Sumatra Mandheling
Cupping Notes:
The rich full body in darker roasts make it a crowd favorite, and this lot has a nice balance of flavor and forest notes. Take it dark, and you will get complexity, body, and smoky characteristics with tobacco and hints of spices and roots. Keep it more of a medium roast, and you get sweeter, more pronounced herbal notes (think sarsaparilla root or licorice root).
General Notes:
This crop of Sumatra Mandheling has all the characteristics you would expect -- low acid, flashes of bitter with sweet, bourbon-like complexity, herbal notes, spice, smooth, rich, not musty, great lingering aftertaste. This is grade 1 Sumatra but don't expect that to mean that the beans will look pretty. Sumatra Mandheling is not sorted by size, and you will find the broken beans and defects that are typical for this coffee. It comes as "Double Picked" or as "Triple Picked" and it basically means they sort it for defects twice or three times. I like the double picked (DP) because it has more aftertaste and earthiness -- not dirt road dusty murkiness, but rich satisfying lingering aftertaste.
Good For: Medium to dark roasts are best. Also good for blends.
Cupping Notes:
The rich full body in darker roasts make it a crowd favorite, and this lot has a nice balance of flavor and forest notes. Take it dark, and you will get complexity, body, and smoky characteristics with tobacco and hints of spices and roots. Keep it more of a medium roast, and you get sweeter, more pronounced herbal notes (think sarsaparilla root or licorice root).
General Notes:
This crop of Sumatra Mandheling has all the characteristics you would expect -- low acid, flashes of bitter with sweet, bourbon-like complexity, herbal notes, spice, smooth, rich, not musty, great lingering aftertaste. This is grade 1 Sumatra but don't expect that to mean that the beans will look pretty. Sumatra Mandheling is not sorted by size, and you will find the broken beans and defects that are typical for this coffee. It comes as "Double Picked" or as "Triple Picked" and it basically means they sort it for defects twice or three times. I like the double picked (DP) because it has more aftertaste and earthiness -- not dirt road dusty murkiness, but rich satisfying lingering aftertaste.
Good For: Medium to dark roasts are best. Also good for blends.
Cupping Notes:
The rich full body in darker roasts make it a crowd favorite, and this lot has a nice balance of flavor and forest notes. Take it dark, and you will get complexity, body, and smoky characteristics with tobacco and hints of spices and roots. Keep it more of a medium roast, and you get sweeter, more pronounced herbal notes (think sarsaparilla root or licorice root).
General Notes:
This crop of Sumatra Mandheling has all the characteristics you would expect -- low acid, flashes of bitter with sweet, bourbon-like complexity, herbal notes, spice, smooth, rich, not musty, great lingering aftertaste. This is grade 1 Sumatra but don't expect that to mean that the beans will look pretty. Sumatra Mandheling is not sorted by size, and you will find the broken beans and defects that are typical for this coffee. It comes as "Double Picked" or as "Triple Picked" and it basically means they sort it for defects twice or three times. I like the double picked (DP) because it has more aftertaste and earthiness -- not dirt road dusty murkiness, but rich satisfying lingering aftertaste.
Good For: Medium to dark roasts are best. Also good for blends.