Why is Mandheling Coffee Always Deep Roasted? What are the Characteristics of Mandheling, One of the World's Top Ten Famous Coffees?

Mandheling, as one of the world's top ten famous coffees (not sure who crowned it), FrontStreet Coffee believes that many friends, even if they haven't encountered it, must have heard of it due to its frequent appearance.

Have you ever noticed that almost all cafes serving Mandheling adopt deep-roasted Mandheling? This puzzles many friends - in today's era of light roast prevalence, why would some coffee beans persist in deep roasting? Recently, FrontStreet Coffee's storefront has received a frequently asked question: "Why is Mandheling always deep-roasted? Is it because light-roasted Mandheling doesn't taste good?"

This isn't FrontStreet Coffee exaggerating - recently, almost one in every twenty customers has asked this question. Before answering, we need to understand the misconceptions in both questions: first, not all Mandheling served in coffee shops is deep-roasted; second, light-roasted Mandheling is not unpleasant to drink. Since many customers have been asking this question recently, FrontStreet Coffee has specially roasted a batch of light-roasted Mandheling to share with everyone at the store.

Traditional Mandheling is typically roasted beyond second crack, which is the "charred" version on the right side of the image above. Meanwhile, the light-roasted Mandheling prepared by FrontStreet Coffee this time was removed from heat one minute after first crack, which is the version on the left side of the image. From the comparison above, we can see that besides the color difference, the size also varies significantly - this is the difference in color and size caused by different roasting degrees. Without further ado, FrontStreet Coffee will directly brew a pot of light-roasted Mandheling to share its taste with everyone. Extraction parameters are as follows: 20g coffee grounds, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, water temperature 92°C, grind setting at 10 on Ek43, three-pour brewing method, V60 dripper.

Skip the brewing process, total time 2 minutes. Overall, the light-roasted Mandheling actually performed quite well, with flavors of plum and kumquat's sweet and sour notes, and an oolong tea aftertaste. The characteristic "muted aroma" of traditional Mandheling was almost undetectable - neither outstanding nor poor. Although it lacks remarkable characteristics, we can at least confirm it won't be classified as unpleasant coffee. Returning to the original question, if light-roasted Mandheling isn't unpleasant, why do coffee shops still pursue deep-roasted Mandheling?

Why Most Mandheling is Deep-Roasted?

The reason Mandheling has such a deep connection with dark roasting can be understood as the result of decades of "cultivation" through historical traditions, regional characteristics, and market demands. As we all know, dark roasting was the mainstream roast level before the new millennium. Under extremely dark roasting conditions, not only are defect flavors eliminated, but the distinctive flavors of the coffee itself are also worn away. Floral and fruity notes, masked by the burnt aroma of dark roasts, lead to weakened regional flavor characteristics. This causes coffee from different regions to taste somewhat similar, lacking distinctiveness (it exists, but relatively weak).

Mandheling, however, is different. As FrontStreet Coffee has always emphasized when introducing Mandheling, it possesses a unique "muted aroma" that distinguishes it from regular dark-roasted coffee beans. This directly made it the most popular coffee in Japan before Blue Mountain "ascended the throne" as coffee royalty.

Due to Indonesia's extremely humid environment and short daylight hours where Mandheling is produced, traditional processing methods like sun-drying or washing cannot be used, as coffee would easily "trigger" mold risks. For this reason, locals have developed a "secret technique" over years of processing experience - the wet hulling method. For specific processing steps of wet hulling, you can refer to FrontStreet Coffee's article "Mandheling's Unique 'Muted Aroma'" for detailed explanation. Here, FrontStreet Coffee will briefly introduce the impact of wet hulling on the beans. Wet hulling allows coffee beans to dry quickly, but it also increases the probability of bean contamination.

Because coffee beans are stripped from all their protective layers early on, drying completely "exposed" under the sun or in humid air, this provides more opportunities for contact with dust and microorganisms. Moreover, due to the "rough" method of removing the bean husks, raw beans are easily crushed or wounded during processing, further increasing the possibility of contamination. This is why Mandheling requires several rounds of manual sorting before export - there are simply too many defective beans. (This might also be why wet hulling "didn't spread" widely)

But it is precisely this rough processing that creates Mandheling's unique characteristic flavor. Academic research suggests that it is the wet hulling method that exposes coffee beans to air early on, causing them to develop their unique muted aroma through "contamination" - a wild aroma of wood, herbs, and soil that only emerges through deep roasting. (This is why FrontStreet Coffee couldn't clearly detect it in the light-roasted Mandheling earlier. Of course, this also involves the combined effects of growing environment and varieties.) This unique aroma becomes more pronounced with deep roasting, forming a distinctive expression different from regular coffee. Combined with the rich mouthfeel brought by deep roasting, Mandheling's profile perfectly matches Japanese preferences. In this way, it became the wildly popular coffee in Japan before Blue Mountain coffee.

After years of packaging in the Japanese market, deep-roasted Mandheling successfully achieved global sales with its "intense" characteristic image. It can be said that it is precisely because of this image that Mandheling became widely known. Without deep roasting, this image would be difficult to form, which directly created the deep binding between Mandheling and dark roasting! Light-roasted Mandheling can be delicious, but it lacks the characteristics of deep-roasted Mandheling and cannot be significantly distinguished from coffees of other regions. This is why even in today's era of light roast prevalence, most coffee shops still maintain traditional deep roasting for their Mandheling. Because consumers are accustomed to the bitterness of deep-roasted Mandheling, accustomed to the muted aroma brought out by dark roasting. In other words, if Mandheling coffee lacked this "cultural symbol" that made it famous, could it still be called Mandheling?

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