How Does Tiger Mandheling Differ From Classic Mandheling?

Tiger Mandheling comes from Sumatra Tiger Estate and is processed by the wet-hulled method, using Caturra, Typica, and Sidikalong varieties. Medium-dark roasting gives it creamy, dark chocolate, and nutty notes, while classic Mandheling is known for the rich, herbal flavor that some drinkers like and others do not.

Front Street currently lists five Mandheling coffees: Lintong, PWN Golden, Tiger, Aged, and Sun-Dried. Each has its own character, from Lintong representing the most classic Mandheling profile to Aged Mandheling being the heaviest in body, so comparisons between them are the clearest way to see what Tiger adds.

Mandheling coffee is known for its rich, herbal flavor, and Front Street Tiger Mandheling is one of the more distinctive among them. This article systematically outlines the characteristics of Tiger Mandheling from origin, variety, processing method, roasting to brewing, and compares it with classic Mandheling. Front Street currently has five Mandheling coffees, including Lintong, PWN Golden, Tiger, Aged, and Sun-Dried Mandheling, each with its own independent flavor personality. Tiger Mandheling comes from Sumatra Tiger Estate, is processed using the wet-hulled method, and the varieties are Caturra, Typica, and Sidikalong. After medium-dark roasting, it presents creamy, dark chocolate, and nutty notes. If you want to know exactly how Mandheling Tiger differs from ordinary Mandheling, this article will give you the complete answer.

For more specialty coffee knowledge, please follow the WeChat public account: Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee)

Front Street Mandheling Coffee What is most special about it is its rich, herbal flavor, which some people like and some people dislike. In its approach to coffee, Front Street tends to view this bean from an objective standpoint, and whether the flavor of a coffee bean accurately reflects the flavor the producing region should have is what Front Street values most.

Every time Front Street lists a coffee bean, it carries out a large amount of comparative analysis of coffee-producing regions behind the scenes in order to find the bean that best matches the regional flavor. Some people may ask, then aren't the coffee beans that do not make the cut just also-rans? Front Street does not see it that way. A large amount of coffee-producing region comparison does not mean all coffee beans must be listed; rather, it helps us form a deep impression of producing regions, and this is also the concept Front Street has always conveyed to everyone.

So back to Mandheling coffee beans, Front Street currently has five Front Street Mandheling coffees with different flavors, namely Front Street Indonesia Lintong Mandheling (representing the most classic Mandheling flavor), Front Street PWN Golden Mandheling (manually sorted multiple times to achieve a clean mouthfeel), Front Street Tiger Mandheling (with pine aroma flavor), Front Street Aged Mandheling (the heaviest in richness), and Front Street Sun-Dried Mandheling (different from traditional Mandheling, with fruity acidity). Each Front Street Mandheling coffee bean has its own characteristics. Whether at Front Street's Guangzhou store or online on Taobao, the more than fifty kinds of coffee beans displayed all have independent flavor personalities.

If you have not yet tasted the signature flavor of Mandheling, try Front Street Indonesia Lintong Mandheling. It uses the wet-hulled processing method and, after medium-dark roasting, brings out aromas of caramel, toasted bread, hazelnut, and maple syrup. It is sweet and bitter, rich, low in acidity, and full-bodied, making it very suitable for home preparation and tasting. But if you are pursuing a more high-end positioning, then buy Front Street PWN Golden Mandheling. This single-origin coffee has undergone at least three rounds of manual hand sorting and one round of machine screening, which not only reduces the defect rate to the minimum but also ensures that the green beans reach screen size 18 and above, presenting a uniform, neat, and plump state. In flavor, it is clean and intensely aromatic, bringing the Mandheling flavor into full play.

In addition to the above two regular Mandheling coffees, today Front Street will mainly talk about Front Street Tiger Mandheling coffee beans.

Front Street Tiger Mandheling Coffee Beans Country: Indonesia Region: Sumatra Altitude: 1,500 meters Varieties: Caturra, Typica, Sidikalong Processing Method: Wet-Hulled

Front Street Tiger Mandheling grows in Indonesia, with the main producing areas located on the three islands of Sumatra, Java, and Sulawesi. Tiger Mandheling is produced at Tiger Estate, so it is also called "Mandheling Tiger" and "Sumatra Tiger Mandheling." The northern part of Sumatra has relatively high terrain. Aceh Province, where Lake Tawar is located, and North Sumatra, where Lake Toba is located, are the main Arabica coffee-producing areas.

Lake Tawar is located in the Gayo highlands north of Aceh Province in Sumatra. Indonesia straddles both sides of the equator, and its hot and humid tropical rainforest climate brings abundant rainfall, while fertile volcanic soil also provides rich nutrients to the coffee. However, because the area is remote and transportation is inconvenient, coffee was not grown there until 1924. Most of it uses traditional shade growing and organic cultivation without pesticide application.

