Golden Mandheling is the premium representative of Indonesian Mandheling coffee, registered and defined by PWN (Pwani) Company. This article starts with the variety characteristics of Mandheling coffee and the controversy over its processing method, then explains how PWN Company, through 1 mechanical sorting plus 3 rounds of manual hand sorting, turned Ateng variety coffee beans from the Gayo Mountain region of Aceh, Sumatra into the highest G1 grade and named them Golden Mandheling. The article also analyzes the flavor characteristics of Golden Mandheling, the medium-dark roasting approach, and the pour-over parameters and staged pouring technique recommended by Front Street Coffee, helping coffee lovers gain a comprehensive understanding of this rich and full-bodied Indonesian specialty coffee.

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Mandheling coffee beans are relatively large in size and hard in texture, and combined with Indonesia's unique coffee processing method (the procedure for extracting coffee beans), defects are prone to occur. After processing is completed, if the control process is not strict enough, it easily leads to uneven quality, and different roasting degrees will also directly affect the taste, which is why it has become a single-origin coffee with many controversies.

Even so, many people still love Mandheling coffee because of its unique deep, subdued, mellow tone, which brings a sense of steadiness to those who taste it. For many coffee consumers in Asia, a rich and full-bodied flavor is also their first impression of coffee, which is why Mandheling coffee is more popular in Asia.

When tasting Mandheling coffee , you can feel an obvious smoothness on the tip of your tongue, and it also has relatively low acidity, but this acidity can still be clearly tasted. The lively slight acidity mixed with the richest aroma lets you easily experience the lively element within its gentle mellowness.

Mandheling coffee's fame is inseparable from the Japanese love of and pursuit of mellow coffee. In order to improve the problem of Mandheling coffee's high proportion of defective beans, the Japanese carefully sort Mandheling coffee after importing it. This practice was also noticed as a business opportunity by an Indonesian green bean exporter of Mandheling, who registered a coffee trading company named PWN (Pwani).

PWN Company uses 1 mechanical sorting + 3 rounds of manual hand sorting for the Mandheling coffee beans purchased from the Gayo Mountain region of Aceh, Sumatra, ensuring that the batches produced reach Indonesia's highest grade, G1.

The purpose of mechanical sorting is first to screen out beans that must be above 18 mesh in size, and the subsequent multiple manual sorting steps are to remove irregular defective beans. Reducing the defect rate greatly improves the quality of Mandheling coffee.

In order to distinguish them from other exported Mandheling coffee beans , PWN named these carefully selected coffee beans "Golden Mandheling" coffee beans and registered the name as a trademark. At the same time, as long as first-hand buyers purchase Golden Mandheling coffee beans from the company, they will receive a certification certificate issued by PWN Company. The burlap sacks used for exporting the green beans will also be printed with the word PWN.

The Golden Mandheling coffee beans currently sold by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) all come from PWN Company. In the offline stores, you can see the certification certificate issued by PWN as well as the green bean burlap sacks printed with the company name.

PWN Company's Golden Mandheling coffee is different from ordinary Mandheling coffee beans. In addition to being carefully selected, PWN Company only purchases Ateng variety coffee beans grown by smallholders under shade trees at elevations averaging between 1,110 and 1,600 meters in the Gayo Mountain region of Aceh.

The Ateng variety, that is, Catimor. Ateng is a hybrid descendant of Caturra, a variety of Arabica Bourbon, and Timor, with several subtypes. It carries 1/4 Robusta bloodline and has extremely high disease resistance. At the same time, it also inherits Arabica coffee's rich coffee flavor.

Therefore, Front Street's PWN Golden Mandheling coffee beans usually show a cleaner flavor. In addition to retaining Mandheling coffee's herbal spice flavor characteristics, they also have a mellow dark chocolate flavor and more obvious sweetness in the finish. If you want Golden Mandheling coffee to taste good, it is very important to choose freshly roasted coffee for brewing. All coffee beans currently sold by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) are shipped within 5 days after roasting is completed, ensuring the coffee beans are 100% freshly roasted.

In order to allow the coffee beans to show a fuller flavor, Front Street uses a medium-dark roast. After roasting, the coffee beans expand and have a loose texture, making them prone to absorbing more water after grinding and accelerating the release of various substances. To avoid over-extraction, it is recommended to use a medium grind size and a slightly lower water temperature when brewing, reducing the release of bitter large molecules during extraction.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) recommended brewing parameters: Water temperature: 87–88°C Coffee grounds: 15 grams Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15 Grind size: medium grind (70% passing rate on China standard No. 20 sieve)

Staged pouring: Wet the coffee bed with water at twice the weight of the coffee grounds to form a dome and bloom for 30s, then pour in a thin stream in circles from the inside out until it reaches 125g, then pause. Wait until the coffee bed drops to half the position of the dripper, then continue pouring the third stage with the same thin stream until 225g, until all the coffee liquid has filtered through, then remove the dripper. The time is about 2 minutes. Finally, swirl the coffee liquid in the server to mix it evenly and it is ready to enjoy~

The hand-brewed Front Street PWN Golden Mandheling coffee has varied layers overall, is rich and full-bodied, and has a clean mouthfeel. Nut and caramel aromas, with chocolate notes, a long finish, and high balance.

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