Is Golden Mandheling Coffee Suited to a Deep Roast?

Golden Mandheling coffee comes from Sumatra's highlands at 750 to 1,500 metres and is one of Indonesia's few remaining arabica crops. Traditionally given a medium-dark or deep roast, it cups heavy and rich with prominent aroma, balanced bitterness and a caramel sweetness that holds up well in pour-over.

The wet-hulling process is what shapes that low acidity and thick body, and the Dutch first brought arabica seedlings to the region in the 17th century before coffee rust destroyed most trees in 1877. A medium-dark roast still blooms into a full dome, contrary to the idea that only light roasts suit pour-over.

Mandheling coffee is famous for its rich aroma, heavy body, and unique herbal spice flavor, making it a favorite among many coffee lovers. However, there are still many misconceptions on the market about the variety origins, processing methods, and suitable roast levels for pour-over of this bean. This article starts with the production history of Mandheling, sorts out the origins and development of Sumatra Typica and Catimor, analyzes how the wet-hulling process shapes its low acidity and thick consistency, and introduces in detail Front Street Coffee's two representative products, Lintong Mandheling and Golden Mandheling. Finally, it includes Front Street's recommended brewing parameters to help you fully release Mandheling's caramel sweetness and rich layers.

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Many friends, because they are used to the flavor profile of light-roast pour-over, conclude that medium-dark roasted Mandheling is not suitable for pour-over, believing that only medium-light roasted beans can do the job. This view actually does not hold up. Although pour-over coffee did not originate in Japan, it did develop a fairly complete system there, and the place and era when pour-over coffee first became popular were precisely the period when the Japanese dark-roast style prevailed. The ability to raise a full "hamburger" during the blooming stage is exactly what medium-dark roasted Mandheling is best at presenting.

Mandheling coffee is produced on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, Asia, so it is also called "Sumatra coffee." It grows in highland mountains at an altitude of 750 to 1500 meters and belongs to one of Indonesia's few Arabica varieties, among which the first-grade Mandheling produced in Takengon and Sidikalang is the finest. This bean has a heavy, rich flavor, prominent aroma, both bitterness and body, and a hint of sweetness. Most coffee lovers choose to drink it as a single origin, and it is also an indispensable part of coffee blends.

In the 17th century, the Dutch first brought Arabica seedlings to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and Indonesia. By 1877, a large-scale disaster swept through the Indonesian archipelago, and coffee rust almost destroyed all coffee trees. People were forced to abandon the Arabica they had cultivated for many years and instead introduce Robusta from Africa, which had stronger disease resistance. Today Indonesia is a major coffee-producing country, with production mainly concentrated in Java, Sumatra, and Sulawesi, and Robusta accounts for 90% of total output. Sumatra Mandheling, however, is a rare Arabica type.

The origin of the name Mandheling is completely different from other coffee beans—it is neither a producing region name, place name, port name, nor coffee variety name, but simply a transliteration error of the Indonesian Mandheling ethnic group.

How could an ethnic group become associated with coffee? There is a story of mishaps behind it. According to records, during World War II, when the Japanese army occupied Indonesia, a Japanese soldier drank an extremely delicious cup of coffee in a local coffee shop and immediately asked the owner for the name of the coffee. Because of the language barrier, the owner mistakenly thought the other party was asking "Where are you from?" and answered "Mandheling." After World War II ended, the soldier recalled the cup of "Mandheling" he had drunk in Indonesia and entrusted an Indonesian middleman to ship fifteen tons of Mandheling coffee beans to Japan. As a result, it became very popular in the Japanese coffee market, and the name Mandheling spread from there.

Variety

Sumatra Typica

This is the variety with the longest planting history in Indonesia. As early as the late 17th century, the Dutch introduced Typica from India to Java for cultivation. As Java cultivation succeeded and spread widely, it then expanded north to Sumatra. At that time, the Typica planted in Indonesia performed excellently in flavor. After long-term adaptation to the local terroir, it gradually formed a unique Indonesian style—low acidity, high sweetness, and herbal aroma.

After leaf rust swept through Indonesia in 1877, most Typica across the country became infected and withered, and the Indonesian government could only introduce disease-resistant varieties as replacements. At present, Sumatra Typica is mainly distributed in the Lake Toba and Lintong areas. The Lintong Mandheling-producing region beans launched by Front Street contain this excellent variety, Typica.

The name Sumatra Typica is basically not heard locally in Indonesia; they usually use names such as Bergendal, Sidikalang, and Rambung to refer to Sumatra Typica. This is also the finest coffee variety among Indonesian Mandheling.

Catimor

In 1959, the Portuguese moved the Brazilian Bourbon mutation Caturra to East Timor and crossed it with Timor, which has Robusta ancestry, to breed Catimor. It has extremely strong disease resistance, and its productivity is three times that of Typica. During the leaf rust crisis, the Indonesian government not only introduced Robusta (whose flavor is vastly different from Arabica), but also introduced Timor from East Timor, hoping to replace Typica. Later, expert investigations found that some Catimor seeds were mixed into the batch of Timor seeds introduced by the Indonesian government in 1980. This batch of seeds was planted in Aceh in northern Sumatra, and the area where Catimor was first noticed in Indonesia was Central Aceh, so locals also called Catimor Ateng, taken from Aceh Tengah (Central Aceh).

Ateng is superior to Typica in both disease resistance and productivity. After many years of local adaptation, Catimor's originally wild flavor was gradually domesticated and became popular among coffee farmers, spreading from Aceh to Lake Toba. Aceh's Ateng also attracted the attention of Indonesia's largest green bean merchant, Pawani. The coffee variety of the latest 2020 crop Golden Mandheling currently launched by Front Street comes from Ateng in the Gayo Mountains of Aceh.

