Mandheling can be a handful

(Also see http://kostverlorenvaart.blogspot.nl/2017/08/delicious-mandheling.html about roasting these beans)

Two years ago I posted about an order of Indonesian Sumatra Mandheling beans that were quite a handful to cull before roasting.

They can be very messy but deliciously rewarding beans to work with and now for € 597,84 (incl VAT) I have acquired 60kg of  Indonesia Gilling Basah "A. Manurung" Toba Highlands Mandheling Arabica (moisture of green beans 12% measured with the Wile) that are even more of a handful than the ones I had in March 2015.

I have roasted 4 batches, looking for the best profile. The first had a moisture loss of 14.5% and roast colour of Tonino #106, the second was #108 at 15.2%, the third 15.4% at  #104 and the fourth that I just roasted today has a Tonino # 101 at 15.9%. I suspect I should push a little harder for a slightly darker roast around Tonino #95 but I'm keen to taste it all soon. A roast profile is posted below.

Before roasting I spend a long time cleaning up the plusminus 1.3kg that I took out of the bag. Blowing dust and skin peel off the sorting plate, taking out damaged beans, slivers and bits of beans, very tiny peaberry beans, near-black fermented beans. Preferably by the wide open window so I won't be inhaling the cloud of dust coming off the crop.

Part of me balks and wants to vow to buy beautiful big clean jade green jewels of beans instead.

Another part of me is very impressed and humbled, thinking of the farm workers, mostly women, who normally do this work not for an hour but for long days, coughing from the dry particles flying in a dust around them. Do they silently curse the crew who added unripe, damaged and tiny berries to their baskets?

Still, it is alluring to find out what the rewards in the cup will be, since these very odd crops, if sorted right and roasted well, can deliver a rich and subtle spicy espresso.

After roasting, another round of sorting is necessary because then it becomes clear which beans were so unripe that roasting hardly affected them at all. Some tiny peaberries that escaped my earlier culling are caught and disposed of and other fried bits and pieces are dumped as well.

Then the result is finally ready to pack and stack for at least a week of rest before I start tasting.

Crop out of the bag

Damaged beans sorted out to be thrown away

After roasting, these beans are also sorted and thrown out

Resulting beans ready to rest and try in 7-10 days

Roast profile of Batch 4. Could be a little darker next time.
 FC is not easily audible despite the 12% moisture measured in the green beans.

Cleaning up Sumatra beans from Frans Goddijn on Vimeo.

Sweet Maria's about sorting Sumatra beans:

Rick Groszkiewicz roasting Sumatra beans: