Bali

CUPPING NOTES: Bakers Chocolate, Orange Peel, Juniper, Molasses, Clean
REGION: Kintamani Highlands of Central Bali, Indonesia
ALTITUDE: 1200-1600 M
PROCESS: Hand-picked, Wet-hulled, Two-step Sun Dried on Raised Beds
VARIETALS: Bourbon, (S795 & USDA 762) Typica, and Catimor
CERTIFICATIONS: Organic

DETAILS: Bali Blue Moon is a Royal staple named after the hallmark bluish hue of the bean produced from the wet-hulling process called Giling Basah in the Indonesian language. The bulk of Bali’s coffee production comes from small family-owned farms where each producer uses a few acres to cultivate coffee along with citrus trees in the volcanic soils of Mount Agung’s Kintamani highlands. They carefully sort their harvested cherries before de-pulping and fermenting overnight with their own micro-mills. Then the coffee is washed and laid out on patios to shed the excess water from the coffee parchment.

Next, the coffee takes a detour from the conventional path of processing in other origins, wherein, the coffee parchment is removed while the coffee still has a high moisture content. This wet-hulling process or Giling Basah leaves the coffee bean exposed while drying on patios to a moisture percentage acceptable for export and gives the beans their distinct bluish color.

Balinese producers continue to maintain a traditional rural lifestyle organized around a Subak Abian, which is a reference to the ecologically sustainable irrigation systems developed more than 1,000 years ago by Hindu priests who practice Tri Hita Karana (the three sources of prosperity), a philosophy focused on the harmonization between the environment, humans and God. These traditions are followed in coffee cultivation, which means pesticides and synthetic fertilizers are never used.