An Introduction to Sumatra: The Primary Growing Region of Indonesian Premium Mandheling Coffee

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Introduction to Mandheling Coffee

Mandheling coffee is a premium coffee from Indonesia and has become synonymous with Indonesian coffee. At FrontStreet Coffee, Mandheling coffee is featured as the representative Indonesian coffee in our daily selection list, making it an excellent introductory bean for understanding Indonesian coffee. Additionally, FrontStreet Coffee also offers Indonesia's premium Golden Mandheling coffee.

Indonesian coffee beans are relatively large in size with hard bean texture and offer a rich, mellow mouthfeel. In fact, Mandheling coffee is neither a place name, growing region name, nor a coffee variety name. Instead, it originated from a phonetic misunderstanding of the Mandheling ethnic group who originally inhabited Sumatra. The origin of this name is actually a beautiful legend of misunderstanding. During the Japanese occupation of Indonesia in World War II, a Japanese soldier tasted exceptionally fragrant and mellow coffee at a café. When he asked the owner for the coffee's name, due to language barriers, the owner misunderstood and thought he was asking about his ethnicity, so he replied: "Mandailing." After the war, the soldier recalled the "Mandheling" coffee he had in Indonesia and commissioned an Indonesian coffee exporter to ship 15 tons to Japan, which became surprisingly popular. Since then, the name Mandheling has been passed down.

History of Mandheling Coffee Cultivation in Sumatra

Sumatra is currently the second-largest island by area in Indonesia, with a resident population of approximately 55 million, yet it remains one of the island's largest coffee-producing regions. Coffee production from the Sumatra region accounts for approximately 74.2% of Indonesia's total output, while Indonesia's second-largest producing region only accounts for 12% of national production. However, Indonesia was not originally a coffee native region. Instead, coffee was imported to the islands by the Dutch government during early colonial times after conquering the Portuguese. Two centuries later, during the height of World War II, to address local food security issues, large areas of coffee crops were replaced by rice, corn, cassava, and other agricultural crops. In 1950, local coffee production was only one-eighth of pre-war levels. However, since then, coffee crops have become the economic backbone of the region.

Indonesian Sumatra Coffee Growing Regions

Sumatra is not only Indonesia's largest island but also the world's sixth-largest island. It is located in the northwestern region of Indonesia. Extending from northwest to southeast, the equator passes through its central part. The terrain is higher in the northwest, with the Barisan Mountains running through it, primarily growing Arabica varieties and serving as the main production area for Mandheling. The southeast is lower, mostly flat or swampy 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—from November to March.

Mandheling coffee is produced in Sumatra, Asian Indonesia, also known as "Sumatra coffee." The main producing areas include Java Island, Sulawesi Island, and Sumatra Island, with 90% being Robusta varieties. Among these, the "Mandheling" produced on Sumatra Island is the most famous. The finest traditional Arabica coffees produced in northern Sumatra are marketed under the names Lintong and Mandheling. Strictly speaking, Lintong refers to coffee grown in a small area located in the southwest part of Lake Toba in the Lintong administrative region. Coffee smallholders are scattered across a high and undulating clay plateau covered with ferns. Lintong coffee is grown without shade, without chemicals, and is almost entirely owned by small private farmers. Mandheling is a broader term that includes Lintong coffee and planting areas under similar conditions in Diari [capital Sidikalang] and the northern part of Lake Toba.

Lintong Mandheling comes from the Lintong mountainous area of north-central Sumatra, near Lake Toba. Lintong Mandheling is essentially the regular version of Sumatra Mandheling. The daily bean Mandheling coffee at FrontStreet Coffee is Lintong Mandheling coffee.

Lake Toba, located in the central part of North Sumatra Province. In 1888, Dutch colonists moved "Java Mandheling" north to the Lake Toba region, establishing the modern Mandheling legend.

Lake Tawar, located in the central part of the Aceh Special Administrative Region. Situated at the northern tip of Sumatra Island, with an area less than one-tenth of Lake Toba.

Currently, the highest quality beans from the entire Sumatra region come from the GAYO mountain area, mostly planted with old varieties. The Gayo mountains are located in the Aceh region of northern Sumatra Province, with elevations between 1500-2500 meters. The majority of coffee farmers are 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.

Golden Mandheling Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee's new season Golden Mandheling is produced in the GAYO mountains of Aceh, North Sumatra. It is Golden Mandheling coffee beans from PWN company. Golden Mandheling has stricter quality requirements—first, it must ensure that coffee beans are size 19, with full and uniform particles, belonging to the highest grade G1. PWN beans are darker green in color and have a regular flat shape. Then they undergo one machine selection and three manual hand selections to ensure that defective beans in the raw coffee are fewer than 3 (in a 300g raw bean sample).

