Comprehensive Guide to Indonesian Mandheling Coffee Beans: Styles, Varieties, and Processing Methods

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As a representative of Asian coffee and Indonesian coffee, Mandheling coffee features herbal and woody notes with a rich, full-bodied texture that leaves a lingering aftertaste. Some say that most people who drink Mandheling coffee should be male friends because the flavor is quite strong, while female friends might prefer the fresh, floral, and fruity acidic flavors of Ethiopian coffee. However, this is not entirely true. While FrontStreet Coffee noticed this phenomenon in the past, it seems this is no longer the case. Nowadays, more and more female friends are also enjoying Mandheling coffee.

Mandheling coffee is an Arabica variety originally from the Mandailing region near the Bukit Barisan mountains in North Sumatra. This coffee has high body, low acidity, and slight herbal notes. In FrontStreet Coffee's collection, you can find various types of Mandheling, such as FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling, FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling, FrontStreet Coffee's Tiger Mandheling, and FrontStreet Coffee's Aged Mandheling. Among these, Golden Mandheling coffee is cleaner and richer than regular Mandheling, with an even better taste! Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee considers Mandheling coffee as representative of Indonesian coffee and an introductory choice, while coffee connoisseurs tend to prefer the premium single-origin Golden Mandheling coffee.

Indonesian Sumatra Coffee Growing Regions

Mandheling coffee is produced in Sumatra, Asian Indonesia, also known as "Sumatra coffee." The main production areas include Java Island, Sulawesi Island, and Sumatra Island, with 90% being Robusta varieties. Among these, the "Mandheling" from Sumatra Island is the most famous. The finest traditional Arabica coffees from northern Sumatra are marketed under the names Lintong and Mandheling. To be precise, Lintong refers to coffee grown in a small area in the southwest of Lake Toba within the Lintong administrative region. The coffee smallholder plots are scattered across a high, undulating clay plateau covered with ferns. Lintong coffee is grown without shade, without chemical products, and is almost entirely owned by small private owners. Mandheling is a broader term that includes Lintong coffee and growing areas under similar conditions in Diari [capital Sidikalang] and northern Lake Toba.

Currently, the highest quality beans from the entire Sumatra region come from the GAYO mountains, mostly grown with old tree varieties. FrontStreet Coffee's new season Golden Mandheling is produced in the GAYO mountains of Aceh, North Sumatra. The Gayo mountain range is located in the Aceh region of northern Sumatra province, with elevations between 1500-2500 meters. The coffee farmers are mostly local indigenous people - the GAYO people. This region has ideal growing conditions for coffee - high altitude, fertile soil, and abundant rainfall. Lake Tawar provides rich water resources, and the region widely uses organic methods for coffee cultivation without chemical fertilizers, making it considered a world green coffee production area. Therefore, Gayo coffee is often called green coffee or Gayo organic coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling coffee comes from the PWN company. Golden Mandheling is not a grade but a trademark registered by the Indonesian company P.W.N. (Pawani Medan), established in 1957. The company exports Indonesian products including coffee, rubber, cinnamon, cloves, and patchouli oil. It was the first company in Indonesia to export coffee from North Sumatra Island and the first to make "Mandheling coffee" famous in Japan. Since 1977, the company has focused on exporting premium coffee beans - Sumatra Arabica Mandheling Grade 1 and Robusta AP-I Grade 2, mainly to Japan, Taiwan, and the United States, with exports to Japan and Taiwan accounting for over 95%. In Japan and Taiwan, "PWN" has become synonymous with "quality assurance."

Golden Mandheling has stricter quality requirements. First, it must ensure that the coffee beans are 19 screen size, with full and uniform particles, belonging to the highest G1 grade. PWN beans are darker green in color and have a uniform flat shape. Then they undergo one machine selection and three manual hand selections to ensure that defective beans are fewer than 3 (in a 300g green bean sample). PWN beans are darker green in color, have a uniform flat shape, and belong to the highest G1 grade.

However, FrontStreet Coffee would like to remind everyone: as the popularity of Golden Mandheling continues to grow, many beans on the market are not from PWN company but are labeled as Golden Mandheling. These can only be called premium Mandheling. The PWN Golden Mandheling sold by FrontStreet Coffee is certified Golden Mandheling coffee beans with certificates issued by PWN. Both the certification certificates issued by PWN and the gunny sacks of Golden Mandheling green coffee beans with PWN logos can be seen at FrontStreet Coffee stores.

Indonesian Coffee Bean Grading Method

Indonesian coffee is mainly processed using the semi-washed method, graded according to the proportion of defective beans and the number of manual selections of defective beans, from G1 to G5, with five different levels, G1 being the highest level. Under this grading system, Sumatra is further divided into four different systems: Mandheling, Golden Mandheling, Lake Tawar Coffee, and Aged Mandheling. Currently, FrontStreet Coffee has Lintong Mandheling coffee and Golden Mandheling coffee.

