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What is Ateng Mantin Coffee Bean Variety? The Story of Golden Mantin Coffee Beans and How to Brew for the Best Taste

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Golden Mantin coffee variety list shows "ateng" - do you know what type of coffee bean Ateng is? Ateng and its several subtypes are Catimor coffees widely cultivated in Sumatra and other islands of Indonesia, which are extensively grown throughout Sumatra and the Indonesian archipelago

The Origins of Mandheling Coffee Varieties

Currently, the Gold Mandheling coffee produced by PWN Company is of the Ateng variety, which is the local name used by Indonesian coffee farmers. In fact, it is Catimor. Originally, the coffee varieties grown in Indonesia were Typica, recognized for its excellent flavor, introduced to Java Island by the Dutch at the end of the 17th century, where it was called Bergendal or Sidikalang in Indonesia. So why did it change from Typica to the current Catimor?

Development of Coffee Cultivation in Indonesia

The beginning of Indonesian coffee can be traced back to the late 17th century when the Dutch captured Jakarta on Java Island, making it the headquarters of the Dutch East India Company in the East. The Dutch successively introduced two batches of Typica seedlings from India to Java for breeding. Until the 1870s, coffee cultivation areas were established in Sumatra, Bali, Sulawesi, and Timur of Indonesia, soon expanding from the original Java Island throughout Indonesia. However, this prosperity was short-lived. In 1869, the sudden coffee leaf rust swept through Asian coffee-producing regions, including Indonesia, where large areas of Typica trees withered.

To save the destroyed coffee plantations, the Indonesian government introduced Robusta varieties with stronger disease resistance from Africa and other places. Until now, Robusta remains the main variety in Indonesia. To ensure plant survival rates and increase coffee production, Indonesia continuously introduced various disease-resistant varieties from other countries. Among them, the Tim Tim, Bor Bor, and Catimor series (Ateng), which are hybrids of Robusta and Arabica, due to their excellent disease resistance, abundant yield, and adaptation to Sumatra's terroir, present a unique fir and herbal aroma. Soon, Ateng and Tim Tim gradually replaced the original Typica variety, becoming the main varieties in Sumatra and other regions, accounting for 70% of Sumatra's total coffee production.

FrontStreet Coffee's Indonesian Lindong Mandheling coffee is a mix of Tim Tim and Ateng, processed using the common Indonesian wet-hulling method, presenting a rich coffee bitter aroma with extremely minimal acidity. It carries herbal and spice notes, with a mellow and solid texture when tasted, making it a coffee with high recognizability.

Sumatran Semi-Washed Method - Wet-Hulling Process

Indonesia's annual humidity ranges from 70% to 90%. If washed processing were used for coffee, the raw beans would already mold and deteriorate in the humid air before fully drying. Therefore, they developed a semi-washed method that greatly shortens processing time - wet-hulling. The initial steps of the wet-hulling process are the same as the washed method. Indonesians first remove the pulp from coffee cherries and ferment them in water for 3 hours. After washing away the mucilage, the coffee beans with parchment undergo a short drying period of 2-3 days. When the hulled beans reach a semi-soft, semi-hard state with 20-24% moisture content, the parchment is removed, and then drying continues until the coffee's moisture content reaches 13% before packaging.

However, because the hulling machine uses greater friction to tear away the parchment layer tightly attached to the raw beans, the stirring effect of the friction also makes the raw beans more easily crushed or squeezed, especially at both ends, forming small gaps and creating "elephant beans." The "naked beans" without the parchment layer dry very quickly but are also directly exposed to humid environments, where various fungi proliferate. This gives Indonesian coffee its unique woody, spicy, and herbal notes - what we call "terroir flavor."

Obviously, wet-hulling shortens the fermentation period of coffee beans, reducing acidity, increasing body, and enhancing herbal and medicinal flavors. The "naked beans" still absorb moisture from the hot and humid air, forming the unique Sumatran earthy, herbal, and cedar "mellow aroma." After roasting, it presents rich flavors of dark chocolate, caramel, and nuts, greatly favored by the Japanese who love dark-roasted coffee.

The Story of Gold Mandheling Coffee

During World War II, the battlefield spread from Europe to Asia. Indonesia, then a Dutch colony, was invaded by Japan in 1942 after the Netherlands declared war on Japan. Japanese troops landed on Sumatra Island in February 1942. The Japanese, who already enjoyed coffee, experienced the charm of Mandheling coffee processed by the wet-hulling method in northern Sumatra and became loyal fans of Mandheling ever since.

Even the origin of the Mandheling coffee name is said to be related to the Japanese, supposedly formed due to a pronunciation misunderstanding. During WWII, a Japanese soldier accidentally drank a cup of rich and mellow coffee at a local café. The soldier was extremely impressed and asked the shop owner the name of the coffee. Due to language barriers, the owner mistakenly thought the soldier was asking about his origin and replied "Mandailing." After the war, the Japanese soldier commissioned an Indonesian broker to ship 15 tons of the "Mandheling coffee" from his memory to Japan, which turned out to be extremely popular. It can be said that this broker made Mandheling famous, and Mandheling also made this broker become the founder of the now-renowned PWN Coffee Company.

