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The Differences Between Indonesian Mandheling G1 and Golden Mandheling Coffee Beans: Varieties, Processing Methods, and Flavor Profiles

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, G1 Mandheling coffee bean flavor description, grind settings, variety, processing method, mouthfeel, and estate introduction. Mandheling is a premium Indonesian coffee, and Golden Mandheling represents the finest selection among Mandhelings. Golden Mandheling is carefully hand-selected to yield plump, lustrous Mandheling coffee beans, truly an exceptional specimen among coffees

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Indonesian Mandheling coffee is one of the world's most famous coffee beans. Mandheling comes in many varieties, and many coffee enthusiasts cannot distinguish between Golden Mandheling and Mandheling G1 coffee. FrontStreet Coffee will use this article to普及 information about Mandheling coffee.

Indonesian Mandheling Coffee Beans

Mandheling coffee is not the name of a coffee variety, nor is it the name of a coffee-growing region. Its name originates from the coffee-growing tribe—the Mandailing people. When Japanese soldiers returned to Japan after Indonesia's colonial period, they couldn't forget the delicious local coffee. Through their trade connections, they asked locals to help collect high-quality coffee beans. When asked what these coffee beans were called, the locals mistakenly thought they were being asked about their identity and immediately answered "Mandailing." Through subsequent translations, this became "Mandheling."

Today, Mandheling coffee generally refers to Arabica coffee beans from North Sumatra, Indonesia. The most famous growing regions include the Aceh region centered around Lake Tawar and the Lintong region centered around Lake Toba. These two major regions are known as the "Two Lakes, Double Mandhelings."

Mandheling G1 Coffee Beans

This can be considered the highest quality tier of Mandheling coffee. G1 is the highest grade in Indonesia's green coffee bean classification system. The G1 standard requires fewer than 11 defects per 300g of green beans. Mandheling coffee is also distinguished by its bean size, so typical Mandheling G1 coffee beans are 18 screen size. Basically, any Mandheling coffee beans from North Sumatra that meet the G1 grade classification can be called Mandheling G1 coffee beans.

Golden Mandheling Coffee Beans

Golden Mandheling is not just a name but also a trademark of the Indonesian green coffee supplier PWN. PWN's Golden Mandheling is the true Golden Mandheling, and beans stamped with the PWN brand are a guarantee of quality. PWN's Golden Mandheling coffee beans undergo three manual screenings and one machine selection, resulting in very beautiful beans. The PWN company has registered Golden Mandheling as a trademark, meaning only Golden Mandheling produced by PWN can be considered genuine "Golden Mandheling." Many beans on the market not produced by PWN but labeled as Golden Mandheling should actually be called Premium Mandheling.

FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling coffee is certified by PWN company.

FrontStreet Coffee Indonesia PWN Golden Mandheling

Region: North Sumatra, Aceh, Gayo Mountain

Altitude: 1100-1600m

Variety: Ateng

Processing Method: Wet Hulling

Grade: G1 Triple Hand-sorted

Gayo Mountain is located at the northernmost tip of Sumatra Island. Coffee cultivation in Gayo Mountain primarily surrounds the town of Takegon and the mountain slopes near Lake Tawar. The average altitude in the production area ranges between 1100-1600 meters, and the coffee quality has always been excellent. However, due to previous political instability, coffee from this region was difficult to export. In recent years, as the situation has stabilized, coffee cultivation in Aceh has developed, and its quality surpasses that of the Lintong region.

Compared to other Mandhelings, Golden Mandheling has a stronger sweet aftertaste and sugarcane aroma. Although everyone knows that only PWN's Mandheling can be called Golden Mandheling, PWN's annual production is actually quite limited. Therefore, a significant portion of large-grain selected Golden Mandheling is not from PWN. If you're unsure, you can ask the seller to provide the PWN certificate that comes with the beans.