Processing Method

Most Mandheling coffee uses Sumatra's unique wet-hulling process. Due to the lack of water resources, Mandheling was initially mainly sun-dried, but the quality was unstable; later, Brazil's semi-washed method was also tried. However, the local weather is mostly rainy, with frequent typhoons and year-round humid and rainy conditions, which cannot meet the good weather required for sun-drying.

Local economic conditions are also limited, making it impossible to afford the higher-cost washed method, and ultimately the highly locally distinctive wet-hulling method emerged. The characteristics of the wet-hulling process lie in staged, rapid drying and drying after removing the parchment. Teacher Han Huaizong once described it: "This is also a rare processing method in the world, and by accident it created Mandheling's special low acidity, thick consistency, and stuffy aroma." Today Indonesia's coffee industry is no longer as poor as it once was, and many estates and companies can afford to use the washed method, but why have they not abandoned wet-hulling? Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) believes that wet-hulling is precisely one of the factors that made Mandheling coffee known to the world.

When it comes to Mandheling coffee, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) loves its rich aroma, full body, and intense taste, and its unique herbal spice flavor is also a hallmark of Mandheling coffee. Front Street Coffee's (FrontStreet Coffee) two Mandheling coffees are very representative, namely Lintong Mandheling and Golden Mandheling.

Lintong Mandheling

Lintong Mandheling is produced in the Lintong mountainous area of north-central Sumatra, near Lake Toba. Front Street Coffee's (FrontStreet Coffee) entry-level daily drinker bean from the Indonesian Mandheling-producing region comes from here. Lintong Mandheling also uses the unique wet-hulling method, creating its characteristics of low acidity and high body.

It is worth noting that during wet-hulling, the semi-hard, semi-soft wet green beans are easily crushed during the process of removing the mucilage parchment layer. The damaged beans crack open like goat hooves, commonly known as goat hoof beans. Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) considers this a very notable characteristic of Mandheling and not a defective bean.

Golden Mandheling

Golden Mandheling coffee beans are produced at Lake Tawar in the Gayo Mountains of northwestern Sumatra. The specification standard for Golden Mandheling is 18 mesh or above, with fewer than 3 defective beans (in a 300g green bean sample), belonging to the highest grade G1. The color tends toward dark green, and the shape is neat flat beans. After strict screening, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) found that Golden Mandheling not only no longer has the earthy miscellaneous flavors unique to ordinary Mandheling, but also tastes cleaner and brighter.

Why did the concept of Golden Mandheling emerge? As mentioned earlier, the wet-hulling process produces conditions similar to goat hoof beans during processing. In order to improve the problem of many defective beans, the Japanese began cooperating with local green bean merchants and established a strict screening system. After processing, the green beans undergo density and color sorting and are also manually selected four times, ultimately presenting Mandheling with uniform color and uniform bean shape. It is said that when processing the green beans, Mandheling under sunlight gives off a golden luster, hence the name Golden Mandheling.

However, it was not a Japanese company that registered Golden Mandheling as a trademark, but the local Indonesian company that cooperated with the Japanese company to export Mandheling green beans—PWN Company (Pawani Coffee Company). The Japanese company could only register "Gold Top Mandheling" separately, that is, Ding Shang Golden Mandheling. Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) believes there is little difference in flavor expression between the two. But Golden Mandheling was registered as a trademark by PWN Company, and the five Chinese characters "黃金曼特寧" became PWN's exclusive property. Some time ago, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) also purchased PWN's Golden Mandheling from the new crop, produced in the Gayo Mountains of Aceh, North Sumatra, and its variety is Ateng. (Ateng is a hybrid variety between Arabica and Robusta, widely planted in Sumatra and other small Indonesian islands.)

Front Street Mandheling Brewing

When brewing dark-roasted coffee beans like Mandheling, Front Street recommends choosing a Kono dripper. This is because it can enhance the coffee beans' full-bodied texture. If you do not have one, you can also use a V60 dripper.

In terms of coffee grind size, the grind for brewing Mandheling coffee should be slightly coarser than that for light-roasted coffee beans. Because Mandheling uses a deep roast, its structure is relatively loose and it more easily absorbs water and releases coffee substances. If it is ground to the fineness of light-roast beans, it is easy to brew out burnt bitterness; if ground coarser, the coffee will become thin and tasteless, with a body as thin as water. The coarseness level is a 70% pass rate on a No. 20 sieve.

For water temperature, Front Street recommends brewing at 87-88°C. Many cases of brewing out burnt bitterness come from water temperature being too high. Of course, too low a water temperature will also make the coffee flat and tasteless.

For the brewing coffee-to-water ratio, Front Street recommends using 1:15. Although some brewing methods suggest using 1:13 or a smaller coffee-to-water ratio, which will taste richer, part of the reason for such a reduced coffee-to-water ratio is also to avoid the bitter, miscellaneous flavors in the tail end. Correspondingly, it will also affect the aftertaste. Front Street believes that as long as the relationship between water temperature and grind size is well controlled, using a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio can better reflect the overall flavor perception of Yellow Mandheling.

The brewing method uses the commonly used three-stage pouring method. Pouring in three stages can better express Mandheling coffee's full-bodied texture and caramel sweetness. The specific water distribution is 30 ml for the first stage, the blooming pour. This pour fully wets the coffee grounds and allows them to degas, so as to better extract the coffee's flavor substances later. The second stage pours 100 ml, mainly to wash out Mandheling's golden foam.

The final stage uses a gentle centered pour of 95 ml, which can improve the coffee's sweetness and overall present a substantial, full-bodied texture, caramel sweetness, and chocolate and nut flavors.

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