture content. Then, the wet-hulling method is applied: "While the coffee beans still have high moisture content, the seed coat is removed, and sun-drying continues until the moisture content drops to 12-13%, the dryness level suitable for shipment." Mandheling coffee processed through this special method typically forms deep green coffee beans.

In fact, most discussions about roasting focus on roast degree, which largely determines the balance of acidity, sweetness, and bitterness in coffee, as well as the final aromatic profile. People attempt to classify it using colloquial categories such as pour-over roast, espresso roast, city, french, etc. Roasting is a process involving thousands of chemical reactions, so roast degree can also be understood as the extent of these chemical reactions. Color changes are the most intuitive manifestation of these chemical reactions, making color depth one of the most important indicators for measuring coffee roast degree in the industry.

As a fruit, it's completely natural for coffee to have acidity. In fact, good Mandheling, especially from high-altitude mountain regions, often has notable acidity when light to medium roasted. However, Mandheling's primary flavor profile tends toward depth, so most roasters choose medium to dark roast levels to highlight its caramel and even tobacco-like richness. At this point, in most cases, the acidity is suppressed to be barely perceptible.

Knowledge point: Quality coffee fruits generally have good shade effects. Tree shade can block the high-temperature midday sun, reduce coffee's metabolic rate, and contribute to the development of nutrients, fruit acids, and aromatic substances.

In summary: FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee research center that enjoys sharing coffee knowledge with everyone. Our unconditional sharing aims to help more friends fall in love with coffee. Each month, we hold three coffee promotion events with significant discounts because FrontStreet Coffee wants to let more friends enjoy the best coffee at the lowest prices—this has been FrontStreet Coffee's principle for the past six years!

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