Guatemala vs. Mandheling Coffee: Which Is Better? Is Guatemala SHB the Highest Grade?

Guatemala SHB vs. Mandheling Coffee: A Comprehensive Comparison

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Guatemala SHB: The high-altitude coffee of Guatemala. If Mandheling's flavor tends to be masculine, then Guatemala's coffee is feminine. It primarily features caramel or chocolate-like sweetness with blueberry or raspberry acidity, with bitterness not being very prominent. The body is perfectly balanced - when brewed properly, it becomes an exceptionally elegant cup. If asked which is more bitter between Guatemala and Mandheling coffee, Mandheling is definitely more bitter. Most people cannot accept the bitterness of Mandheling coffee, but FrontStreet Coffee is a loyal fan of Mandheling coffee.

Coffee from every region carries its own local flavors, further enhanced by the coffee bean processing methods adapted to local climate conditions, making the flavors of coffee beans naturally even more distinct. Guatemala and Mandheling coffee represent two completely different taste profiles.

Guatemala coffee beans are renowned for their bright fruit acidity and smoky finish in the aftertaste. Guatemala borders Mexico to the north, Honduras and El Salvador to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Its privileged geography, encompassing both mountains and seas, featuring tropical rainforests, volcanic geology, highland valleys, and diverse microclimates, gives Guatemala coffee beans their unique flavor characteristics. Therefore, Guatemala's coffee beans naturally carry some smoky notes in their aftertaste.

Mandheling belongs to Asian coffee beans, yet its口感 resembles Blue Mountain coffee, both known for their "rich" body. Mandheling coffee has a very intense flavor - aromatic, bitter, and full-bodied, with a hint of sweetness. Mandheling coffee is regarded by coffee connoisseurs as the most full-bodied coffee. FrontStreet Coffee certainly agrees with this assessment. Mandheling coffee's body ranks among the top in specialty coffee, with its heavy body and low acidity being its characteristics. The smoothness and sweetness of dark chocolate and caramel provide a very long-lasting aftertaste, creating complex flavor layers. Especially in the Asian region, Mandheling coffee holds a significant position.

Guatemala Growing Environment

Guatemala has a high average altitude, with coffee growing zones distributed above 1,500 meters, making it ideal for producing extremely hard beans. Guatemala coffee beans are primarily processed using the washed method, with 45% classified as specialty grade - a remarkably high proportion. Guatemala Antigua coffee not only has smooth bean surfaces with high hardness and excellent quality, but also features a perfect balance of rich acidity and sweetness, plus a hint of smokiness that further emphasizes its depth and mystery.

Located in the center of North and South America, Guatemala's geographical position holds significant importance in Central America. The country covers approximately 108,899 square kilometers. Its geographical features can be divided into: highland volcanoes, lowland tropical forests, Pacific coastal volcanic sand plains, and Caribbean coastal virgin lands. The Central American Sierra Madre mountain range spans east to west across Guatemala, covering about 2/3 of the territory, with 34 volcanoes within the country. In this nation, rivers and lakes dot the landscape, while equatorial forests and plains jungles cover the land. There are also undeveloped volcanic beaches along both Pacific and Caribbean coasts.

Coffee produced in Guatemala ranks among the world's top-tier coffees, as the country belongs to high-altitude volcanic terrain, and these volcanoes provide the most ideal conditions for coffee cultivation. Compared to other coffee varieties, tasters prefer this mixed-flavor coffee with spicy characteristics. The extremely hard coffee beans from this region are rare and excellent - full-bodied, delicious, and well-balanced in acidity. Additionally, its giant coffee beans have also brought Guatemala considerable attention.

Guatemala Coffee Growing Regions

Guatemala has eight major coffee-growing regions, divided into five volcanic regions and three non-volcanic regions. The five volcanic regions are: Antigua, Acatenango, Atitlan, Volcanic San Marcos, and Fraijanes. The three non-volcanic regions are: Huehuetenango, Coban, and New Oriente.

Guatemala's two most famous coffee-growing regions are undoubtedly Antigua and Huehuetenango. In fact, Antigua's reputation far exceeds Huehuetenango's, especially four or five years ago when Antigua's coffee beans consistently commanded the highest prices among all regions. However, with the development of specialty coffee, the quality of coffee produced in Huehuetenango has gradually gained attention from coffee enthusiasts, changing the situation where one region dominated.

