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. 

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.

Gene Cafe'

A week ago I did two coffee roasting demos and I featured the Bali Blue Moon.  I used the professional Gene Café roaster and the coffee turned out much different from my first experience roasting in the popcorn poppers.  In my opinion the coffee was under-roasted in the first demo and over-roasted in the second.  Both seemed a touch bitter to me but my guests were gracious enough to tell me that the coffee was good – at least better than the Maxwell House they had just drank.  So I decided that I need to roast a couple batches and get to know what was going on.

The first batch that I roasted was called a "High-Roast" (464 deg. F: 15 min.) in the Gene Café.  It was on the under-roasted side and left the bean rawer than it was roasted.  When I ground it and brewed it we (me and my wife) sampled it and found it to be true to its description of very fruity in flavor.  My wife commented that it reminded her of an Orange Zinger tea.  Indeed we could identify that this bean was actually grown between tangerine and orange trees.  However, my wife and I not being fans of Orange Zinger tea ended up dumping the pot and moving on to roast #2.

This second batch I moved up a notch on the roasting scale to "City-Roast" (482 deg. F: 17 min.) which was enough more to take the coffee from under-roasted to almost perfectly roasted (I say almost perfectly roasted because I don't know what perfect is in the world of coffee).  This coffee tasted balanced with only undertones of the fruitiness (like seeing something in the periphery) from the previous roast.  The natural nuttiness of this bean blended with the fruit dominance and made the fruit as though it were just a memory and an ever so slight chocolate note on the finish and after taste.   

What is the difference between roasting with the popcorn poppers and the fancy Gene Café?  There are two main ones as I see it.  First, roasting with the popcorn poppers is more of an art form as the result is singularly dependent upon a human to listen, look, and determine when the beans have been roasted enough.  When roasting with the Gene Café the human need only set the controls for the result they desire and then they are free to push start to begin the automatic process.  And second, I consider the two roasting methods best described as the "Petal-to-the-Metal Roasting" versus the "Oh-Dear-Heaven-I-Think-My-Grandma-is-Behind-the-Wheel Roasting" methods.  With the PttM method, the heat is full and furious and takes about 7 minutes to roast a batch of green beans and the ODHITMGiBtW method is well, about 30-35 minutes from start to finish per batch.  Granted, the ODHITMGiBtW method makes about twice what the PttM method does per batch but since I am the type of person who would rather drive 50 miles out of my way to avoid 5 minutes of stop-and-go traffic can you guess which method I prefer?

So, as it turns out, I have tried the Bali Blue Moon three or four different ways now and the result has always been a different.  Coffee is truly like wine tasting in that there is much to be explored in each cup if only we will take the time to go spelunking.  Please, the next time you have a cup of coffee consider exploring your cup and be determined to experience it fully.

Bali Blue Moon

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Just South-East of Vietnam in the Flores Sea comes the Bali Blue Moon.  Highly regulated and hand-washed this bean looked very promising.


While I roasted I noticed that there was very little chaff.  It smoked a little on the initial heat-up and then it did not smoke again until the end of the roast.  I read that this coffee was better when the bean was roasted to a Full-City Roast so I took it in to the Second Crack when the flecking was quite evident.  The beans looked very good and dry except for a couple that showed signs of oiling.


I brewed with the syphon pot which uses a slightly higher than normal grind/water ratio.  The coffee I would say was strong because of this but not so strong that bitterness became a factor.  

On a scale from 1 - 10 I rate this coffee a 9 - Right up there with the Peaberry.  The aroma is fruity like a sweet-and-sour sauce and very pleasing to the nose.  The flavor was solid and smooth as it boasted of a cocoa-bean note as well as a mellow tone.  The brightness of this cup was medium though it was quite complex and deep.  The body of this cup was buttery and weighed on the pallet long enough to let you know it was there and lingered on the tongue like a fond memory.