Are coffee beans stored for many years considered aged coffee? How are aged coffee beans aged?

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Are aged coffee beans just coffee beans that have been stored for many years? This is likely the first reaction when people hear about aged Mandheling coffee for the first time. Without special and proper storage, if green coffee beans are stored for many years (here "many years" means more than three years), the moisture content of the green beans continuously decreases, and the aroma of the beans will dissipate.

Moreover, simply leaving coffee beans for many years as a method of "aging" can easily lead to mold and corruption phenomena. So how does FrontStreet Coffee's aged Mandheling coffee "age"?

FrontStreet Coffee — Aged Mandheling Coffee Beans

Origin: Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia

Altitude: 1100-1600m

Variety: Typica, 18 mesh

Processing Method: Aged Wet Hulling

Does green coffee bean moisture content affect roasting?

If the moisture content of green coffee beans is too low, the dehydration time during roasting becomes too fast, which prevents the coffee bean core from heating evenly, resulting in underdeveloped coffee beans (flavor表现为 grassy taste, astringency, etc.).

The dehydration process also causes caramelization reactions on the surface of coffee beans (commonly known as coloring). If a coffee bean has been stored for many years and its moisture content has significantly decreased, it can easily lead to a situation where the surface has sufficient caramelization while the coffee bean core remains underdeveloped during roasting.

Does aged green coffee affect coffee flavor?

Whether it's green coffee beans or roasted coffee beans, aroma dissipates over time. The difference is that when green coffee beans with dissipated flavors are roasted, the resulting coffee beans tend to have dull flavors. For example: Ethiopian natural processed Sidamo coffee beans originally exhibit full berry juice flavors and bright acidity.

If roasted after prolonged storage, they may show less full-bodied juice flavors, and the acidity is no longer bright. Of course! They won't have spoiled flavors. If that were the case, then these beans aren't suffering from years of storage but rather from improper storage causing deterioration.

The Emergence of Aged Coffee

Aged Mandheling actually has a long history in Indonesia. Because early shipping wasn't so developed, transporting coffee from Indonesia to other countries took a considerable amount of time. Over time, the originally moisture-rich fresh coffee beans gradually dried, and with the blowing of sea breeze, they developed a rather special flavor.

Unexpectedly, this flavor was favored by European colonists of that time. Gradually, advances in shipping greatly reduced transportation time, which meant these coffee beans didn't have enough time for the sea breeze "baptism," and the coffee flavors returned to normal. However, everyone actually felt the taste was wrong! Later, people researched various methods to develop aging processing methods to restore these "aged" coffee bean flavors.

How does the aging process "age" coffee beans?

Coffee beans first undergo wet hulling (wet hulling means using wooden peeling machines to remove the peel and pulp, fermenting for 3 hours, then drying to reduce moisture content to semi-dry and semi-wet 30-50%, then removing the mucilage and parchment layer, continuing with the final drying process for 2-4 days, reducing moisture content to 12-13%), then sealed in warehouses. The warehouse environment must be cool and ventilated, and the beans must be turned regularly to prevent mold and corruption. They are stored for more than two years but less than three years. During this period, the acidity of the coffee beans gradually weakens and converts to sugars, and the color becomes deeper, mostly yellowish-brown or dark brown, quite recognizable.

Through cupping, FrontStreet Coffee finds that aged Mandheling lacks the wildness of traditional Mandheling in taste, gaining more richness and delicacy, with lower acidity, giving a sense of mature stability. If you want to drink a highly full-bodied coffee at FrontStreet Coffee, then aged Mandheling coffee is your best choice.

What is Typica variety 18 mesh?

Typica top leaves are bronze-colored, the bean body is oval or thin and pointed, with elegant flavors, but weak constitution, poor disease resistance, and low fruit yield. 18 mesh refers to the aperture size of coffee fruit screens, with the goal of making each bean size diameter almost identical. When coffee beans are uniform in size, they heat more evenly during roasting, and the brewed coffee will be cleaner with clearer flavors.

FrontStreet Coffee Roasting Experience

FrontStreet Coffee suggests paying attention when roasting coffee because Mandheling green beans have high density and aged beans have low moisture, so heat adjustment at each stage must be particularly careful to avoid scorching the oil on the bean surface. Since aged Mandheling has low acidity, FrontStreet Coffee suggests roasting to medium-dark to increase its purity and smooth texture.

FrontStreet Coffee's roaster uses Yangjia 800N, with a bean input of 480g. Heat to 200°C and add beans, with air vent set to 3. After 1 minute, adjust heat to 160°C, keeping the air vent unchanged. Roast to 5'35", temperature reaches 146°C, bean surface turns yellow, grassy smell completely disappears, dehydration completed. Adjust heat to 140°C, air vent to 4. At 8'10", ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, toasted bread aroma明显转为咖啡香, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this point, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. At 9'30", first crack begins, reduce heat to 80°C, air vent to 5, and remove from roaster at 197.5°C.

FrontStreet Coffee Cupping Report

Dry Aroma: Herbal

Wet Aroma: Dark chocolate

Flavor: Ripe Pu'er, pine aroma, malt, caramel, dark chocolate

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Experience

The biggest difference between aged Mandheling and other Mandheling is the aging process over time, which eliminates a large amount of chlorogenic acid (astringent taste) and increases sweetness and body. When brewing, we want to highlight the sweetness and full-bodied texture, so we use the Kono Meimon filter cup for brewing. The characteristic of the Kono filter cup is its immersion function, which can use immersion to extract more coffee substances, enhancing the full-bodied texture.

Filter Cup: Kono Meimon

Coffee Amount: 15g

Coffee-Water Ratio: 1:15

Water Temperature: 89°C

Grind Size: Medium-coarse grind (approximately 73% pass-through rate on 0.85mm standard sieve)

FrontStreet Coffee uses segmented water pouring. The first segment uses 30g of water for 30 seconds of blooming. Since it's medium-dark roast, the coffee grounds appear particularly puffy. This segment is to wet the coffee grounds and release gases, providing a foundation for later uniform and stable extraction. The second segment uses small water flow in circular motion until reaching 125g. At this moment, a large amount of foam overflows, and the water level slowly rises to 2/3 of the filter cup. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring water to 225g and stop. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the filter cup (timing starts from blooming). Extraction time is 2'00".

Brewing Flavor: Aromas of pine, malt, and caramel assail the nose. The taste lacks the wildness of traditional Mandheling, gaining more richness and delicacy, with a sense of mature stability and lower acidity. The entrance reveals flavors of ripe Pu'er, caramel, herbs, and chocolate, with ample sweetness.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on WeChat: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473