Wood-Fire Roasted Coffee
Sumatra Mandheling
| Roaster Location: | Reno, Nevada |
| Coffee Origin: | Mandheling growing region, northern Sumatra, Indonesia. |
| Roast Level: | Medium-Dark |
| Agtron: | 36/46 |
| Review Date: | May 2007 |
| Aroma: | 7 |
| Body: | 7 |
| Flavor: | 8 |
| Aftertaste: | 8 |
Blind Assessment
Intense aroma in a narrow range: pungent rosemary-like herb notes, an orangy citrus, and some slightly charred wood notes. In the cup lean-bodied but forceful, dominated by a grapefruity pungency with a slight charred edge that with imagination reads as a semi-sweet chocolate. The chocolate is explicit, however, in the impressively sweet, long finish.
Notes
Mandheling is the traditional market name for an admired coffee type grown in the region around Lake Toba in north-central Sumatra. These coffees are marked by low acidity and idiosyncratic flavor notes that appear to result from serendipitous taints - mild ferment and mildew - acquired during unconventional drying procedures. The Wood-Fire Roasted Coffee Company roasts, of course, on a machine that uses oak wood as a heat source, which means its coffees are slow roasted, an approach that tends to reduce the sharper kinds of acidity. Visit
Who Should Drink It
An impressive dark-roasted cup, simple but intense, with little bitterness or astringency and low acidity.
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This review originally appeared in the May, 2007 tasting report: Low-Acid Options for Coffee Drinkers
