Pennine Sumatra Mandheling G1 Arabica Green Coffee Beans (1kg)

Full bodied with a rich flavour and low acidity. Sumatra Arabica green coffee beans. 

In the past, Sumatra coffees have not been sold by region, because presumably the regional differences are not that distinct. Rather, the quality of the picking, preparation and processing of the coffee determines much of the cup character in this coffee. In fact, Sumatras are sold as Indonesia Mandheling (Mandailing) which is simply the Indonesian ethnic group that was once involved in coffee production (see note below). The coffee is scored by defects in the cup, not physical defects of the green coffee. So a fairly ugly-looking green coffee can technically be called Grade 1 Mandheling. 

 

Tasting Notes Powerful body, refined acidity, summer fruits, herbal, lime and spice.

Indonesia Mandheling is potent, bittersweet, herbal, and intense … very intense. If you think a triple pick coffee, a carefully prepared Sumatra, necessarily loses it’s Sumatra intensity, then this Lake Toba lot will disprove that notion. This is a pungent, brooding, opaque, full-bore Sumatra. The dry fragrance is intriguingly balanced between sweet and earthy tones, caramel sweetness, pungent notes, and the scent of fresh cut wood at a sawmill. The wet aroma has complex sweetness, bordering on spicy. It has strong chocolate roast tones, with accents of sage and thyme. There’s a very intense bittersweetness here too, a bit like butterscotch. I wouldn’t call it mossy (a flavour I do not like in Sumatras), but there is something intensely “foresty” about this cup; cedar, pine bark, somewhat resinous, with sweet tobacco and a hint of blackberry. The mouthfeel is juicy. There’s a dark herbal note a bit like Riccola drops, sage, thyme. The coffee finishes with an strong, heavy-handed baker’s chocolate, laced with tobacco and leather. Yes, leather.  Allow the coffee to rest after roasting for minimum 24 hours to enjoy the entire effect of the body in this coffee.