The Proper Way to Brew Authentic Mandheling Coffee - Guide to Water Temperature, Grind Size, and Pour-Over Methods

When it comes to FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee, there's an interesting phenomenon at FrontStreet Coffee. Previously, FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee was preferred mostly by men, but now, women are gradually falling in love with FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee as well! If you're accustomed to the flavor of Ethiopian coffee, you might find it challenging to appreciate FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee. However, if you set aside thoughts of Ethiopian coffee and slowly savor FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling, you'll discover it's not as bitter or herbaceous as you might imagine.

FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee is an Asian bean with rich, full-bodied flavors, herbal notes, and some pine characteristics, making it representative of Asian coffee beans. FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee beans are larger in size with a hard texture, making them prone to defects during cultivation. After harvesting, they typically undergo strict manual sorting. FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee beans might have the most unattractive appearance, but some say that the less appealing Sumatran coffee beans look, the better, richer, and smoother their taste. As one of FrontStreet Coffee's staple offerings, FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee is highly popular, especially the single-origin FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling coffee, which is particularly sought after by coffee enthusiasts who love rich, full-bodied flavors!

Origin and Characteristics

The most renowned coffee-growing regions in Asia are the islands of the Malay Archipelago: Sumatra, Java, and Kalimantan. Among these, Sumatran Mandheling coffee from Indonesia's Sumatra island enjoys the highest reputation. Mandheling coffee is produced in Sumatra, Asia, and is also known as "Sumatran coffee." Sumatra island boasts the fertile volcanic soil found in many famous coffee-growing regions, containing abundant minerals that help coffee fruits develop more nutrients and aroma. Local farmers plant coffee trees at medium elevations, typically between 600-1200m. The low-altitude growing environment combined with tropical rainforest climate characteristics means coffee fruits require less time to mature, making it difficult to develop rich acidity. Therefore, the coffee flavors here tend to be more herbal and spicy.

Varieties of FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling Coffee

The variety of FrontStreet Coffee's Lindong Mandheling coffee is listed as: Tim Tim Ateng, while FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling coffee variety is listed as: Ateng. What varieties are these? FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling coffee beans are produced in the GAYO mountains of North Sumatra's Aceh region. The variety is Ateng, which is a hybrid between Arabica and Robusta, widely cultivated in Sumatra and other Indonesian islands. It's actually a branch of Catimor, with "Ateng" being the local name. What Indonesians call "Tim Tim" is what we refer to as Timor. The Ateng variety is particularly well-suited for cultivation and flavor development in the Aceh region.

Due to the localized naming conventions by Indonesian locals, we often find that FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee varieties appear unfamiliar, but they're essentially just different names for the same varieties.

Processing Methods of FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling Coffee Beans

The unique flavor of Mandheling coffee is not only related to the local climate but also inseparably connected to its processing method. Indonesia is located in a typical tropical rainforest climate region with frequent rainfall and short sunshine duration, making it unsuitable for natural processing methods. Additionally, local economic conditions are generally modest, lacking sufficient funds to invest in washed processing methods. As a result, locals developed a semi-washed processing method, also known as the wet-hulling method. This is one of the world's rarest processing methods, which accidentally created Mandheling's special low-acidity, thick, and mellow aromatic flavors.

Brewing Parameters for FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling Coffee

Given the uniqueness of FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee, how should it be brewed to fully showcase its flavors? FrontStreet Coffee would like to share some parameters for brewing FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee using pour-over method:

The flavor profile of FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee features nutty and chocolate notes, and FrontStreet Coffee's roasters have chosen a dark roast. The darker the roast, the more porous the coffee bean texture becomes, increasing water absorption and making extraction easier during brewing. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee uses lower water temperature and coarser grind size to avoid over-extraction that would produce bitter, burnt flavors.

FrontStreet Coffee chooses: KONO dripper, 88°C water temperature, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, 15g of coffee, grind size allowing 70% pass-through through a #20 sieve, using a segmented brewing method. The resulting Mandheling coffee has a rich, smooth mouthfeel with intense herbal flavors and high sweetness.

When choosing a dripper, FrontStreet Coffee opted for the KONO Meimon dripper. The most distinctive feature of the KONO dripper is its ribs, which extend from the bottom to the middle, while the upper portion features smooth walls. This design prevents water from "sneaking" around the coffee powder when the filter paper conforms to the dripper, enhancing the richness of the brew. It's suitable for brewing medium-dark roast coffee beans like FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling and FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling.