Golden Mandheling Coffee Varieties

Sumatra Island is a region in Indonesia that grows Arabica coffee beans. As early as 1658, the Dutch transplanted descendants of "European Typica mother plants" to Sri Lanka, unfortunately, the cultivation failed. Later in 1699, the Dutch transplanted Malabar coffee trees from eastern India to Java. This trial cultivation was successful, and Typica grew steadily in Java. In 1718, the Dutch transplanted the successfully trial-cultivated Typica from Java to Sumatra Island and Sulawesi Island. After more than a century of cultivation, just as Indonesian Typica was at its peak, a leaf rust disease swept through most of Indonesia's Typica at the end of the 19th century. Later, more disease-resistant varieties like Robusta had to be introduced.

Mandheling coffee does not specifically refer to a particular coffee variety. Typically, Mandheling coffee varieties include Ateng and TimTim. In fact, TimTim is Timor, an Arabica variety with Robusta bloodlines, while Ateng is Catimor, a hybrid of Caturra and Catimor. Because both varieties carry Robusta coffee bean genes, and the growing altitude is not high enough to form strong temperature differences between day and night, which would allow coffee beans to develop more refined flavors, both TimTim and Ateng naturally have unique herbal, woody, and spicy notes.

Introduction to Golden Mandheling Coffee Processing Method

The processing method for each coffee bean is determined by the local climate and environment, and it better reflects the local coffee flavors. Sumatra Island is the largest island in Indonesia, located on the equator, belonging to the tropical rainforest climate, with high temperature, humidity, and abundant rainfall. Coffee smallholders usually grow coffee in primitive mountain areas. Sumatra Island has rich water resources and the climate is warm year-round, but there is one disadvantage: the local weather is often rainy with continuous typhoons, making it impossible to achieve the good weather required for sun-drying. Additionally, the local economy is not good, so they cannot use the more expensive washed method. This has led to the development of the unique local wet-hulling method. It is precisely this accidental coffee bean processing method that has created the unique flavor of Mandheling.

The characteristic of the wet-hulling processing method is that after coffee cherries are picked, the skin and pulp are first removed with a wooden peeler, then fermented for 3 hours, followed by drying to reduce the moisture content to semi-dry, semi-wet 30-50%. Then the mucilage and parchment layer are removed, and the final drying process continues for 2-4 days until the moisture content reaches 12-13%.

FrontStreet Coffee believes that although the wet-hulling processing method greatly accelerates the entire process, it still requires removing the parchment layer while it's still semi-dry, which requires significant friction, so the green beans are easily crushed and squeezed, especially at both ends, forming small gaps. Therefore, the defect rate of Indonesian coffee beans processed by wet-hulling is generally high, so green bean sellers will arrange manual hand-selection before export to remove incomplete defective beans.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Recommendations

For coffee brewing, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using freshly roasted coffee beans for brewing to maximize the rich flavors of the coffee. The coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee are all roasted within 5 days because FrontStreet Coffee deeply understands that the freshness of coffee beans has a great impact on flavor. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy is "Freshly Roasted Good Coffee," ensuring that every customer who places an order receives the freshest coffee when it arrives. The coffee's resting period is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive it, it's at its optimal flavor peak.

Of course, some customers need FrontStreet Coffee to grind the beans for them, which is also fine. But FrontStreet Coffee would like to remind you: if coffee beans are ground in advance, there's no need for a resting period because during transportation, the pressure from carbon dioxide inside the packaging also helps the coffee flavor become well-rounded. Therefore, you can brew a cup immediately after receiving the ground coffee. However, ground coffee needs to be brewed promptly because it 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 for each brew to better taste the coffee's flavors.

FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling Coffee Brewing Parameters:

To better highlight the rich body of Mandheling coffee, FrontStreet Coffee chooses the Kono dripper. The Kono dripper has few ribs and they are located at the bottom, the filter paper fits tightly against the dripper, which can restrict airflow and extend the contact time between water and coffee powder, allowing the coffee grounds to be fully extracted and enhancing the rich body.

Water temperature: 88°C, Coffee amount: 15g, Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15, Grind size: Medium-fine (75% pass-through rate for #20 sieve).

Using segmented extraction, bloom with twice the amount of water as the coffee grounds, i.e., 30g of water for 30 seconds. The blooming process is necessary to allow the coffee grounds to release internal carbon dioxide, making the subsequent extraction more stable. With a small water flow, pour in a circular motion until 125g, then continue pouring until 225g and stop. Wait for the water to finish dripping from the dripper, then remove the dripper. Start timing from the beginning of pouring, extraction time is 2'00". Next, pick up the entire cup of coffee and shake it well, then pour into cups for tasting.

[PWN Golden Mandheling Coffee Flavor]: The coffee has varied layers, rich and clean, with intense nut and caramel aromas, chocolate notes, persistent aftertaste, and high balance.

[Lintong Mandheling Coffee Flavor]: The entry has intense herbal aroma, dark chocolate, caramel, and sweet aftertaste.

Daily-drinker Mandheling coffee can serve as an introductory bean for newcomers to understand Indonesian coffee; while Golden Mandheling coffee might be the higher-quality specialty coffee pursued by coffee connoisseurs. Of course, friends who don't like this coffee flavor can choose other flavors, such as: the floral acidity of Ethiopian coffee; Colombian nutty dark chocolate and gentle fruity acidity, as well as Costa Rican specially processed coffees with raisin, osmanthus, and rose floral notes, etc. If possible, FrontStreet Coffee suggests trying coffees from different growing regions to experience different coffee terroirs and cultures.

Important Notice :

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