Kintamani, Indonesia: coffee region guide

Kintamani holds Indonesia's first coffee geographical indication (2008). Bali coffee has a single harvest, roughly June to October.

Kintamani is the northern highland district of Bangli Regency, Bali, covering over 70% of the regency's area around the crater of Mount Batur, and is described as Bali's primary highland region for arabica. It is also the name of Indonesia's first coffee geographical indication, issued in 2008 as Kopi Arabica Kintamani Bali, which gives legal protection to coffee from the Kintamani region between the volcanoes of Batukaru and Agung.

Bali coffee is generally processed by the wet method, giving a sweet, soft coffee with typical lemon and other citrus notes. Unlike other parts of Indonesia such as Sumatra, Bali has a single harvest season each year, typically around July to September in Wikipedia's account and June to October in a 2009 Jakarta Post report on Kintamani.

The original GI rulebook describes fully washed arabica that is dried and dry hulled, picked selectively with at least 95% red cherries, with a reference cup of medium-to-high, often lemony acidity, medium body and low astringency. A specialty exporter citing a FAO study says the GI zone lies above 900 m and most arabica grew at 1,100-1,400 m, within a wider 900-1,500 m range.

Field notes

Many Balinese coffee farmers belong to Subak Abian, a traditional system based on the Tri Hita Karana philosophy of good relations with God, other people and the environment.

The Kintamani certification began as a pilot project of the Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute with the farmers and local communities.

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The coffee code is enforced by the subak abian itself. Picking a green cherry is fined Rp 1,000 multiplied by the number of farmers in the group, which can exceed 150, so the whole group pays for one mistake.

Kintamani coffee is often shaded by citrus trees, but one specialty exporter notes there is no good evidence that the trees pass citrus flavour to the cherries.

In the cup, according to guides

CitrusOften notedBalinese coffee is described as having typical flavours of lemon and other citrus.

SweetnessMoreBalinese wet-processed coffee is described as sweet and soft with good consistency.

AcidityMoreA specialty exporter describing the original GI reference profile says medium-to-high, often lemony acidity.

CleanCupMoreThe same reference profile calls for a clean cup with low astringency.