Why is Golden Mandheling more expensive than Mandheling coffee beans? How to brew Golden Mandheling coffee beans

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If you ask FrontStreet Coffee if there are any non-acidic coffee beans, the entire team at FrontStreet Coffee would definitely recommend Mandheling coffee from Indonesia. Indonesian coffee has a higher body compared to coffee from Central and South America and Asia, and its acidity is not as pronounced as coffee from these other two continents. FrontStreet Coffee has cupped coffee beans from different Indonesian producing regions and found that Indonesian coffee beans are characterized by their spicy and herbal aromas, with some lower-quality beans exhibiting woody and earthy flavors.

Indonesian Coffee Cultivation

At the end of the 17th century, the Dutch East India Company transplanted Arabica coffee from Arabia to Jakarta on Java Island. Due to suitable climate and soil conditions, Arabica quickly spread to Sumatra in northwest Java and Sulawesi in northeast Java. In 1880, Java suffered a severe leaf rust outbreak that caused large-scale death of Arabica plants. The Dutch therefore switched to cultivating the more disease-resistant Robusta, stabilizing Indonesia's coffee production.

Today, Robusta remains the mainstay of Indonesian coffee, accounting for 90% of Indonesia's coffee production and distributed in low-altitude areas like Java. Meanwhile, elegant-flavored Arabica coffee beans are distributed in northern Sumatra, Sulawesi, and higher-altitude regions of Java Island. Although these specialty coffees account for only 10% of Indonesia's coffee production, the reputation of high-quality Arabica beans like Mandheling and Golden Mandheling has made Indonesian coffee famous in the specialty coffee world for decades.

Mandheling is Actually the Name of an Indonesian Ethnic Group

Many friends have asked FrontStreet Coffee whether Mandheling is a coffee variety or a producing region. Actually, it's neither. FrontStreet Coffee, through researching historical materials, found that during World War II, Japanese soldiers tasted a very delicious coffee bean and curiously asked locals what this coffee was. The locals mistakenly thought the soldiers were asking where they were from, and replied that they were from the Mandheling ethnic group.

This beautiful misunderstanding gave this coffee its beautiful name. The local who answered the Japanese soldiers also recognized the business opportunity and established what is now the famous Pwani Coffee Company (PWN) in Indonesia's coffee industry - the company that registered the trademark for Golden Mandheling. FrontStreet Coffee's popular Golden Mandheling comes from PWN Company.

Indonesian Specialty Coffee Producing Regions

As mentioned above, 90% of coffee beans cultivated in Indonesia are Robusta varieties, while the remaining 10% of Arabica coffee beans are mainly produced in the Lake Toba Lintong region and Gayo Mountain in Aceh, Sumatra, Java Island (Jawa), and Sulawesi Island (Sulawesi). Indonesian producing regions typically have two harvest seasons: the main harvest season (main crop) occurs around September-October, while the secondary harvest season (fly crop) is in May-June.

Lake Toba Lintong Region

Lake Toba is geographically located north of Medan, the provincial capital of Sumatra Island, and is a high-altitude freshwater lake with an average elevation of about 900m. The lake is diamond-shaped, 100 kilometers long and 30 kilometers wide, covering an area of 1,130 square kilometers. It is a highland lake with an average elevation of 1100-1600 meters and is also the world's largest volcanic lake. The commonly referred to Mandheling coffee refers to Typica or its variant coffee beans grown in the mountainous areas around Lake Toba, with Lintong being the most famous Mandheling coffee producing region in the Lake Toba area. Lintong Mandheling is the regular version of Mandheling. Lintong Mandheling also uses the conventional wet-hulling method, which results in its low acidity and high body characteristics. However, a situation that can occur with wet-hulling is that when semi-hard, semi-soft moist raw beans have their parchment and mucilage layers removed, they are easily compressed and injured. The beans crack open like goat hooves, commonly known as "goat hoof beans," which are not defective beans but rather a significant characteristic of Mandheling.

Aceh Gayo Mountain Region

The Gayo Mountain region is located in Aceh Province on the northern part of Sumatra Island. Coffee in the Gayo Mountain region is grown on the slopes surrounding the town of Takegon and Lake Tawar. The growing altitude in the production areas averages between 1,110 and 1,600 meters. Coffee is cultivated by small tenant farmers under shade trees and processed using the wet-hulled method, exhibiting unique flavors with deep and lively full-bodied characteristics. Aceh, at the northernmost tip of Sumatra Island, is a fascinating and complex place. Due to long-term political instability, Aceh is not a region typically visited by ordinary people.

