by Nigel Ong
Most of us would know Bali as a holiday destination with beautiful beaches, temples, and culture. However, not everyone knows Bali for its coffee. In fact, Balinese single-origin coffee is well known for coffee heads, thanks to its unique flavor.
As part of my review on single-origin Indonesian coffee, I will look at Bali Kintamani single-origin coffee in this post. I will brew it several ways and then sample it with popular flavorings. Finally, I’ll compare it with other coffees in my collection.
About Bali Kintamani Coffee
Indonesia is a coffee heaven, with many regions producing all types of coffee. Bali is no exception to this. When the Dutch came, they also introduced coffee to the island.
The lowlands usually focus on Robusta coffee, where the temperature suits it. Most of these beans end up in mass-produced coffee, such as instant coffee, flavorings, or more.
The highlands focus on Arabica beans and produce the most premium Balinese coffee. The Kintamani region is also where the popular Bali Blue Moon coffee originates.
The Bali Kintamani coffee comes from the Kintamani highlands northeast of Bali, Indonesia. This coffee region is based around the still-active Kintamani volcano. The combination of altitude, climate, and volcanic soil made it perfect for coffee planting.
Historically, Balinese farmers have engaged in “Subak Abian,” a traditional cooperative system that blends agriculture with Balinese Hindu philosophy. The practice remains today.
Balinese coffee is unique in that the coffee trees may be planted together with other fruits, such as oranges and papaya. As a result, this gives Balinese coffee its unique taste, making it world-famous.
How Does Bali Kintamani Single Origin Coffee Taste?
I picked up a bag of Bali Kintamani roast during my recent visit to Indonesia. My particular bag is roasted by an independent roastery called Kopi Keranjang. My roast comes in whole bean, is 100% Arabica, and is roasted to medium intensity.
| Style | Coffee Characteristics | Notes/Comments |
| French Press | – Light color & transparency- Light, herbal aroma- Mushroom-like flavor – Light finish | Recommended if you like a light and herbal-tasting coffee. |
| Pour Over | – Very light coffee- Strengthened mushroom notes- Short finish | Tastes lighter than when brewed with a French press, with stronger mushroom notes. |
| Espresso | – Acidic, sour crema- Overpowering mushroom flavor- Lacks traditional espresso taste | Not a very enjoyable cup. |
| With Sugar | – Slightly thicker texture- Mushroom flavor somewhat masked- Slightly lengthened finish | The sugar adds a subtle shine and complementary sweetness. |
| With Sweetener | – No notable texture change- Mushroom and herbal notes toned down- Persistent sweet aftertaste | Aspartame (Equal) leaves a very long sweet finish. Feels unnatural. |
| With Milk | – Becomes milky and rich- Subtle sweetness from lactose | A little milk may be enough, or you may drown out the light coffee. |
| With Creamer | – Slightly sweet- Softened coffee flavor | Tastes less natural compared to milk. |
| With Ice | – Elevated acidity- Diminished mushroom notes | Lack of deep flavors, not as enjoyable. |
First Impression
When I opened the bag, I was greeted with the fragrant smell of coffee. The aroma is not strong, but not smoky either.
When I brought my nose closer to the beans, I picked up a herbal, almost mushroom-like smell with the coffee. This is unique, as I was expecting chocolatey or perhaps floral notes.
The beans were lightly roasted. The beans look brownish, veering towards the latte color rather than black coffee. When I put the Bali Kintamani beans side-by-side with Papua Wamena coffee and Starbucks Blonde Espresso beans, the former is much lighter in color.
Against the Major Dickason Roast beans, well, you can truly see the color difference. Perhaps my Bali Kintamani is actually a blonde roast by Western standards.
I will brew the Bali Kintamani coffee in three ways:
French Press: This brewing style makes a murky, full-flavored coffee with floating particles. This should allow me to sample the coffee in all its ‘glory.’ I expect full flavor and strong flavor with this coffee.
Pour Over With Filter Paper: This method produces a ‘cleaner’ version of the coffee without too much oil and particles floating about. This should help me to sample more of the subtle notes.
Espresso: Espresso may be more common with darker roasts, but I found it generally able to concentrate flavors very well, especially at the crema. When I concentrate the flavors into a small cup, I want to see what I can taste from the Bali Kintamani coffee.
French Press
I relied on my Bodum Caffettiera French press for this brewing style. I used the 1:12 coffee-to-water ratio recommended by Illy Coffee, similar to my other coffee reviews.
I added 15 grams of coffee and 180ml of hot water at around 185°F (about 85°C). After stirring the coffee ground, I let the concoction brew for 4 minutes before pouring myself a cup.
My coffee looks very light in color and has a higher level of transparency. This is definitely a much lighter roast. The aroma is also light, with whiffs of herbal notes hitting my nose.
Taste-wise, this cup tastes very ‘natural’ and herbal. This coffee has little smoke or earthiness since it is a pretty light roast.
I could taste a strong mushroom-like flavor, with a bit of chocolate and fruits behind as a background. The fruit taste is certainly tropical, perhaps papaya or melons?
The finish is light, meaning the flavors disappear quickly after I swallow the coffee. This makes me want to chase the flavor by taking another sip quickly.
Pour Over With Filter Paper
Next, I pulled out my gear to make my pour-over coffee. My setup includes the following:
I use the pour-over brewing method from Starbucks. I added 20 grams of ground coffee and slowly poured 360ml of water.
I first focused on wetting the coffee ground when I started. Once all the coffee grounds had caught water and bloomed, I slowly poured in the rest of the hot water.