Antigua

Antigua is a renowned coffee-producing region, characterized by rich volcanic soil, low humidity, strong sunlight, and cool evening breezes. Three spectacular active volcanoes - Agua, Acatenango, and Fuego - form a beautiful valley landscape. The active Fuego volcano occasionally adds misty dust to the area. Approximately every 30 years, the Antigua region experiences volcanic eruptions, which provide more nitrogen to the already fertile land. Additionally, abundant rainfall and sunshine make this place even more suitable for coffee cultivation.

Antigua's coffee is produced at the Camana estate, where the highest quality coffee is ELPulcal. Not only is it of excellent quality, but when compared with other Latin American coffees, this coffee can be described as remarkably complete, richly layered, and astonishingly superb. Most importantly, it has a very intense flavor and richer body, plus a fascinating tobacco taste that has earned it the reputation of "the most perfect coffee bean."

Guatemala Coffee Varieties

Guatemala's coffee varieties are primarily Bourbon, Typica, Catuai, and Caturra, with small amounts of Yellow Bourbon, Gesha, and Pacamara, as well as the newly cultivated Maracaturra variety - quite diverse.

FrontStreet Coffee's batch of Flora Goddess coffee varieties are Bourbon and Caturra, while the Huehuetenango coffee varieties are Bourbon, Caturra, and Catuai.

Guatemala Coffee Bean Processing Methods

Guatemala's processing methods are mainly washed, with a small amount being natural. FrontStreet Coffee often encounters customers asking about the differences between washed and natural processing. It's important to know that even coffee beans from the same region and same estate can be divided into washed and natural processing. In fact, friends who regularly buy FrontStreet Coffee's daily beans will notice that most of FrontStreet Coffee's daily beans use washed processing, because washed processing can present the basic flavor profile of a region and serves as the starting point for understanding regional flavors. Natural processing, on the other hand, adds sweet aromas and fermentation notes on top of this basic flavor profile.

Mandheling Coffee Growing Environment

Sumatra is not only Indonesia's largest island but also the world's sixth-largest island. It is located in northwestern Indonesia. Extending from northwest to southeast, the equator passes through its central region. The terrain is higher in the northwest, where the Barisan Mountains run through the area, predominantly growing Arabica varieties - it's the main production area for Mandheling. The southeast is lower, mostly flat or marshy land, primarily growing Robusta varieties. The entire island has over 90 volcanoes and numerous volcanic lakes, providing fertile soil for coffee growth. Due to its geographical location, Sumatra has the country's earliest harvest season - November to March.

Lintong Mandheling

Lintong Mandheling is produced in the Lintong mountainous area of north-central Sumatra, near Lake Toba. Lintong Mandheling is essentially the standard version of Sumatra Mandheling. Mandheling refers to the semi-washed or natural beans most famous from the Lintong mountainous area (elevation 900-1200 meters) on the southwest shore of Lake Toba in north-central Sumatra. The Batak people are the main coffee farmers in this region, which was once renowned for producing the world's fullest coffee beans.

FrontStreet Coffee offers both daily Mandheling coffee and single-origin Golden Mandheling coffee. The flavor of Golden Mandheling coffee is cleaner and more full-bodied than regular Mandheling, with stronger sweetness and without the pine flavor characteristic of Mandheling coffee.

Mandheling Coffee Bean Varieties

The Indonesian region has a very long history of coffee bean cultivation. Previously, Arabica was grown, but due to leaf rust disease, currently 90% of Indonesia's exported coffee beans are Robusta, with only 10% being Arabica. FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling variety is TimTim Ateng, while the Golden Mandheling variety is listed as: Ateng. In fact, TimTim is actually Timor - an Arabica variety with Robusta bloodlines, while Ateng is Catimor - a hybrid of Caturra and Catimor. These are simply local names for the varieties.

Mandheling Coffee Bean Processing Methods

Mandheling coffee beans are processed using the wet-hulled method. Indonesia experiences high temperatures and humidity year-round, lacking prolonged sunlight, with humidity consistently between 70-90%. Therefore, relying solely on natural processing is clearly impractical. For the ever-changing weather of Sumatra island, even using washed processing makes it difficult to find a full week of sunny weather for drying. Thus, the wet-hulled processing method emerged. This inadvertently created Mandheling's unique flavor in the world.

