Coffee Drinker’s Guide: Bali — Coffee as Art
Image by Timur Kozmenko @timrael
There is a saying in Bali: “We have no art. We do everything as beautifully as possible.” This reflects my philosophy of practice. I try to remember daily what a gift it is to have the privilege of living in this wondrous world. -Sam Keen
Bali Coffee History
The quote above encapsulates Bali’s approach to coffee production. Most coffee is grown in small-scale farms. An artlike approach is taken to production. Unlike the rest of Indonesia, coffee produced in Bali did not originate from Dutch colonial plantations, but rather, from traders from Lombok in the early 20th century. Coffees from Bali are unique in many ways. Coffee is grown in the highlands of Kintamani in NorthEast Bali, known for its rich volcanic soil.
During the late 17th century Colonial period, Dutch traders smuggled coffee plants from Moka, Yemen, the center of coffee production at the time to Indonesia. During the early 1600’s, Arabian coffee traders had tried to retain control of coffee production by boiling or parching beans before exporting them to Europe to render seeds infertile. But the theft of coffee plants would prove to change the history of coffee forever. Upon acquiring the prized plants, the Dutch soon established coffee plantations in the port city of Batavia (now Jakarta) on the island of Java. Coffee production later expanded to the island of Sumatra and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).
Bali once focused on growing Robusta coffee, but Arabica has been added more recently. Although most Indonesian coffee has a low acid profile, in Bali coffee is planted among citrus trees, giving its bright acidity and citrusy flavor. In addition, the beans in Bali go through ‘wet processing,’ where the outer fruit of the coffee cherry is removed before drying, rather than ‘dry processing’ in the rest of Indonesian, where by the entire coffee cherry is dried. Wet-processing highlights acidity and subtle fruitiness.
About Kopi Luwak — The Most Expensive Coffee in the World & Its Ecological Implications
Perhaps the most famous coffee is the Kopi Luwak, a coffee fermented in the bellies of the Asian Palm Civet and once excreted, the partially digested coffee cherries are collected. The nocturnal palm civet does an excellent job of removing the exterior flesh of the coffee cherry and is a picky eater going after only the ripest cherries, leaving behind a coffee profile without bitterness, that is extremely smooth and sweet.
Kopi Luwak is the most expensive coffee in the world due to its labor-intensive collecting. As with many things, the most expensive coffee in the world was discovered by human ingenuity and largely by circumstance.
Under the oppression of colonial rule, coffee farmers began taking the leftover coffee beans to produce coffee at home, as they were not allowed to drink the coffee by the plantation owners. Soon enough, it was realized that the coffee was fuller and more rich in flavor, and this was due to the fermentation occurring in the bellies of the Palm Civet.
In some cases, the extraordinary price of this coffee has led to captivity of the palm civet, so some people have called to an end to this type of coffee production. If you do buy this type of coffee, it is best to check the source to make sure it is not from captured animals. Due to the selectivity of the animal’s diet in the wild, this does not produce the same result in the coffee plant and is very detrimental to wildlife and many consider this practice unethical.
Bali farmers have a profound understanding of the land and traditional coffee farmers dry coffee themselves producing notes of tobacco, leather and spices. The government prohibits fertilizer and organic methods are employed. The system organizes small farmers, supporting fair trade practices. Balinese coffee can be considered an art, and the methods are mostly small-scale. Many farmers are members of a traditional farming system called Subak Abian, based on the guiding Hindu philosophy of “Tri Hita Karana” of the interconnectedness of nature, people and spirituality.
I’ll end with this quote from Bali,
And like tea dissolving in hot water, the sun dissolved in the sky… creating a velvet horizon, announcing for the stars’ night dance with the moon, the awaited joy for the wounded souls. — The Rebirth. –Abeer Allan
Review of Bali Single Origin Coffee.
For this article, I tried a single origin bali coffee. It has a medium body and ruby brown color. It has a smooth finish with a bright acidic profile of tangerine and citrus flowers. The end finish is strong caramel and molasses.
For this blend, we recommend a french Press method, or other method that retains some of the coffee grounds due to their lack of bitterness, smooth mouthfeel and full flavor of end notes.
For more reviews please follow this series, The Coffee Señorita, and clap if you liked this article. I also would not mind a cup of coffee anytime!