Coffee Varieties

The coffee variety of Golden Mandheling is "Ateng." This seems to be a very unfamiliar coffee variety. In fact, local Indonesian naming for coffee varieties differs from international standards. For example, what Indonesians call "Tim Tim" is what we call "Timor," and "Ateng" is the local Indonesian name for "Catimor." The Ateng variety is very suitable for cultivation and flavor development in the Aceh region. Ateng coffee grown in the Aceh region doesn't have the grassy taste typical of Catimor varieties.

Coffee Processing Method

Golden Mandheling coffee uses the Wet Hulling processing method. Wet hulling is a unique processing method indigenous to Indonesia. The humid and rainy climate in Indonesia makes it difficult to carry out dry processing, which requires long periods of sun drying. At the same time, this unique processing method creates the distinctive herbal, spicy, and rich flavor profile characteristic of Indonesian coffee.

Wet Hulling Process

1. Depulping

Similar to washed processing, coffee cherries need to be processed as quickly as possible after harvesting. In Indonesia, coffee cherries are typically depulped at small farmers' homes. This step removes the skin and some pulp from the coffee cherries.

2. Washing

The depulped coffee beans are soaked in water for 1 to 2 hours and rubbed against each other to remove some mucilage.

3. Drying

After soaking, the coffee beans undergo their first drying at the farmers' homes. At this point, the coffee beans' moisture content will drop to between 20% and 35%.

4. Collection

After the first drying, the coffee beans are sent to market for sale. At this stage, the mucilage layer of the coffee beans has not yet solidified and remains in a sticky state. These coffee beans are purchased, collected, and sent to processing plants for the next steps.

5. Drying

The collected coffee beans sent to the processing plant undergo a second drying, which reduces the moisture content to about 18%.

6. Hulling/Wet Hulling

After the second drying, the coffee beans are put into coffee hulling machines for wet hulling. This process removes the coffee's mucilage and parchment layer. Unlike other processing methods, wet hulling removes the parchment layer before the final drying, whereas washed processing retains the parchment layer for drying until just before export and transport.

7. Final Drying & Storage

Finally, the coffee beans are sent to the drying yard again for final drying. This step reduces the coffee beans' moisture content to 11%. The dried coffee beans are bagged and stored in warehouses awaiting export.

FrontStreet Coffee Roasting

Golden Mandheling has excellent herbal aromas, with stronger caramel sweetness. The fruit acidity is also calm and elegant, with rich sweetness and thick, wild spice flavors. Generally, Lintong Mandheling is best roasted until after the second crack to effectively reduce off-flavors. However, Golden Mandheling already has good clarity and sweetness even before the second crack, allowing for broader roasting interpretation.

What is the grind size for brewing Mandheling?

Since Mandheling coffee uses dark roasting, the coffee structure is loose, and coffee compounds are easily extracted. Therefore, to avoid extracting too many bitter compounds into the coffee, a slightly coarser grind size is used. According to FrontStreet Coffee's standards, the pass rate through a 0.85mm standard sieve is about 57%.

A coffee-to-water ratio of 1:13 is used, with 20 grams of coffee powder. Reducing the coffee-to-water ratio makes the coffee taste richer. Water temperature is set to 87°C, and a Kono dripper is used.

Brewing process: Slowly pour water over the coffee grounds, trying to keep the surface as even as possible during pouring, and avoid shaking the dripper (because shaking will reduce the gaps between coffee grounds, which is not conducive to blooming and degassing). For the first pour, make small circular motions in the center, pouring 40g of water for a 30-second bloom. The coffee bed will slowly expand into a "hamburger" shape.

For the second pour, make circular motions from the center outward, pouring 120g of water. Keep the pouring height as close to the coffee bed as possible, with slow movements to avoid over-stirring. For the final pour, add 100g of water, and wait until all the coffee liquid has flowed into the lower server to finish extraction. Total extraction time is 2 minutes.

Flavor: Spices, herbs, caramel, pine, nuts, chocolate.

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