What makes Mandheling coffee beans so full-bodied?

Mandheling is not a place name but the name of an ethnic group on Sumatra, and only Arabica grown on the island can carry it. The beans are known for a rich, full body with herbal and cocoa notes, a deep profile far from the bright acidity of Yirgacheffe or Geisha.

Sumatra coffee of the highest quality comes from Aceh near Lake Tawar and the mountains around Lake Toba. Grading and wet-hulling shape the cup. Golden Mandheling, including PWN lots, is a separate grade worth comparing side by side with Lintong Mandheling.

Mandheling coffee, with its rich, full-bodied taste and unique herbal and cocoa flavors, has become a classic choice for many single-origin coffee enthusiasts when they first get into coffee. Completely different from the bright acidity and prominent floral and fruity notes of Yirgacheffe or Geisha, Mandheling takes a deep and intense route. This article will systematically sort out knowledge about Indonesian Mandheling coffee beans from multiple angles, including origin background, variety differences, grading, and processing methods. It will also compare the differences between Front Street Lintong Mandheling and Front Street PWN Golden Mandheling, and include practical pour-over parameter suggestions to help readers gain a more comprehensive understanding of this highly distinctive coffee.

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The rich, full-bodied taste and unique herbal and cocoa flavors of Front Street Mandheling have left many friends who are new to single-origin coffee puzzled. Compared with coffee beans from Yirgacheffe and Geisha varieties that have lively acidity and rich, prominent floral and fruity aromas, Front Street Mandheling coffee tastes so bitter, and it is not the flavor profile favored by today's younger generation.

But in fact, a delicious cup of Front Street Mandheling coffee does not have only soulless bitterness. After years of cupping and comparing Mandheling coffee beans from different harvest seasons and regions at FrontStreet Coffee, we believe that compared with many coffees with bright acidity, Front Street Mandheling coffee, although intense and powerful, does not have soulless bitterness. Instead, it is a lively slight acidity mixed with rich herbal and dark chocolate flavors, a coffee that you never tire of drinking.

Where does Front Street Mandheling coffee come from?

Unlike many coffee beans named after producing regions, estates, or processing stations, Mandheling in Front Street Mandheling coffee beans is not the name of a place, but the name of an ethnic group on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Also, only Arabica varieties grown on the island of Sumatra can be called Mandheling coffee.

The best coffee in Sumatra comes from two places: Aceh in northern Sumatra near Lake Tawar, and the mountains farther south around Lake Toba. Because many smallholder producers use their unique semi-washed processing method and the soil lacks iron, at the fresh green bean stage, coffee beans from this region have a special bluish color.

Lake Toba is located in the central part of North Sumatra Province. Dutch colonists moved "Java Mandheling" north to the Lake Toba area in 1888. Lintong in South Sumatra and the area around Lake Toba can be called Mandheling. The Lintong area is the Mandheling producing region, and Mandheling is produced in the mountainous areas around Lake Toba.

Lake Tawar is located in the central part of the Special Region of Aceh, at the northern tip of Sumatra. Most coffee produced in North Sumatra is Gayo, mainly of the Ateng variety. The northern Lake Tawar area can be called Aceh coffee or Tawar Lake coffee. Its area is less than one-tenth that of Lake Toba. However, in recent years, coffee quality and production have surpassed Lake Toba.

On FrontStreet Coffee's bean list, there are two Front Street Mandheling coffee beans. One is Front Street Lintong Mandheling from the daily drinking series, from the Lintong producing region, and the other is Front Street Golden Mandheling from PWN, from the Gayo producing region.

What is the difference between Front Street Lintong Mandheling and Front Street PWN Golden Mandheling?

Golden Mandheling is a registered trademark of the Indonesian company PWN. Only coffee from this company undergoes at least three rounds of hand sorting after harvesting and drying to ensure that the coffee bean size reaches 18 or above. Only beans with fewer than 3 defects (in a 300g green bean sample), belonging to the highest grade G1, darker green in color, and uniform flat beans can be called "Front Street Golden Mandheling" coffee beans.

As Front Street Golden Mandheling becomes more and more well-known, many beans on the market that are not produced by PWN still carry the Golden Mandheling name. Front Street has noticed that among the many sellers of Golden Mandheling coffee beans, some merchants, in order to sell coffee beans at a higher price, select green beans of 18 mesh or above from Mandheling coffee beans also graded G1 and subject them to three rounds of manual hand sorting, so that their appearance closely resembles Front Street PWN Golden Mandheling.

But in fact, these can only be called specialty Mandheling. The Front Street PWN Golden Mandheling obtained by FrontStreet Coffee is Golden Mandheling coffee beans certified by a certificate issued by PWN. The certification certificate issued by PWN and the jute sacks of Golden Mandheling green coffee beans bearing the PWN logo can all be seen at FrontStreet Coffee stores.

Through cupping comparisons of coffee flavors at FrontStreet Coffee, the flavor of PWN Front Street Golden Mandheling coffee is cleaner, and its sweet aftertaste is stronger, but its body is also relatively a little weaker. If you prefer a fuller body, you can choose Front Street Lintong Mandheling. If you prefer a cleaner taste, you can choose Front Street PWN Golden Mandheling.

Front Street Mandheling coffee bean varieties

The Mandheling coffee beans from the Lintong producing region at FrontStreet Coffee are of the timtim variety, that is, the Timor variety, an Arabica variety with Robusta lineage. Front Street PWN Golden Mandheling coffee beans use the Ateng variety, that is, the Catimor variety, a hybrid of Caturra and Timor.

The characteristic of these two varieties is that they have stronger disease and pest resistance. In a warm and humid place like Indonesia, not only plants but also pests and diseases love this environment, so the coffee plants themselves need better disease and pest resistance than plants grown in other high-altitude regions.

Front Street Mandheling coffee processing method

Indonesia is humid and rainy year-round, and with the humid island climate, a short drying method must be used. Therefore, local coffee farmers first wash and ferment the coffee cherries after picking them. After fermentation, they immediately pour the coffee cherries into a depulper to remove the pulp and parchment.

At this time, the moisture content is about 30-40%. Then sun drying or mechanical drying is used to reduce the moisture content of the coffee cherries to about 13%. This method can save at least 30% of processing time, allowing coffee beans to be converted into cash quickly and reducing costs.

Wet-hulled coffee is usually full-bodied and intense, with a very distinctive character, and it is also a coffee bean processing method used only in Indonesia.

Front Street Mandheling coffee flavor and mouthfeel characteristics

Front Street Mandheling has a rich flavor, sweet aroma, pure bitterness, and full body, with a slight sweetness. After roasting, the coffee beans are relatively large and carry a special caramel-like aroma, with a mellow and rich taste. Most general coffee lovers prefer to drink it as a single origin, but it is also an indispensable variety in coffee blends. It is a coffee bean suitable both for pour-over and for espresso blends.

Good coffee is inseparable from fresh roasting, so every coffee bean sold by FrontStreet Coffee is shipped within 5 days after roasting is completed.

How should Front Street Mandheling coffee be brewed to taste good?

Because Front Street Mandheling coffee beans themselves do not have much acidity, even after being kept warm for a long time or made into iced coffee, they will not develop an unpleasant sour and astringent taste. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends brewing Front Street Mandheling coffee hot.

Dripper: KONO

Dose: 15 grams

Water-to-coffee ratio: 1:15

Grind size: 70% passing through China standard No. 20 sieve

Water temperature: 88°C

Use 30g of water to bloom for 30s, then slowly pour with a small stream to 125g for the first stage, then slightly increase the flow and slowly pour to 225g. Total extraction time: 2 minutes.

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