Currently produced by PWN CompanyGolden Mandheling CoffeeThe variety is Ateng, which is the native name of local coffee farmers in Indonesia. It is actually Catimor. The original coffee variety grown in Indonesia was Typica, which was recognized as having a good flavor. It was introduced to Java by the Dutch at the end of the 17th century and was called Bergendal or Sidikalang in Indonesia. So why did it change from Typica to Katim?
The development of coffee cultivation in Indonesia
The beginning of Indonesian coffee can be traced back to the end of the 17th century. The Dutch captured Jakarta on the island of Java and turned it into the headquarters of the Dutch East India Company in the East. The Dutch also introduced two batches of Typica saplings from India to Java for breeding. Until the 1870s, coffee planting areas were established in Sumatra, Bali, Sulawesi and Timor in Indonesia, and soon they expanded from the original Java Island to all of Indonesia. However, the good times did not last long. In 1869, a sudden coffee leaf rust disease swept through coffee-producing areas in Asia, including Indonesia, and large areas of Typica trees there withered.
In order to save the destroyed coffee plantations, the Indonesian government introduced Robusta varieties with stronger disease resistance from Africa and other places. Until now, Robusta is still the main variety in Indonesia. In order to ensure plant survival and increase coffee yield, Indonesia continues to introduce various disease-resistant varieties from other countries. Among them, Tim Tim, Bor Bor and Catim series Ateng, a mixture of Robusta and Arabica, have good disease resistance and strong yields. They have adapted to the terroir of Sumatra and present a unique herbal aroma of cedar. Soon Ateng and Tim Tim gradually replaced the original Typica varieties and became the main varieties in Sumatra and other regions, accounting for 70% of the total coffee in Sumatra.
Front Street Indonesian Lindong Mandheling Coffee Ration BeansIt is a mixture of Tim Tim and Ateng. It is processed using the wet planing method common in Indonesia. It presents a strong bitter coffee aroma with minimal sourness and a hint of herbs and spices. It tastes mellow and solid, making it a highly recognizable coffee.
Sumatran semi-washed method - wet planing
The year-round humidity in Indonesia is 70% to 90%. If water is used to process coffee, the green beans will become moldy and spoiled in the humid air before they are completely dry. So they developed a semi-water washing method that greatly shortens the processing time - wet planing.. The previous steps of the wet planing method are the same as the water washing method. Indonesians first remove the pulp from the coffee fruits and ferment them in water for 3 hours. After washing off the mucous membrane, the green coffee beans with parchment paper are dried for a short time for 2-3 days. The shelled beans with a moisture content of 20-24% are semi-soft and semi-hard, and the parchment is removed. The drying process is continued until the moisture content of the coffee is 13% and it can be packaged.
However, because the shelling machine uses a large amount of friction to tear apart the parchment paper layer that is tightly attached to the green beans, the green beans are more likely to be crushed or squeezed by the friction, especially at the two ends, forming small gaps, resulting in feta beans. The "naked beans" without the parchment skin dries very quickly. At the same time, they are directly exposed to a moist environment and are susceptible to the growth of various bacterial species. Let Indonesian coffee have a unique aroma of wood, spices and herbs, which is what we call the "flavor of region".
Obviously, wet planing shortens the fermentation period of the coffee beans, reduces the acidity, increases the mellowness, and increases the grassy and herbal flavor. The "naked beans" will still absorb moisture in the hot and humid air, forming the unique "muffled aroma" of earth, herbs, and cedar wood in the Sumatra region. After roasting, it has a rich burnt flavor of dark chocolate, caramel, and nuts. It is deeply loved by Japanese people who love dark roasted coffee.
During the Second World War, the battlefield spread from the European continent to Asia. Indonesia, which was still a Dutch colony at the time, was invaded by Japan in 1942 because the Netherlands declared war on Japan. Japanese troops landed on Sumatra in February 1942. The Japanese, who already loved drinking coffee at that time, experienced the wet planing method in northern Sumatra.Mandheling coffeeSince then, he has become a "diehard fan" of Mandheling.
EvenMandheling coffeeRumors about the origin of the name are also related to the Japanese. It is said that it was formed due to a misunderstanding of pronunciation. During World War II, a Japanese soldier accidentally drank a cup of strong and fragrant coffee in a local cafe. The soldier was so surprised that he asked the shopkeeper the name of the coffee. Due to the language barrier, the boss mistakenly thought that the soldier was asking about his origin, so he replied "Mandailing". After the war, Japanese soldiers commissioned an Indonesian broker to transport 15 tons of the memorable "Mandheling coffee" to Japan, and it turned out to be very popular. It can be said that this broker made Mandheling, and Mandheling also made this broker the founder of the now famous Pwanni Coffee Company (PWN).