Java Island Region

Java holds an extremely important position in coffee history. Unlike most other Indonesian coffees that grow on small farms for initial processing, Java Arabica coffee grows on large farms or plantations, mostly operated by the government, all using modern methods for washed processing. The variety belongs to S795, locally called Jember, and is artificially cultivated. Java produces refined aromatic coffee with relatively low acidity, delicate taste, and good balance. Java coffee's aroma and acidity are superior to coffee from Sumatra and Sulawesi islands. The best Java plantations include Blawan, Jambit, Kayumas, and Pankur. Java Mocha coffee is a blend of Java coffee and Yemen Mocha coffee.

Sulawesi Island Region

The old name of Sulawesi Island is Celebes. Sulawesi is one of the oldest islands in the archipelago, with exposed rocks exceeding millions of years. Yellow-red podzolic soils are found in coffee production areas. These soils often have several layers of clay beneath the surface, rich in iron content. The most famous producing region is Toraja, located in the highlands of South Sulawesi.

Coffee beans produced in Toraja are also among the world's rarest specialty beans, with an annual output of about 1,000 metric tons, distributed in the rugged slopes at about 1200m altitude in central and southwestern Sulawesi Island. Cultivation and harvesting are not easy, with an average annual yield of only 300 kilograms per hectare. Semi-washed processing is the common processing method for Sulawesi Island. The region also produces many Robusta beans and is most often used as the representative name for Sulawesi coffee. Specialty coffee beans from Sulawesi Toraja have bright acidity, distinct layers, rich caramel sweetness, while the heavy herbal and spicy flavors are more restrained, with slight floral notes.

Indonesian Mandheling Coffee Cultivation Varieties

There are over 20 varieties of Arabica coffee circulating in the Indonesian commercial market, common ones include Catuai, Catimor, Timor Hybrid, Typica, Robusta, Liberica, Ekselsa, and Sidikalong. The most famous is Typica, the original cultivated variety introduced by the Dutch. When Indonesian coffee suffered from leaf rust disease, many Typica varieties disappeared in the late 1880s. Today's Indonesian Typica varieties are mainly planted in Sumatra and Sulawesi.

Typica has excellent flavor performance and is recognized as a specialty coffee variety, but its yield is extremely low and it is susceptible to rust disease, requiring more labor-intensive management. Typica coffee originates from southeastern Ethiopia and Sudan and is the most widely cultivated coffee variety in the Western Hemisphere. The plant is relatively robust but not resistant to sunlight. The top leaves of Typica are reddish-bronze, called copper-top coffee.

Wet-Hulling Processing Method

Due to the local weather being predominantly rainy with continuous typhoons, it's impossible to achieve the good weather required for sun-drying. Additionally, the local economy is not good, making it equally impossible to use the washed method, which is more expensive. For these various reasons, the locally distinctive wet-hulling method was developed (wet-hulling involves sun-drying with parchment for 2-3 days during the regular washed processing until the moisture content reaches 20-24%, then hulling the parchment).

The ultra-fast processing speed of wet-hulling also results in a higher defect rate for Mandheling. Golden Mandheling effectively avoids this shortcoming. Golden Mandheling specifications are above 19 screen size, with fewer than 3 defective beans (300g raw bean sample), belonging to the highest grade G1 level, with a color偏向深绿色, and uniform flat bean shape.

The Difference Between Mandheling and Golden Mandheling

Speaking of which, some friends start to ask FrontStreet Coffee, what's the difference between Mandheling and Golden Mandheling? For professional-level coffee connoisseurs and taste-sensitive coffee friends, if these two coffees are consumed simultaneously, the results will show very clear contrasts. The sweetness and cleanliness, body, and wild spice flavors of Golden Mandheling are superior to G1 grade, which is one reason why Golden Mandheling is much more expensive than G1.

First, Mandheling requires layer-by-layer screening, which FrontStreet Coffee believes is absolutely necessary. Its probability of defective beans is too high, plus its unattractive appearance - sometimes even good beans look like defective ones. Every time FrontStreet Coffee selects Mandheling beans, they can pick out a handful of defective beans, but looking back at the defective beans, they feel they can't really be considered defective - their appearance is just that unsightly. However, roasted Mandheling, like a caterpillar breaking out of its cocoon to become a butterfly, results in very full-bodied roasted beans that are quite pleasing to the eye.

If Mandheling is a specialty among Indonesian coffees, then Golden Mandheling is the superior specialty among Mandheling coffees. Golden Mandheling is obtained through careful manual selection of full-bodied, lustrous Mandheling coffee - absolutely a stunning beauty among coffees. In fact, to improve the problem of high defect rates in Mandheling, Japanese people long ago began implementing meticulous quality control, using four manual selections to eliminate defective beans. Unfortunately, "golden mandheling" was trademarked by Indonesia's Pawani Coffee Company, making Golden Mandheling exclusive to PWN, which was also one of the first companies to sell Mandheling coffee beans to Japan.

