How to Brew the Rich Flavor of Indonesian Mandheling Coffee Beans - Golden Mandheling Brewing Guide and Flavor Profile

Mandheling Coffee: Perfecting Your Brew

Mandheling coffee is one of Indonesia's most renowned specialty coffees, distinguished by its unique herbal and earthy notes. Some describe it as cigar-like, others as spicy, while still others detect grassy qualities. Some friends have told FrontStreet Coffee that their home-brewed Mandheling coffee only tastes bitter, completely lacking the aromatic qualities they experience in cafés. Today, FrontStreet Coffee will use their Golden Mandheling as an example to explain how to brew better Mandheling coffee.

Start with Freshly Roasted Golden Mandheling Beans

Before brewing, FrontStreet Coffee first confirms the freshness of the Golden Mandheling beans. If the coffee beans were roasted more than a month ago, FrontStreet Coffee will not use them for service. Coffee beans have an optimal flavor window after roasting, during which aromatic compounds rapidly dissipate with time, making it difficult to fully restore the original flavors during brewing. This is why FrontStreet Coffee insists on shipping only coffee roasted within 5 days – FrontStreet Coffee wants every customer to experience the complete flavor profile of their coffee beans.

Understanding Mandheling's Processing Method

FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling is produced by Indonesia's renowned PWN company using the wet-hulling processing method. While wet-hulling increases the defect rate of coffee beans considerably, it doesn't negatively affect the flavor profile. Instead, it brings out a distinctive herbal aroma. During the final drying stage of wet-hulling, the beans are exposed directly to the environment without parchment protection, allowing various microorganisms to develop. This gives Indonesian coffee its unique woody, spicy, and herbal characteristics – what we call "terroir."

Because wet-hulling involves forcefully removing the parchment layer when the beans are still partially dry through "rough" friction, Mandheling beans undergo significant pressure during production. The beans are pressed until deformed or even cracked. Therefore, wet-hulling results in a higher defect rate for Mandheling beans.

PWN company invests significant human resources in their green beans. First, they only purchase Grade 1 Mandheling coffee from the Lake Tawa region of Mount Gayo in northwestern Sumatra. Then, through four rounds of manual sorting, they ensure uniform color, shape, and size of the Mandheling beans. As a result, PWN Golden Mandheling offers a cleaner, brighter cup with more pronounced body and sweetness. (Green beans above 18 mesh size with fewer than 3 defective beans in a 300g sample qualify as Grade 1 – the highest grade for Indonesian green beans).

To present Mandheling's classic full-bodied flavor, Frontsteet's roasters opt for medium-dark roasting, which enhances the爆发 of dark chocolate and caramel aromas. FrontStreet Coffee's baristas also adjust their brewing methods based on the bean's roast level and flavor profile.

Coffee-to-Water Ratio

FrontStreet Coffee uses 15g of coffee grounds for a single serving. The amount of coffee is typically determined by the filter cup's design specifications. Frontsteet's filter cups are suitable for 1-2 servings, using between 15-20g of coffee. Using too much coffee can be difficult to control and may result in muddled extraction flavors.

Regarding the coffee-to-water ratio, 1:15 is most commonly used, though ratios between 1:13 and 1:17 are all acceptable. Those who prefer a richer taste might choose 1:13, while those who prefer something lighter might opt for 1:17. FrontStreet Coffee believes everyone's taste preferences differ – 1:13 might be too strong for some people, while 1:17 might be too weak. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee typically uses the middle value of 1:15.

Use a Coarser Grind

Dark roasting makes the internal structure of coffee beans more porous – they can be easily crushed with gentle finger pressure, indicating significant structural changes. Once ground, the coffee becomes highly absorbent. To prevent over-extraction and the release of excessive bitter compounds after the grounds absorb water, FrontStreet Coffee uses a coarser grind than for light-roasted beans. Here, a medium-coarse grind is used (70% retention on China standard #20 sieve), which corresponds to setting 11 on the EK43s grinder in their café.

Use Lower Water Temperature

Roasting triggers caramelization and Maillard reactions in coffee beans. As the roast level deepens, more non-enzymatic browning occurs from the interaction and decomposition of monosaccharides and amino acids under heat, making it easier to extract bitter, high-molecular-weight compounds. To avoid extracting excessive undesirable flavors, FrontStreet Coffee lowers the water temperature slightly. While light-roasted coffee is brewed at 91-93°C, FrontStreet Coffee recommends 87-88°C for dark-roasted beans.

Choose a KONO Dripper

For full-bodied coffees like Indonesian Mandheling, Brazil's Queen Estate, and Jamaican Blue Mountain, FrontStreet Coffee's baristas prioritize using the KONO dripper for brewing. Compared to the V60, the KONO dripper features a smoother curved surface. This design actually ensures that after wetting, the filter paper closely adheres to the dripper walls. With only one-quarter of the dripper's height featuring flow ribs, upward airflow is restricted, forcing water to exit only through the bottom into the server. This increases the contact time between coffee grounds and water, creating an immersion-style extraction that yields a rounder, fuller-bodied cup.

Multi-Stage Pouring for Enhanced Sweetness

The brewing method uses a three-stage pouring technique to better express Golden Mandheling's full body and caramel sweetness.

Rinse the KONO dripper to ensure the filter paper adheres better to the dripper. After discarding the rinse water from the server, add 15g of ground coffee. Pour 30g of water for a 30-second bloom, ensuring all grounds are saturated to release CO2 for better flavor extraction in subsequent pours. Some friends extend the bloom time to 45 or 50 seconds when brewing light-roasted beans to enhance the aroma in the early stages. However, with dark-roasted Mandheling, excessive blooming can release too many woody and undesirable flavors, so FrontStreet Coffee opts for a 30-second bloom.

For the second pour, start from the center with small circular movements, pouring slowly and steadily until reaching 125g.

Wait until the coffee bed drops to halfway down the dripper, then begin the third pour using the same technique until reaching 225g. Remove the dripper once all dripping is complete. Total extraction time should be two minutes, with a 10-second margin either way. Finally, gently swirl the server to mix the coffee liquid before enjoying your handcrafted Golden Mandheling black coffee.

The freshly ground Golden Mandheling offers nutty and toasted bread aromas, while brewing releases sweet caramel fragrances. The brewed Mandheling presents spice and dark chocolate notes, with a full yet clean mouthfeel, pronounced sweetness in the aftertaste, and a persistent finish.

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

For more specialty coffee beans, add FrontStreet Coffee on WeChat (ID: qjcoffeex).

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473