What Variety is Mandheling Coffee?

Mandheling variety—Typica. As early as 1658, the Dutch transplanted descendants of "European Typica parent plants" to Sri Lanka, but unfortunately, the cultivation failed. Later in 1699, the Dutch transplanted Malabar coffee trees from eastern India to Java, and this trial cultivation succeeded. Typica grew steadily in Java. In 1718, the Dutch transplanted the successfully trialed Typica from Java to Sumatra and Sulawesi islands. After more than a century of cultivation, just as Indonesia's Typica was at its peak, a leaf rust epidemic at the end of the 19th century swept through most of Indonesia's Typica. Later, it was necessary to introduce the more disease-resistant Robusta variety.

The variety listed for FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling coffee is: Tim Tim Ateng, while the variety for Golden Mandheling coffee is: Ateng. What variety is this? The Ateng variety is a hybrid between Arabica and Robusta, widely planted in Sumatra and other Indonesian islands. It is 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 very suitable for cultivation and flavor development in the Aceh region. Due to the localized naming by Indonesian locals, we often see unfamiliar coffee varieties for Mandheling, which are actually just different names for the same varieties.

Mandheling Coffee Bean Processing Method

The unique flavor of Mandheling coffee is not only related to the local climate and environment but also inseparably related to its processing method. Indonesia is located in a typical tropical rainforest climate region with frequent rainfall and short sunshine duration, which is not suitable for natural processing methods. Additionally, due to general local economic conditions, there isn't enough funding to invest in washed processing methods. Therefore, coffee farmers developed this semi-washed processing method, also known as the wet hulling method. This is a rare processing method worldwide that accidentally created Mandheling's special low-acidity, thick, and aromatic flavor.

How to Brew Mandheling Coffee?

FrontStreet Coffee has shared with everyone the relationship between coffee bean roast levels and pour-over brewing. Light roast coffee beans and dark roast coffee beans will differ in water temperature and filter cup usage. Golden Mandheling coffee is a dark roast bean, so the water temperature should not be too high, and a Kono dripper should be selected. The lower water temperature is to avoid extracting excessive unpleasant flavors. When FrontStreet Coffee chooses dark roast, many aromatic substances have already been released. If we continue to extract with water temperatures suitable for light roast, it will lead to over-extraction. FrontStreet Coffee chooses the Kono dripper because the V60 dripper's flow rate is too fast, which can lead to under-extraction at low water temperatures. The Kono dripper has fewer ribs located at the bottom, and the filter paper fits tightly against the dripper, which can restrict airflow, increase contact time between water and coffee powder, allow the coffee grounds to be fully extracted, and enhance the mellow mouthfeel.

FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling Brewing Parameters:

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

Using segmented extraction, bloom with 2 times the amount of water as the coffee grounds—that is, bloom with 30 grams of water for 30 seconds. The blooming process is necessary to allow the coffee grounds to release carbon dioxide from within, making the subsequent extraction more stable. Pour with a small circular water flow to 125 grams, then continue pouring to 225 grams and stop. Remove the dripper once the water has finished dripping from the filter cup. Time from the start of pouring: extraction time is 2'00". Next, pick up the entire cup of coffee and shake it evenly, then pour it into a cup for tasting.

PWN Golden Mandheling Coffee Flavor Profile:

The coffee has overall complex layers, rich and clean, with intense nutty and caramel aromas, chocolate notes, a long-lasting aftertaste, and high balance.

Lintong Mandheling Coffee Flavor Profile:

Entry has intense herbal aromas, dark chocolate, caramel, and a sweet aftertaste.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Recommendations

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

Of course, some customers need FrontStreet Coffee to grind the beans for them, which is also fine. However, FrontStreet Coffee must remind you: when coffee beans are ground in advance, there's no need for a resting period, because during transportation, the pressure from carbon dioxide in the packaging can also help the coffee flavor become more rounded. Therefore, you can brew a cup immediately upon receiving the ground coffee. However, ground coffee needs to be brewed promptly because it oxidizes relatively quickly after contact with air, meaning the coffee's flavor will dissipate more quickly, and the coffee won't taste as good. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends purchasing whole beans and grinding them fresh before brewing to better appreciate the coffee's flavor.

FrontStreet Coffee offers two Indonesian coffees—one is the daily bean series Indonesian Mandheling coffee, and the other is the single-origin premium Golden Mandheling coffee. Regardless of which one you choose, both have excellent flavors! The daily bean Mandheling coffee can serve as an introductory bean for novice friends to understand Indonesian coffee, while the Golden Mandheling coffee might be the higher-level premium coffee that coffee connoisseurs pursue.

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

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