Bali Kintamani

Bali

So far the only offering from Bali that I have had is the Bali Blue Moon which is an exceptional bean.  So when I received the Bali Kintamani I was anticipating something on the same level - And boy was I wrong.

The Kintamani is so far above the level of goodness over the Blue Moon that it should have its own level of goodness attributed to it. It is so good that the name Kintamani should replace the word "good".  If the word awesome was not already designated to describe the glory of God I would suggest that Kintamani should replace it.  In fact, this coffee is so good Kintamani that it was dubbed the "Hug" coffee because after people tasted it they wanted to chase me down the street and give me a hug.  One lady gave me a kiss on the cheek and told me that it was much better than even a hug.  But let me continue.

The exotic and colorful island of Bali produces a small volume of coffee in the interior highlands. This is a dry-processed, or "natural" coffee, which walks on the wild side, with a fermenty, alcohol sweetness that conveys considerable complexity as well as a faint overripe, composty shadow.  Kintamani coffee has a cherry-brandy aspect which possesses a background of cedar wood.  The aroma is said to possess a minty-chocolate note and its body is rich and sturdy with a syrupy mouth-feel. The finish is sweet and flavor-saturated which reveals a very slight composty edge that is indigenous to many Organic coffees.

With all of that said, it boils down to this being a unique and exceptional coffee that if you ever have the chance to procure - Get it! I am sad that I only grabbed 5 pounds of this bean when I should have stock piled it. 

PNG Sigri Estate

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My wife and I sampled a new coffee this week that would cause me to do back-flips. (ahem - if I could actually move that way.)  This is a coffee from the Sigri Estate farm located in the wild of Papua New Guinea.

This offering is very smooth, and quite enjoyable.  The Aroma is wonderful as it possesses a warm cocoa smell that is as appealing as the ever popular Yemen Mocca coffees.  The flavor is very smooth and completely free of from any form of bitter. It possesses a slight sweet-nut note that is God given - completely natural.  Then to top it off all off this Sigri coffee is wrapped in a buttery-body that is thick and creamy on your tongue.  

This is definitely a must try for every coffee enthusiast. 

Ethiopian Organic Yergacheffe FT

Ethiopian Organic Yergacheffe FT

At the Horn of Africa just under Yemen where the Mocca Matari is grown (Oh YUM!!!) is Ethiopia.  Ethiopia has a wide range of altitude that has given the country a variety of ecologically distinct areas and allows it to produce some mighty fine coffee.

The aroma in this coffee is woody and wild.  It possesses a charred smell but not burnt - more like a wisp of smoke from a camp fire.  The coffee is viscous (thick) as it seems to want to hold to the side of the cup and this produces a wonderful mouth-feel that invites us to swirl it on our palette rather than just gulp it down.

The flavor of this cup is a sweet and winey with a fruit note.  This is where the character of this coffee lies as the flavor brings up nostalgic images of times spent in nature.  I personally kept visualizing my past of days walking the Belle River only to rest a while with a fire made from damp wood.  Yes, I know it sounds sappy, but I do love remembering my times in nature like that.

Bali Blue Moon

A Syrupy mouth feel and a sweet sort of spice.  Confused? Sorry that's about the best that I can describe this cup.  My wife and I tasted this cup (again) this morning and we both were stymied to come to any concrete conclusions about it.  

She said it simply smelled like coffee but admits that her sniffer was still snuffed from the evening sleep.  I thought it smelled thick - like warmed maple syrup and a touch on the sweet side as well.  Not sweet like maple syrup but as a memory of it.

My wife described the flavor like this - "It reminds me of BBQ'd meat, like something from a pot luck at your mother's church."  Uhm, Really?  I would fire her for that description but then again tastes are always subjective.  I on the other hand could not imagine BBQ in my best Alice In Wonderland dream that this coffee tasted like BBQ'd meat.  I was enchanted by the flavor because I could not peg it down.  It was slightly sweet from the citric trees that surround and mulch this coffee with its fallen fruit.  As I tasted each sip I was looking for a descriptor for the flavor but it was the mouth feel that kept begging to be noticed.  I was simply looking in the wrong direction for the wrong thing and so I was confused as I explored this cup.  However, all is right in the world again as I discovered this coffees real richness lies in its body.

This Bali Blue Moon is a well known treasure among roasters. This growing region that has been very regulated by Bali's government which means that both the quality of the stock and the handling processes are in our favor.  If you ever get a chance to try this coffee you will not be disappointed.

Cold Brewed Coffee

I made my first batch of cold brewed coffee today.  It was good but to be honest I want to play with the ratio more and use a different coffee so that I have something to compare it with - stay tuned.

I used my 8 cup French Press coffee maker and filled it with 1-Cup of coffee grounds.  Then I filled the rest with room temp filtered water and let soak for 24 hours.  I stirred it once at 12 hours because the grounds made a sort of crust on the top and I wanted to make sure that all the grounds were being steeped by the water.  After I stirred the grounds they did not form a crust again but rather sank to the bottom and steeped fully for the last 12.

I used an initial 1 to 3 concentrate to hot water ratio to make the coffee but then I landed on a 2 to 3 ratio.  It was good coffee.  There was no bitter and the acidity seemed non-existent.  In the morning I am going to try a 1 to 1 ratio and see how that works out - I am expecting great things.  I liked that the coffee was immediately drinkable as the hot water mixed with the cool concentrate made it nice.  i suspect that tomorrow's 1 to 1 ratio will make the coffee too cold as the concentrate is in the fridge tonight so it will be cold rather than room temp and the 1 to 1 ratio will make there be more cold in comparison to the hot.  If I like the flavor better using a 1 to 1 ratio then I will have to make a more dense concentrate and go from there.  Again, stay tuned.

Brazilian "Sweet Yellow" Deterra Estate

She said "It smells like yellow". 

Huh, I did not know that yellow had a smell but as I nosed the cup I discovered that she was right.  I like the fact that my wife is sensitive to smells and tastes at times.  Today as she sampled the "Sweet Yellow" for the first time I was keen to listen to her responses. 

She said it "smells yellow - like a vegetable."

And she was correct, it has a sort of sweet smell like buttered corn or something. 

Then she tasted it and she said, "Wow, that's smooth.  That has to be the smoothest cup of coffee that you have ever had me sample - even more so than that expensive coffee, that Blue Mountain stuff - And more character too."

My wife is correct, the Brazil "Sweet Yellow" from Deterra Estate is fantastic!
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