PWN Company mainly purchases local high-quality batches of Mandheling raw beans, producing only specialty grade Mandheling. "Gold Mandheling" is their signature product. At that time, the Japanese recognized the quality of Sumatra coffee and made long-term purchases, gradually discovering that the local bean quality was often inconsistent. Therefore, they became more attentive to Mandheling production and began establishing strict standards and methods for selecting defects, starting with values such as bean density, size, shape, and color. The produced Mandheling requires one machine selection plus four manual hand-sortings to remove defects, ensuring that the produced Mandheling beans are complete, uniform, large, and translucent, while reducing the earthy and grassy flavors of Mandheling. Legend has it that it glistens golden in the sun, hence the name "Gold Mandheling."

As the market for specialty Mandheling coffee grew larger, PWN Company also realized the importance of trademarks, registering the English "Gold Mandheling" as an exclusive trademark one step ahead of the Japanese. Therefore, only Gold Mandheling produced by PWN Company can be considered genuine "Gold Mandheling," while those produced by the Japanese had to be renamed "Top Mandheling." The Gold Mandheling that FrontStreet Coffee acquired is, of course, an authentic product from PWN Company. Everyone can identify genuine Gold Mandheling by the raw bean sacks with the PWN logo and a certificate of origin signed by PWN Company, which FrontStreet Coffee displays in its Dongshankou store.

How to Brew Gold Mandheling Coffee for Best Taste?

Some customers might ask FrontStreet Coffee: Which Mandheling is better to choose? If you're a coffee novice just starting out and want to understand flavors from different regions, FrontStreet Coffee suggests starting with our cost-effective Lindong Mandheling as a daily coffee bean. This way, you can understand the flavor characteristics of several major producing regions and then choose the type you prefer. But if you're already a coffee connoisseur, FrontStreet Coffee believes PWN Gold Mandheling coffee is an excellent choice.

Mandheling presents rich roasted coffee aroma and solid texture, suitable for various brewing and extraction methods, such as pour-over, siphon pot, French press, Aeropress, moka pot... FrontStreet Coffee's favorite way is to taste the rich texture of Gold Mandheling coffee in the form of pour-over black coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee prefers to use a KONO dripper for extracting coffee beans that express body. The KONO dripper only has short ribs in the middle and lower parts, while the upper part of the dripper is a smooth curved surface. This way, when we wet the filter, it can fit tightly with the filter paper, restricting the exhaust during coffee extraction. Therefore, the residence time of hot water in the dripper increases, coffee extraction rate increases, concentration also increases, making the coffee taste richer and more mellow. The KONO dripper is also suitable for beans with rich flavor profiles like Brazil Queen Estate coffee.

Generally, FrontStreet Coffee chooses 15g of coffee grounds. The choice of powder amount usually refers to the specifications of the filter cup design, and FrontStreet Coffee's filter cup is suitable for 1-2 people servings, ranging between 15-20g of powder. Too much can easily affect extraction. Regarding the choice of powder-to-liquid ratio, 1:15 is most commonly applied, and ratios between 1:13 and 1:17 are all acceptable. FrontStreet Coffee believes that everyone's taste is different, 1:13 might be too strong for some people, while 1:17 might be too weak, so we take the middle value of 1:15.

Brewing parameters: KONO dripper, 87 degrees Celsius water temperature, 1:15 powder-to-liquid ratio, China No. 20 standard sun-dried sieved 70% grind size, 15g coffee powder, three-stage extraction.

First wet the filter paper so it fits tightly with the filter cup, then pour in the ground coffee powder, trying to level the powder layer. Inject 30g of hot water from the center for a 30s pre-infusion, at which point you can see the dark roasted Mandheling coffee form a tall dome. Then start evenly injecting the second stage until the liquid weight reaches 125g. Wait for the coffee liquid to drop to the halfway position before starting the final injection of 100g. Note that the entire process should be injected steadily with a small water flow to avoid uneven extraction. Once all the coffee liquid has finished dripping, you can remove the filter cup, shake the coffee liquid in the sharing pot to mix, and begin tasting.

The brewing parameters mentioned by FrontStreet Coffee are based on fresh coffee beans, so freshly roasted coffee is the primary condition here. The coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee are freshly roasted within 5 days, so when you receive the coffee from logistics, it's just at its optimal tasting period. This is to ensure every customer can drink good coffee with the most complete flavors.

Freshly brewed PWN Gold Mandheling coffee obviously has a solid texture, with more intense notes of cedar, spice, dark chocolate, and roasted hazelnut. The aftertaste is clean, the flavor is elevated to another level, and you can feel the sweetness of caramel and the lingering finish.