How Does the Coffee Bean Process Shape Mandheling Flavor?

Mandheling is not a place name but an ethnic group on Sumatra, and only Arabica from the island carries the label. The coffee bean process behind its signature profile is wet-hulling, known locally as giling basah, which removes the parchment while the bean still has high moisture and produces the herbal, dark chocolate, low-acid tonality.

Sumatra's better lots come from two areas: Aceh in the north near Lake Tawar, and the Lake Toba region, alongside Java plantings. Lintong Mandheling and PWN Golden Mandheling differ in variety, processing, and cup profile. Pour-over parameters at the end of the guide suit drinkers who want to explore Indonesian specialty coffee beyond a single bitter note.

Mandheling coffee is known for its rich and intense flavor, but truly high-quality Mandheling is by no means just monotonous bitterness. This article starts from tracing the origins, sorts out the relationship between the two major Mandheling producing regions of Lake Toba and Java, analyzes the differences between Front Street Lintong Mandheling and Front Street PWN Golden Mandheling in variety, processing method and flavor, and introduces how Indonesia's unique wet-hulling process shapes Mandheling's signature herbal and dark chocolate tonality. At the end of the article, Front Street Mandheling's pour-over parameter suggestions are attached, suitable for enthusiasts who wish to gain a deeper understanding of Indonesian specialty coffee.

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Front Street Mandheling's rich coffee mouthfeel and unique herbal, cocoa flavors leave many friends who have just come into contact with single-origin coffee somewhat puzzled. Compared with coffee beans such as those from the Yirgacheffe producing region and the Geisha variety, which have lively acidity and rich, obvious floral and fruity aromas, Front Street Mandheling coffee performs with such bitterness, and is not the flavor tonality favored by today's younger generation.

But in fact, a delicious cup of Front Street Mandheling coffee does not have only soulless bitterness. After Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) conducted cupping comparisons of Mandheling coffee beans from different harvest seasons and different producing regions over many years, it believes 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 dancing slight acidity mixed with rich herbal and dark chocolate flavors, a coffee that one never tires of drinking.

Where does Front Street Mandheling coffee come from?

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

The best coffee in Sumatra comes from two places: Aceh in the north of Sumatra near the Lake Tawar area, and the more southern mountain range around Lake Toba. Because many smallholder producers use their unique semi-washed processing method and the soil is deficient in iron, at the green bean stage, coffee beans from this region carry a special blue color.

Lake Toba (English: 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 Lake Toba area can be called Mandheling. The Lintong area is the Mandheling producing region. Mandheling is produced in the mountainous areas around Lake Toba.

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

On Front Street Coffee's (FrontStreet Coffee) bean list there are two Front Street Mandheling coffee beans, one of which is Front Street Lintong Mandheling in the Front Street daily drinking bean series, from the Lintong producing region, and the other is Front Street Golden Mandheling from PWN company, 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 Indonesia's PWN Pwani Company. Only after harvesting and dry processing does the company carry out at least three rounds of purely manual sorting to ensure that the coffee bean specifications reach 18 and above. Only beans with fewer than 3 defective beans (in a 300g green bean sample), belonging to the highest grade G1, with a darker green color and a neat flat bean shape, can be called "Front Street Golden Mandheling" coffee beans.

As Front Street Golden Mandheling becomes more and more well-known, there are many beans on the market that are not produced by PWN company but carry the Golden Mandheling label. Front Street has noticed that among the many sellers of Golden Mandheling coffee beans on the market, some merchants, in order to sell coffee beans at a higher price, select green beans of 18 mesh and above from Mandheling coffee beans also of G1 grade, and give them three rounds of manual hand sorting, in order to make their appearance as close as possible to Front Street PWN Golden Mandheling.

But in fact these can only be called specialty Mandheling. The Front Street PWN Golden Mandheling obtained by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) is Golden Mandheling coffee beans certified by a certificate issued by PWN. The certification certificate issued by PWN and the green coffee bean burlap sacks of Golden Mandheling bearing the PWN mark can all be seen in Front Street Coffee's (FrontStreet Coffee) store.

After cupping and comparing the coffee flavors at Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), PWN Front Street Golden Mandheling coffee has a cleaner flavor and a stronger sweet aftertaste, but its body is also relatively a little weaker. If you prefer a richer mouthfeel, you can choose Front Street Lintong Mandheling; if you prefer a cleaner mouthfeel, you can choose Front Street PWN Golden Mandheling.

Front Street Mandheling coffee bean varieties

The Mandheling coffee bean variety from Front Street Coffee's (FrontStreet Coffee) Lintong producing region is Timtim, namely the Timor variety, an Arabica variety with Robusta lineage. Front Street PWN Golden Mandheling coffee beans use the Ateng variety, namely the Catimor variety, a hybrid of Caturra and Timor~

The characteristic of the two varieties is that they have higher resistance to disease and insects. In a warm and humid place like Indonesia, not only plants but also pests, diseases and bacteria love such an 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 all year round, and coupled with the island-type humid climate, a short-time drying method must be adopted. Therefore, local coffee farmers first carry out washed fermentation after the coffee cherries are picked, and immediately after fermentation ends they pour the coffee cherries into a depulper to remove the pulp and parchment of the beans.

At this time the moisture content is about 30~40%. Sun drying or artificial drying is then carried out to reduce the moisture content of the coffee cherries to about 13%. This method can save at least 30% of the processing time, allowing the coffee beans to be quickly converted into cash and reducing costs.

Wet-hulled coffee is usually rich and strong, with a very distinctive character, and it is 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 fragrance, 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 mouthfeel. Most general coffee lovers prefer to drink it as a single origin, but it is also an indispensable variety for blending mixed coffee. It is a coffee bean suitable both for pour-over and for espresso blends.

Good coffee cannot be separated from fresh roasting, so every coffee bean sold by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) is shipped within 5 days after roasting is completed.

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

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

Dripper: KONO

Dose: 15 grams

Water-to-coffee ratio: 1:15

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

Water temperature: 88℃

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

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