Pour-over coffee usually tastes lighter than French press coffee, which is true with my Bali Kintamani. As a French press, the coffee is already light enough. As a pour-over, it’s really light coffee.
The mushroom notes also become stronger. However, the finish remains short, making this coffee less ‘nurseable.’ This is not the coffee you would sip slowly as you read a book, etc. The taste disappears quickly, leaving little for you to savor.
Espresso
I grabbed my Wacaco Minipresso GR and pulled an espresso shot out of my Bali Kintamani single-origin coffee.
This portable, hand-operated espresso maker is one of my favorite coffee tools and is more affordable than an espresso machine.
This lightly roasted Bali Kintamani is a bad idea as a cup of espresso. It concentrated the wrong flavors, making the espresso a really odd drink.
My cup has an acidic, sour crema with barely any smoke or earthiness. The coffee itself tasted too mushroomy, to the point it became bothersome.
However, my bag of Bali Kintamani coffee was not roasted to make espresso, so it was not the roaster’s fault.
With Sugar
Next, I added a brown, coarse sugar stick to my cup of French press Bali Kintamani coffee. I figured a stick would do since the coffee is very light in flavor and intensity.
I was not wrong. The sugar added a bit of shine to the coffee and also made it slightly more thick in texture. Taste-wise, I think it complemented the coffee well, masking a bit of the mushroomy taste.
The sugar also lengthens the finish slightly, with the sweetness sticking to my tongue longer.
With Sweetener
Not all coffee drinkers do sugar these days, so I’ll experiment with some artificial sweeteners. In this case, I added two drops of Equal sweetener into my cup.
The sweetener did not make the coffee shinier or alter the texture as much as sugar. But it does make the coffee sweetener. Like sugar, it helped tone down the herbal and mushroomy flavor, making the coffee more neutral.
However, Equal left a very long taste of sweetness in my mouth, and I did not really enjoy that. If I am to sweeten my coffee, I will go with sugar.
With Milk
The next thing people add to their coffee is milk. Here, I added a single shot (about 30 ml or 1 oz) of whole, UHT, fresh cow’s milk.
The coffee further mellows out an already easy-to-drink coffee. The coffee turns very milky, rich, and satisfying to drink. There is also some subtle sweetness, thanks to the lactose in the milk.
Do be careful with milk here, as the coffee is light. A bit too much milk, and you risk drowning the flavor of the coffee.
With Creamer
With non-dairy creamer, I turned to the regular Coffee Mate. I added two teaspoons of it to my cup of Bali Kintamani.
Like milk, it mellows the coffee even more, making my cup very indulgent to drink. The whole cup also has some subtle sweetness, although it tastes a bit less natural than milk.
With Ice
Ice has a way of altering coffee’s flavor, making me keen to see how my Bali Kintamani would react to ice. I poured a slightly concentrated cup of Bali Kintamani into a glass of ice.
The coffee is light, which means when you iced it up, there may not be much flavor left. I tasted some mushroom notes with an elevated acidity. The coffee is not enjoyable with ice.
Bali Kintamani vs. Other Indonesian Single-Origin Coffee
The Bali Kintamani is not the only single-origin Indonesian coffee I have currently. This makes me wonder how it would taste side-by-side with the rest I have.
I pulled on these roasts, made coffee with them, and drank them side by side with my Bali Kintamani:
- Papua Wamena Roast
- Java Roast
- Sulawesi Toraja Roast
- Sumatra Gayo Roast
This may surprise you, but I would place the Bali Kintamani last on this list. My palate seems to enjoy fuller-bodied coffee with notes such as malt, chocolate, or caramel. These notes barely existed in my Bali Kintamani.
Within these roasts, I enjoyed Java and Papua Wamena the most. The Bali Kintamani may taste better to me if it is roasted a little darker.
Bali Kintamani vs Popular Medium Roasts
I figure comparing Bali Kintamani with popular, grocery medium roasts would help you better gauge the former’s taste. I pulled out these coffee and sampled them side-by-side with the Bali Kintamani:
- Starbucks House Blend
- Gevalia House Blend
- AmazonFresh Donut Cafe Medium Roast
- Dunkin Original Blend
- McCafe Premium Roast
From the list here, the Bali Kintamani cannot match these roasts in intensity and flavor. The Bali Kintamani may be sharing the last spot with the Donut Cafe.
The best of the bunch, to me, remains the Dunkin Original Blend, followed by the McCafe Premium Roast. These have more body, flavor, and intensity than the Bali Kintamani. They also give me more satisfying sips.
Bali Kintamani vs Regular Coffee
Finally, I picked up a regular Americano from 7-Eleven and drank it alongside my Bali Kintamani coffee. The idea here is to compare it against regular $1 coffee from gas stations and convenience stores.
The Bali Kintamani coffee has much more quality and aroma. It is smoother and has more edge in flavor and taste. The coffee leaves me much more satisfied, too.
The regular coffee tastes flat, and the bitterness is just plain boring, without much character. This may be the reason why people say low-quality coffee tastes like dirt.
Where Can You Get Bali Kintamani Single Origin Coffee?
If you are keen to sample some Bali Kintamani coffee, you are in luck. They are quite popular, and many US and European roasters offer them in their lineup.
In the US, roasters like Brooklyn Roasting Company and Blue Mountain Coffee Company offer them. If you like a lighter roast, check out Evansville Coffee’s roast. Based in the UK? Check out Short & Curly’s and Golden Bear Coffee. Want something organic? Lalico offers organic Bali Kintamani roasts.