PWN's is the true Golden Mandheling in the real sense. Golden Mandheling stamped with the PWN brand undergoes three manual selections and one machine selection, making the beans very beautiful and, on the other hand, very uniform, resulting in cleaner-tasting roasted coffee. PWN Company has registered the trademark for Golden Mandheling, meaning only Golden Mandheling produced by PWN Company can be considered true "Golden Mandheling." FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling coffee comes from PWN Company. Golden Mandheling originates from Mandheling and can be understood as carefully selected Mandheling, which is why FrontStreet Coffee chose to stock it. FrontStreet Coffee cuppings 300-500 groups of beans annually, selecting one-fifth with the most regionally representative flavors, and Golden Mandheling is a representative work under this selection. FrontStreet Coffee believes that Golden Mandheling coffee beans excellently represent the Sumatran style.

FrontStreet Coffee feels that if only explaining the differences between Mandheling and Golden Mandheling, some friends might still be confused. No problem, next FrontStreet Coffee will use Mandheling coffee beans from the Lintong region and Golden Mandheling from the Gayo Mountain region for raw bean, roasting, cupping, and brewing comparisons to see how these two beans perform.

FrontStreet Coffee Raw Bean Analysis

Lintong Mandheling does not focus on screening, so coffee beans will vary in size; while Golden Mandheling specifications are above 18 screen size, with fewer than 3 defective beans (300g raw bean sample), belonging to the highest grade G1 level, with a color偏向深绿色, and uniform flat bean shape. After strict screening, Golden Mandheling not only lacks the earthy impurity flavors characteristic of regular Mandheling but tastes cleaner and brighter, with stronger sweetness.

FrontStreet Coffee Roasting Records

Golden Mandheling

Yangjia 800N, bean input 480g. Heat to 200°C, damper open to 3. After 1 minute, adjust heat to 160°C, damper unchanged. Roast to 5'40", temperature 148°C, bean surface turns yellow, grassy smell completely disappears, dehydration complete. Adjust heat to 140°C, damper to 4. At 9'40", ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on bean surface, toast aroma clearly transforms to coffee aroma, can be defined as prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. At 9'54", first crack begins, adjust heat to 60°C, damper open to 5, discharge at 204.5°C.

Lintong Mandheling

Yangjia 800N, bean input 480g. Heat to 200°C, damper open to 3. After 1 minute, adjust heat to 160°C, damper unchanged. Roast to 5'18", temperature 148°C, bean surface turns yellow, grassy smell completely disappears, dehydration complete. Adjust heat to 140°C, damper to 4. At 8'00", ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on bean surface, toast aroma clearly transforms to coffee aroma, can be defined as prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. At 9'00", first crack begins, adjust heat to 80°C, damper open to 5, discharge at 202°C.

FrontStreet Coffee Cupping Reports

FrontStreet Coffee conducts cupping within 8-24 hours after roasting sample coffee beans. FrontStreet Coffee's baristas typically use 200ml ceramic cupping bowls marked with 150ml and 200ml measurement lines. Following SCAA standards, water TDS is around 150ppm - too low TDS can easily cause over-extraction, while too high affects taste and causes under-extraction. Cupping water temperature is 94°C. Cupping grind size follows SCAA cupping standards, controlled to pass through a #20 standard sieve (0.85mm) at 70%-75% rate. Ratio: 11g coffee powder plus 200ml hot water, i.e., 1:18.18, so extraction concentration falls within the 1.15%-1.35% golden cup range. Steeping time: 4 minutes.

Golden Mandheling Cupping Report

Dry Aroma: Pine, herbal
Wet Aroma: Herbal, nuts
Flavor: Toasted bread, nuts, pine, herbal, nuts

Lintong Mandheling Cupping Report

Dry Aroma: Herbal
Wet Aroma: Dark chocolate
Flavor: Herbal, dark chocolate, caramel

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Tips

Brewing parameters: Using Kono dripper
Water temperature: 88°C
Coffee amount: 15g
Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15
Grind size: Medium-fine grind (China standard #20 sieve 70-75% pass rate)

For darker roasted coffee beans to highlight the body, FrontStreet Coffee chooses to brew with Kono dripper. The characteristic of Kono dripper lies in its steeping function, which can use steeping to extract more coffee substances and enhance the full-bodied taste. Because its ribs are few and located at the bottom, it allows the filter paper to fit tightly against the dripper to achieve the effect of restricting airflow, thereby slowing water flow and increasing water-coffee contact time.

FrontStreet Coffee uses segmented extraction, also called three-stage brewing: use 30g water for 30-second bloom, then pour with small water flow in circles to 125g for segmentation. When water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 225g and stop. When water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the dripper (timing starts from bloom). Extraction time: 2'05"-2'15".

Golden Mandheling: Multi-layered, full-bodied and clean, high balance, rich nut and caramel aroma, with chocolate notes, persistent aftertaste.

Lintong Mandheling: Herbal and medicinal notes on entry, dark chocolate, caramel, sweet aftertaste.

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