"Welcome to Five Senses Coffee"

Our new Direct Trade Balinese bean has arrived, and there’s been a lot of excitement at the roastery as we’ve tested and tweaked the roast profile, cupped, sipped and slurped our way to caffeine heaven and finally, given it the tick of approval for distribution to the coffee-loving-masses.

You may remember our previous articles about our expedition to Bali and our attempts to engage with the coffee growers in the majestic mountains around Kintamani.
After interacting with the growers and observing their daily routines and habits, it became pretty clear to us that they had little understanding about the venues that would ultimately use their coffee.

The Balinese drink a brewed beverage that they call “Kopi Bali” which is masked by a lot of sugar and, often, ground corn. It’s actually quite enjoyable, but a long way removed from what you or I would drink at our favourite cafés. To create this local drink, they use beans which are rejected for export and which lie around in festering heaps.

It was our challenge to not only bridge the language barrier, but also convey some sense of the seriousness with which we approach coffee in Australia. Dean explained this well in the second part of our Bali series and when we left Bali, we were hopeful that our message had been understood and embraced and we looked forward to receiving the coffee that were processed as a result of our interaction.

Well, the “Bagus Sekali” (pronounced ba-goos se-kali, loosely meaning “super good”) has finally arrived, and we’ve been busy conducting traditional and espresso cuppings. The green coffee beans looked clean and low in defects. Traditionally, the coffee cupped extremely well and we noted exceptional cleanness and balance. It has medium to high body, intense earthy acidity and a clean finish with yeast and vegemite flavours and malt biscuit aromas. Through espresso, we noticed that the flavours intensified considerably, with dominant earthy, nutty tones and heightened sweetness and acidity, which added extra zing to the cup.

We hope that this just the first of many shipments of Balinese coffee and I suspect that we might gain a lot more from this relationship than just quality coffee. Direct trade relationships such as the one we have established here are very topical at the moment, as roasters search for better coffee and a more equitable and ethical trade relationship. 5 Senses has long been an industry leader in this area, with the company evolving from a direct trade relationship with growers in PNG, and our Direct Trade range recently expanded to include a superb Sumatran bean.

No article on Bali would be complete without talking about the amazing people who live on this magical island. They are incredibly happy and seem to have a connectedness with their lives and environment that we seem to struggle to find in the western world. It is our sincere hope this is just the start of our relationship with the growers of Kintamani and we hope that we can shine a light on the great coffee and people of the area.