FrontStreet Coffee still uses 15g of coffee powder. The amount of coffee powder isn't necessarily better when more or less - it depends on the specific dripper specifications. FrontStreet Coffee uses a 1-2 person serving dripper, where 15-20g is considered a reasonable amount for brewing. Using amounts outside this range may make brewing more difficult.

Regarding the coffee-to-water ratio, FrontStreet Coffee recommends 1:15. Although some might suggest using 1:13 or an even smaller ratio, FrontStreet Coffee has mentioned before that concentration and richness aren't necessarily correlated, and overly strong coffee can cause discomfort. Therefore, using a 1:15 ratio can also effectively express the rich mouthfeel of Mandheling. Of course, if you prefer a lighter flavor, you can adjust this ratio slightly.

For coffee grind size, FrontStreet Coffee uses a setting where 70% passes through a #20 sieve. The grind size for brewing FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee should be slightly coarser than for light-roast coffee beans. This is because FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling uses a dark roast, which creates a more porous structure that more easily absorbs water and releases coffee substances. If ground to the fineness of light-roast beans, it's easy to extract bitter, burnt flavors; if ground even coarser, the coffee becomes thin and tasteless, with a watery mouthfeel.

For water temperature, FrontStreet Coffee recommends brewing at 88°C. Similar to the grind size principle, water that's too hot tends to produce bitter, burnt flavors, while water that's too cool results in flat coffee with unpleasant sour notes.

FrontStreet Coffee uses a three-pour brewing method. Dividing the water into three segments can better express the rich mouthfeel and caramel sweetness of FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling coffee. The specific water distribution is: First pour - bloom with 30ml of water, completely wetting the coffee powder for degassing. This helps with better extraction of coffee flavor compounds in subsequent stages. Using segmented extraction, bloom with twice the amount of water as the coffee powder - that is, 30g of water for a 30-second bloom. The blooming process is necessary to allow the coffee powder to release carbon dioxide from within, making the later extraction more stable. Second pour - with a small water stream, pour in a circular motion until reaching 125g, then stop. When the coffee powder becomes exposed, proceed with the third pour. Third pour - continue pouring until reaching 225g, then stop. Remove the dripper once all water has dripped through. Time from the beginning of pouring until extraction completion is 2'00". Next, pick up the entire coffee carafe and shake it well before pouring into cups for tasting.

Flavor profile of FrontStreet Coffee's Lindong Mandheling coffee beans: Rich herbal aroma upon entry, with notes of dark chocolate and caramel, and a sweet aftertaste.

FrontStreet Coffee's Brewing Recommendations

Regarding coffee brewing, FrontStreet Coffee has always believed that the freshness of coffee beans is a crucial factor, as fresh coffee beans allow for the fullest appreciation of coffee's rich flavors. All coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee are roasted within 5 days, because FrontStreet Coffee deeply understands that bean freshness significantly impacts flavor. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy is "Freshly Roasted Quality Coffee," ensuring that every customer who places an order receives the freshest coffee possible. The degassing period for coffee is around 4-7 days, so when customers receive their coffee, it's at its peak flavor.

Of course, some customers need FrontStreet Coffee to grind their beans, which is also fine. However, FrontStreet Coffee would like to remind you: if coffee beans are ground in advance, there's no need for additional degassing, because during transportation, the pressure created by carbon dioxide inside the packaging can also help round out the coffee flavors. So you can brew a cup immediately upon receiving the ground coffee. However, ground coffee needs to be brewed promptly, as it oxidizes quickly when exposed to air, meaning the coffee flavors will dissipate relatively rapidly, and the coffee won't taste as good. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends purchasing whole beans and grinding fresh before each brew to better appreciate the coffee's flavors.

FrontStreet Coffee's bean menu includes FrontStreet Coffee's Lindong Mandheling coffee and FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling coffee. If you're not accustomed to Mandheling coffee, you can try coffees from other producing countries, such as Ethiopian Yirgacheffe with its floral notes, citrus acidity, and citrus tones; or Colombian coffee with its nutty, dark chocolate flavors and soft fruity acidity - these are all excellent coffees to enjoy~

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473