Because Indonesia's humidity is between 70-90% all year round, annual rainfall can even reach 2,000 mm, and typhoons are constant, farmers pursue faster economic returns, so they use the wet-hulled method. During the ordinary washed process, the beans are sun-dried with parchment for 2-3 days until the moisture content is 20-24%, then the parchment is removed, so the beans are relatively easily crushed and injured, forming small gaps. These are what we often call horse-hoof or goat-hoof beans, which have a relatively high defect rate, but create a rich and intense flavor with a very distinctive character.

Processing Method Wet Hulling, also known in the local language as Giling Basah, is a traditional Indonesian coffee processing method. Judging from the name alone, wet hulling sounds very similar to wet processing (washed processing method). However, the cup flavors of these two processing methods are completely different. Coffee processed by the wet-hulled method is usually rich and intense, with a very distinctive character.

Steps of Wet-Hulled Processing ① Remove the skin and pulp, retaining the parchment and mucilage ② Ferment in a water tank ③ Wash off the mucilage ④ Sun-dry with parchment for 2-3 days until the moisture content is 20-24% ⑤ Remove the parchment ⑥ Dry the green beans to a moisture content of 12-13% ⑦ Prepare for export The extremely fast speed of wet-hulled processing also causes Mandheling to have a relatively high defect rate. At the processing plant, employees are arranged to hand-sort defects. There are generally DP (double-picked) and TP (triple-picked). Mandheling that has undergone triple picking will be superior to double-picked Mandheling in terms of defect rate.

Coffee Varieties The varieties of Front Street Indonesia Tiger Mandheling are Caturra, Typica, and Sidikalong. Caturra has a lemony or citrusy acidity in taste. In terms of sweetness, it is inferior to Typica and Bourbon, because Caturra's sweetness depends on the number and dosage of fertilizers applied by the grower. It has high productivity, but to maintain productivity, continuous fertilization and pruning are required, so the tree is short with many branches. Although productivity is increased, because the harvest period takes 2 years and care costs are relatively high, production is still somewhat limited. Typica is the variety closest to the original species. The bean shape is slightly longer, like a stretched egg, and it is called Arabigo or Criollo in Central America. It has clean citric acidity, a sweet aftertaste, and low resistance to leaf rust, making it difficult to care for. The tree has low yield, and再加上 the long harvest period (harvested once every 2 years), production is not high.

Roasting Analysis

The Front Street Indonesia Tiger Mandheling green coffee beans obtained by Front Street are round and plump, green with a yellow tint, relatively uniform, and with a relatively high moisture content. Front Street's roasting goal is medium-dark roasting, in order to erase excessive acidity and enhance its body and balance.

In the first batch of roasting, the drop temperature was relatively high, with a charge temperature of 200°C, and the heat was also relatively strong. During the roasting process, because the altitude of this Front Street Tiger Mandheling bean is only moderate and the bean texture is very soft, in order to remove excess moisture and avoid insufficient dehydration leading to sourness and astringency, a roasting approach of extending the dehydration time and reducing heat while gliding was adopted. The heat was adjusted lower when the beans entered the yellowing point, after dehydration was completed, and before first crack, to avoid scorching the bean surface. It was also chosen to drop 4 minutes after the end of first crack and 20 seconds before second crack, extending the caramelization reaction time and expressing its excellent cleanliness and sweetness.

Roaster: Yangjia 600g semi-direct fire

Charge when the drum temperature reaches 200°C, set the damper to 3, adjust the heat to 160°C after 30s, keep the damper unchanged, turning point 1'45", maintain the heat. At 5'18", the bean surface turns yellow, the grassy smell completely disappears, and it enters the dehydration stage. Lower the heat to 140°C and adjust the damper to 4;

At 7'30", dehydration is complete, lower the heat to 140°C. At 8'55", the bean surface shows ugly wrinkles and dark streaks, and the toasted bread smell clearly turns into coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, you need to listen clearly to the sound of the first crack point. At 9'00", first crack begins. Reduce the heat to 110°C, open the damper fully to 5 (adjust the heat very carefully, not so low that there is no cracking sound). After first crack, develop for 4'00", and drop at 203°C.

How Front Street Brews Front Street Tiger Mandheling Coffee The brewing parameters used by Front Street are: Kono dripper, 88°C water temperature, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, 15g coffee dose, grind size (70-75% passing through a No. 20 standard sieve). Front Street considered that this Front Street Tiger Mandheling bean uses a relatively dark roast level. The darker the roast level, the faster coffee substances dissolve. In order to avoid over-extraction, Front Street used a lower water temperature for extraction, and also used the Kono dripper, which has a lower flow rate, in order to ensure that as much coffee material as possible is extracted under low-temperature conditions.

Front Street uses staged extraction, namely a three-stage pouring method, using 30g of water for blooming, with a blooming time of 30s. In the first stage, pour in a small stream in circles until 125g, then stop. When the liquid level drops to the point where the coffee bed is about to be exposed, continue pouring the second stage until 225g to end extraction. The total extraction time (including blooming) is 2'00.

Flavor Description The mouthfeel is relatively balanced, with obvious creamy, dark chocolate, and nutty flavors.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.