PWN Company mainly purchases local high-quality batches of Mandheling green beans, and only produces high-quality Mandheling. "Golden Mandheling" is its signature product. The Japanese took a fancy to Sumatra coffee and purchased it for a long time. They gradually discovered that the quality of local beans often varied between good and bad. Therefore, we paid more attention to the production of Mandheling and began to formulate strict standards and methods for screening defects, including bean density, specification, shape, color and other values. The produced Mandheling requires 1 machine selection + 4 manual selections to remove defects to ensure that the produced Mandheling particles are complete, uniform, large and translucent, and also reduce the earthy and grassy smell of Mandheling. Rumor has it that it glowed golden in the sun, hence the name "Golden Mandheling」。
As the market for premium Mandheling coffee grows, PWN Company also realizes the importance of trademarks and registers "Golden Mandheling" as an exclusive trademark in English earlier than the Japanese. Therefore, only the golden Mandheling produced by PWN Company can be regarded as the real "Golden Mandheling", while the one produced by the Japanese can only be renamed "Dingshang Mandheling". The golden Mandheling bought in Front Street is of course an authentic product from PWN Company. You can identify the authentic product based on the green bean sack with PWN logo and a certificate of origin signed by PWN Company.Golden Mandheling, Front Street displays these two logos in the Dongshankou store.
Golden MandhelingHow to make delicious brew?
Some customers will ask Front Street: Which Mandheling is better? If you are just getting started with coffee and want to understand the flavors of different production areas first, Front Street recommends starting with our cost-effective Lindong Mandheling grain beans, so that you can understand the flavor characteristics of multiple major production areas, and then choose the type you like. But if you are already a coffee lover, Front Street believes that PWN Golden Mandheling Coffee is a good choice.
Mandheling presents a full aroma of roasted coffee and a solid taste, and is suitable for brewing and extraction in various ways, such as hand pouring, siphon pot, French press, Aeropress, Moka pot... Front Street’s favorite way is to taste the rich taste of golden Mandheling coffee in the form of hand brewed black coffee.
Front Street prefers to use a KONO filter cup when brewing coffee beans that express full body. The KONO filter cup only has short ribs in the middle and lower parts, and the upper half of the filter cup is a smooth curved surface. This way, when we wet the filter cup, it can fit closely with the filter paper. The exhaust of coffee during extraction is limited, so the residence time of hot water in the filter cup increases, the coffee extraction rate increases, the concentration also increases, and the coffee tastes more rich and mellow. The KONO filter cup is also suitable for beans with full-bodied flavors such as Brazilian Queen Manor coffee.
Generally, Front Street products will choose 15g of coffee powder. The choice of powder quantity is usually based on the size of the filter cup design. Front Street's filter cup is suitable for 1-2 people, and can be between 15-20g of powder. Excessive amount can easily affect extraction. Regarding the choice of powder-to-liquid ratio, 1:15 is the most commonly used, and any ratio between 1:13 and 1:17 is acceptable. Front Street believes that everyone has different tastes. 1:13 may be too strong for some people, and 1:17 may be too light, so the middle value of 1:15 will be used.
Brewing parameters: Brewing parameters: KONO filter cup, 87 degrees Celsius water temperature, 1:15 powder-to-liquid ratio, Chinese No. 20 standard sun-screened 70% grinding degree, 15g coffee powder, three-stage extraction.
Wet the filter cup first, fit the filter paper and the filter cup tightly, then pour in the ground coffee powder and try to smooth the powder layer. Pour 30g of hot water from the center and steam for 30 seconds. At this time, you can see that the dark roasted Mandheling coffee will form a tall bulge. Then start to inject the second section evenly until the liquid weight is 125g. When the coffee liquid drops to half the position, start injecting the last section 100g. Pay attention to the steady infusion of small water flow throughout the process to avoid uneven extraction. When all the coffee liquid is filtered, you can remove the filter cup, shake the coffee liquid in the sharing pot and start tasting.
The brewing parameters mentioned by Front Street are all based on fresh coffee beans, so freshly roasted coffee here is the primary condition. The coffee beans shipped from Front Street are all freshly roasted within 5 days. When the coffee is received from the logistics department, it happens to be within the best tasting period. This way, we hope that every customer can drink good coffee with the most complete flavor.
The freshly brewed PWN Gold Mandheling coffee obviously has a solid taste, with stronger aromas of fir, spices, dark chocolate, and roasted hazelnuts. The finish is clean and the flavor is improved. You can feel the sweetness and aftertaste of caramel.
Professional coffee knowledge exchange. For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account cafe_style)
For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on private WeChat, WeChat ID: qjcoffeex
You can now buy the above coffee beans online at the Taobao store “FrontStreet Coffee” (前街咖啡). FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou, China, and its Guangzhou retail shop sells coffee beans only. The shop carries dozens of coffee beans from different origins around the world, including carefully selected single-origin beans for V60 pour-over and espresso. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers.
The FrontStreet 2013 Yunnan coffee beans sold in the store come from the Typica variety grown at FrontStreet Coffee’s own plantation in Yunnan. The name comes from the year the brand and the plantation were founded. You can buy these beans from China’s Yunnan origin at the Guangzhou shop and at FrontStreet’s Taobao store.
FrontStreet coffee beans are freshly roasted within 5 days and deliver consistently excellent quality and great value. Orders placed before 17:00 are shipped the same day, and most areas within Guangdong Province receive them the next day.
FrontStreet Coffee Taobao store: https://qianjiecoffee.taobao.com
Or search for “前街咖啡” (FrontStreet Coffee) on Taobao
Important Notice: FrontStreet Coffee has moved to a new address: 315, Donghua East Road, Guangzhou (coffee beans only)
Tel: 020 38364473
