What Variety is Indonesian Peaberry Coffee and What are the Characteristics of Mandheling Coffee Beans

FrontStreet Coffee - Indonesian Peaberry and Mandheling Coffee Introduction

Mandheling coffee grows on the world's sixth-largest island—Sumatra, which has a tropical rainforest climate with lush tropical vegetation and a serene environment. It faces the Malay Peninsula across the Malacca Strait to the northeast, borders the Indian Ocean to the west, and is adjacent to the South China Sea and Java Island to the east, with Java Island visible to the southeast.

The English name for Mandheling is Mandheling, and Mandheling coffee is world-renowned, pursued by many coffee enthusiasts. Mandheling coffee is primarily grown and processed in the northern part of Sumatra Island. This coffee bean is named after the local indigenous group called Mandheling and is one of the most famous coffees from Sumatra.

The origin of Mandheling coffee beans mainly stems from World War II, when a Japanese soldier stationed on Sumatra Island tasted coffee given to him by locals—what we now know as Mandheling coffee. He found it quite good and asked the indigenous Sumatran people what kind of coffee it was. However, the Sumatran resident misunderstood his question, thinking he was asking about her identity and origin, so she replied "Mandheling."

Later, after Mandheling was introduced to Japan, the name spread locally and eventually became recognized as the generic name for coffee produced in northern Sumatra, characterized by low acidity and made from mixed beans. Subsequently, merchants from various countries began to inquire about purchasing this Mandheling coffee.

What is Wet-Hulling?

This is a unique coffee bean processing method created by Indonesians that can express the unique flavor of Indonesian coffee. To be more specific, wet-hulling is a semi-wet, semi-dry processing method. After removing the outer skin and pulp of the coffee cherry, it is temporarily not washed with water. Instead, the external mucilage and coffee beans are allowed to ferment together for about one day. Then, water is used to remove the mucilage, followed by direct sun drying. The "wet" in wet-hulling refers to not drying it completely during sun drying, leaving approximately 30-40% moisture content. Next, the outer shell of the coffee beans is removed, and they can be sold. The result of processing coffee this way is that it can reduce the acidity of coffee beans more than the washed method, and the coffee's flavor becomes richer and fuller-bodied—this is Indonesia's unique characteristic.

Bali's specialty peaberry coffee is priced at approximately $75-85 (sold in packs of 6), equivalent to about 500-600 RMB. This so-called Bali peaberry coffee is actually locally produced round bean coffee—simply small round beans selected from numerous coffee beans. If you buy Yunnan peaberry (round bean) in China, the same weight would cost only 100-200 RMB.

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