The Coffees of Indonesia; Island of Bali

Indonesia: Bali

On larger map, red underined islands are sources of Specialty-grade coffee

Coffee from the Indonesian island of Bali was formerly sold exclusively to the Japanese market. Perhaps it is the changing face of world economics that finds the first exports of Balinese coffee arriving under exclusive contract in the U.S.

The coffees are sophisticated and well-prepared. They are washed (wet-processed) like neighboring coffees from Java, East Timor and Papua New Guinea. The cup has traces of the earthy Indonesian island character, but only in the background. It is a classic, clean cup with great body and mildness!

Current Crop Comments:

We have found a Bali from a small farmers cooperative that is processed in a traditional way, resulting in a cup similar to other Indonesia coffees like Sulawesi: Bali Kintamani Until this point, the samples had come in flat and baggy (old) tasting. There is a strong Japanese market for Bali, and they will buy it nomatter the cup quality. So the incentive is just not there. At it's best it is a mild island-type coffee, less of an Indonesian cup character than others in the archipelago. See our Flores offering for a compelling alternative that is very similar to the best Bali.

Some background: In terms of island history, the colonial phase came late for Bali. The Dutch were there back in the 1850's but an important event in the of history of Bali is the landing of Dutch troops at Sanur beach in the year 1900 which led to the complete conquering of the island by the Dutch and the defeat and ritual suicide of some of the most prominent princely families. After the Japanese occupation during the Second World War from 1939 to 1945, Bali became a province of Indonesia, but managed to maintain a separate, specifically Balinese culture. For instance, the dominant religion in most parts of Indonesia is Islam, whereas in Bali it is Hinduism. Geographically Bali is dominated by a number of volcanic mountains in the center of the island. The most active one of them is Gunung Agung whose violent eruption in 1963 killed a large number of people and caused a lot of devastation in the eastern parts of Bali. The island is ringed by coral reefs; the beaches in the south have white sand, the beaches in the east and north have black (volcanic) sand. Bali has a population of around 3 million. The predominant form of agriculture is wet-rice cultivation, but there are also large fruit plantations in the east of Bali, as well as corn fields or coffee plantations. The majority of the population is still made up of farmers, but tourism and associated businesses (such as manufacture and sales of souvenirs, etc.) are becoming more and more important. You should know that the economic circumstances and the standard of living of the largest part of the Balinese population are quite modest, and that a lot of people are, even by Indonesian standards, actually very poor.

Our Balinese Offerings: (You will need to read the reference page to interpret terms and numbers used below

Bali Kintamani Arabica

Country:

Indonesia, Bali

Grade:

One

Region:

Kintamani

Mark:

Kintamani Subak Abian

Processing:

Semi-wet-processed

Crop:

November 2007 Arrival

Appearance:

1.2 d/300gr, 18 screen

Varietal:

Typica Cultivar (selection 795 and USDA 762)

Dry Fragrance (1-5)

3.5

Notes: Bali coffees are hit and miss, usually suffering from transport damage (being held up in sweltering port cities). And they have also been, as a tradition, fully wet-processed. That means lower intensity, lighter body, and a very mild character … not things that people look for in Indonesian coffees like Sulawesi and Sumatra. There's a larger plantation, Shinzan, that has been the only mark available for some time, but there are also small-holder farms in Bali that belong to cooperative mills. These are called Subak Abian groups in Bali, and are actually a combined coffee coop and Hindu religious group, ruled democratically by a communally written set of rules called an "awig-awig." The basic guiding philosophy of the Subak Abian is called the "Three Happy Causes" (Tri Hita Karana) which stresses the importance of religion to man, to other men, and to the environment. Kintamani is basically the highlands of volcanic Bali, at the top of the island in the mountainous area. These coop groups have had trouble reaching a market for their coffee. The suggestion was, "why not do a more Sumatra-type process", something they call "wet-hulled," rather than a wet-process, to result in a cup with more Indonesia character. In this process, the coffee cherry is depulped out of it's skin, washed for a short time, then hulled when the coffee is dried to just 30-40% moisture (usually coffee is hulled out of the parchment shell only after it is dried to 12% moisture and the bean is hard). Then the green bean coffee is dried on raised beds. It is not sexactly a Sumatra process, where coffee is dried with all the mucilage on the parchment, but the effect is quite similar. And that's the Indonesia-type cup we have here. The dry fragrance has a great, rustic bittersweet chocolate character with melon fruit backdrop. The body is very heavy, and there's a very dark caramelized sugar sweetness (if you can call it that, almost carbony sugar tones.) It's pungent, with strong tobacco notes, a deep, brooding character overall. The acidity is very, very low, and along with the substantial body, gives the cup a syrupy aspect. I find that the light roasts are abit low in intensity, meaning that a heavier roast is really what gives this coffee some definition.

Wet Aroma (1-5)

3.4

Brightness - Acidity (1-10)

7.5

Flavor - Depth (1-10)

8.4

Body - Mouthfeel (1-5)

4.3

Finish - Aftertaste (1-10)

8.4

Cupper's Correction (1-5)

Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium-Bold intensity / Chocolate, tobacco notes, low acidity.

add 50

Roast: Full City+ is ideal for the cup I describe. This coffee can take darker roasts and develops a good chocolate bittersweet roast flavor. Vienna is great too!

Score (Max. 100)

85.5

Compare to: Low acidity, good body, chocolate - very Indonesian

Bali
Kintamani Arabica •

$5.30