What Makes an Arabica Bean From Sumatra Distinct

Mandheling is not a coffee variety. The name refers to Arabica beans grown on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, and it traces back to a language misunderstanding during World War II, when a Japanese soldier misheard a local answer as the name of an ethnic group. The beans carry herbal, woody agarwood, and spice notes.

Those flavors come from a low-altitude growing environment and the region's wet-hulling process. Arabica seedlings reached Indonesia in the 17th century by way of the Dutch, and after coffee leaf rust destroyed most trees in 1877 farmers turned heavily to Robusta, so about 90 percent of exported beans are now Robusta. Golden Mandheling itself is a registered trademark of the Indonesian PWN green bean company.

Mandheling coffee beans hold a unique position in the specialty coffee world. It is not a coffee variety, but a general term for Arabica beans produced on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Behind this name lies a language misunderstanding from World War II, and its signature herbal, woody agarwood, and spice notes are inseparable from the local low-altitude environment and the unique wet-hulling process. The commonly heard Golden Mandheling is actually a registered trademark of the Indonesian PWN green bean company, and only beans produced by that company may bear the name. This article will walk you through the origin of the Mandheling name, the causes of its flavor, its processing method, and teach you how to distinguish genuine Indonesian Golden Mandheling.

Let me quietly tell everyone that Mandheling is not a coffee variety! Mandheling is simply the collective name for Arabica coffee beans grown on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. If Geisha coffee beans are the elegant lady of the coffee world, then Mandheling coffee beans are the gentleman, because their steady, mellow coffee flavor has made them a favorite of generations of coffee connoisseurs.

Mandheling is neither a coffee variety nor another name for Sumatra, so why are the coffee beans produced here called Mandheling coffee beans? It is said that this was a misunderstanding caused by a language barrier. It is said that during World War II, when Japan occupied Indonesia, a Japanese soldier drank a very rich coffee at the home of a member of a Sumatran ethnic group, so he asked the man what the coffee beans were called.

Because the man did not understand the question, he answered with the name of his ethnic group: Mandheling. After the war, the Japanese soldier remembered the "Mandheling" he had drunk on Sumatra, so he asked a merchant to ship 15 tons to Japan, and it unexpectedly became very popular, so Mandheling became synonymous with Arabica coffee beans produced on Sumatra.

Indonesia has a very long history of coffee cultivation. In the 17th century, the Dutch first introduced Arabica seedlings to Ceylon (today's Sri Lanka) and Indonesia. In 1877, a large-scale disaster struck the Indonesian islands, and coffee leaf rust destroyed almost all the coffee trees, so farmers began planting Robusta coffee varieties one after another. At present, 90% of the coffee beans exported from Indonesia are Robusta beans, and only 10% are Arabica beans.

Sumatra is one of the few areas in Indonesia where Arabica coffee beans are grown, because it has a relatively high altitude for the region. Arabica coffee beans are planted in mountainous areas at altitudes of 600-1600 m. It is constantly hot and humid here, and the low altitude prevents the climate from creating a large temperature difference, so coffee grown here generally does not have delicate flavors. However, also because of the low altitude, the coffee beans here develop an unforgettable and very unique brooding flavor. The greatest characteristic of Mandheling coffee is its herbal, woody agarwood, and spice notes.

Although Sumatra has a relatively high altitude for Indonesia, compared with other regions in Africa and Central and South America, it can be said to be very low. The low altitude also makes insects harmful to coffee trees very aggressive, affecting the production and yield of coffee trees. If traditional Arabica coffee trees (Typica/Bourbon) are planted, their pest resistance is weak, so most coffee trees planted in this region are Arabica coffee plants with Robusta lineage. At present, the Arabica coffee trees planted in Indonesia are Timor (locally called Tim Tim), an Arabica variety with Robusta lineage, and Catimor (locally called Ateng), a hybrid of Caturra and Timor.

Also because of the year-round hot and humid climate and the lack of water, Indonesian coffee farmers developed a way to better dry coffee beans while saving water so they could better remove the beans from the parchment and dry them—the wet-hulling method, also known as Wet Hulling, which is also the standard processing method for Mandheling coffee beans. The characteristics of wet hulling are drying in stages and quickly, and removing the parchment before drying. Teacher Han Huaizong described it as "a rare processing method in the world, which accidentally created Mandheling's distinctive low-acid, thick, and brooding flavor."

Although Arabica coffee grown on Sumatra can be called Mandheling coffee , specialty Mandheling coffee is generally grown only in the Gayo mountain area. The famous Mandheling coffee beans in the specialty coffee world are grown in the Gayo mountain region of Aceh Province in northern Sumatra. The average growing altitude in the production area is between 1,110 and 1,600 meters. The coffee is grown by smallholders under shade trees, and the wet-hulling processing method brings out its unusual flavor along with a deep and lively richness.

Golden Mandheling coffee beans not only represent a type of coffee bean , but are also a trademark registered by the Indonesian PWN green bean company. Therefore, only Golden Mandheling coffee beans produced by PWN can be considered genuine Golden Mandheling coffee beans.

The Golden Mandheling coffee beans sold by FrontStreet Coffee all come from PWN. In FrontStreet Coffee stores, you can see the certificate issued by PWN as well as the burlap sacks of FrontStreet PWN Golden Mandheling green coffee beans. As Golden Mandheling becomes more and more well known, many beans on the market that are not produced by PWN but bear the Golden Mandheling name are actually only what can be called specialty Mandheling.

PWN has strict screening standards for the Golden Mandheling coffee beans it sells. The company selects only Mandheling coffee beans of screen size 18 and above, with fewer than 3 defective beans (in a 300 g green bean sample), belonging to the highest grade G1, darker green in color, and uniform flat beans in shape.

After processing, the green beans undergo density and color sorting, and then hand sorting as well, for a total of four rounds of careful selection. Therefore, FrontStreet PWN Golden Mandheling coffee beans are more uniform than ordinary Mandheling coffee beans, whether in bean size or in the stability and balance of coffee flavor, and the overall profile is cleaner and the sweetness more pronounced.

The coffee beans sold by FrontStreet Coffee are all freshly roasted, and shipped beans are all within 5 days after the roast completion date, so everyone can start from the freshest state of the coffee beans and taste how the coffee flavor changes under different conditions. Generally, coffee beans still retain a roasted taste within 4 days after roasting. If you are not in a hurry to drink them, you can let the coffee beans rest first. Leave them sealed in the original packaging until 4-5 days after the roast date before starting to taste, and the coffee will show a rounder overall performance. The best flavor period for coffee is generally about 30-35 days.

In order to allow FrontStreet PWN Golden Mandheling coffee beans to show a mellow coffee flavor, FrontStreet Coffee roasts the coffee beans to a medium-dark level. For brewing medium-dark roasted coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using a KONO dripper. Brewing parameters: 88°C water temperature, at a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, brew 15 g ground to the size of coarse granulated sugar (coffee grounds with a 70% passing rate through a Chinese No. 20 standard sieve).

Specific brewing method: first pour 30 g of water for a 30 s bloom; in the second stage, pour in a small stream in circles up to 125 g, wait until the water level in the coffee bed drops halfway before pouring again, then continue pouring in a small stream in circles up to 225 g, and after all dripping is complete, the total extraction time is about 2 minutes 10 seconds.

Flavor performance of FrontStreet PWN Golden Mandheling coffee beans: the coffee is layered and changeable overall, mellow and clean. Rich nut and caramel aroma, with chocolate notes, a long finish, and high balance.

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