FrontStreet Coffee's Roasting Philosophy for Mandheling and Guatemala Coffee Beans

To highlight Mandheling coffee's traditional full-bodied character, FrontStreet Coffee's roasters use a deep roast when roasting Mandheling. Guatemala coffee beans naturally carry the characteristic nutty and cocoa notes of Latin American coffees, with subtle floral aromas and gentle fruit acidity. FrontStreet Coffee uses a medium-light roast approach to preserve more floral and fruity aromas, resulting in clean and bright acidity.

FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling Brewing Parameters:

In daily brewing of medium-dark roast Mandheling, FrontStreet Coffee typically uses the KONO dripper, which makes the coffee body more rounded and full-bodied, with flavor expression more direct. The KONO dripper has significantly fewer flow-through ribs than the V60, with a smooth curved surface in the upper portion that allows the filter paper to fit more closely. This restricts upward airflow, forcing hot water to flow downward, creating a siphon-like extraction effect that allows the coffee grounds' aromatic compounds to release more fully, thereby enhancing the full-bodied texture.

Using Kono dripper: Water temperature: 88°C. Coffee amount: 15 grams. Water-to-coffee ratio: 1:15. Grind size: Medium-fine (75% pass-through rate on China standard #20 sieve).

[FrontStreet Coffee Lintong Mandheling Flavor Characteristics]: Rich nutty notes, with a hint of melon aroma in the finish. As temperature decreases, herbal plant flavors emerge. Full-bodied with rich flavor layers.

[FrontStreet Coffee PWN Golden Mandheling Flavor Characteristics]: Rich nutty flavor. As temperature slightly decreases, melon, herbal, and spice notes begin to emerge. The aftertaste has dark chocolate characteristics with obvious caramel sweetness. Clean and smooth mouthfeel.

FrontStreet Coffee's Guatemala Brewing Parameters:

Guatemala coffee beans are medium-light roast. Light-roasted beans have lower solubility than dark-roasted ones. FrontStreet Coffee suggests using a faster-flow V60 dripper, higher water temperature, and finer grind size.

FrontStreet Coffee uses medium-fine grind/fine sugar granule size (80% pass-through rate on China standard #20 sieve). Using 15g of coffee powder, then paired with V60 dripper, 91°C water temperature, 1:15 water-to-coffee ratio, and three-pour pouring technique for brewing.

Using three-stage extraction, bloom with 2 times the coffee powder amount of water, i.e., 30g of water for 30 seconds. The purpose of blooming is to allow the coffee powder to release internal carbon dioxide gas, thereby making the subsequent extraction more stable. Pour in a small circular motion until 125g, then continue pouring to 225g and stop. Wait until all water has dripped through the filter, then remove the dripper. Time from the start of pouring is 2'00". Next, pick up the entire cup of coffee and shake it evenly before pouring into cups for tasting.

Guatemala Flora Goddess Coffee Flavor Characteristics: Berry acidity, citrus, slight chocolate, rich layering, smooth mouthfeel.

FrontStreet Coffee's Brewing Suggestions:

Regarding coffee brewing, FrontStreet Coffee has always believed that the freshness of coffee beans greatly affects the flavor of coffee. Therefore, the coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee are all roasted within 5 days. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy is "Freshly Roasted Good Coffee," ensuring that every customer receives the freshest coffee when they place their order. The coffee resting period is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive it, it's at its optimal flavor peak.

For friends who need ground coffee, FrontStreet Coffee gently reminds you: if coffee beans are ground in advance, there's no need for further resting, because during transportation, the pressure from carbon dioxide inside the packaging also helps make the coffee flavor more rounded. Therefore, you can brew a cup immediately upon receiving the ground coffee. However, ground coffee needs to be brewed promptly, as coffee powder oxidizes quickly when exposed to air, meaning the coffee's flavor will dissipate relatively quickly, and the coffee won't taste as good. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends purchasing whole beans and grinding fresh before brewing to better appreciate the coffee's flavor.

Important Notice :

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