From a collection of family farms in the volcanic highlands of Bali, this coffee comes to us through the traditional Subak Abian structure of agricultural organization in upland Bali. To address water scarcity, the farmers began naturally-processing their coffee in 2009 and the result was nothing short of spectacular. This coffee boasts more fruity, sweet notes than most coffees we’ve tasted and we celebrate its return every year.
Region: Kintamani Highlands of Central Bali, Indonesia
Elevation: 1200-1600m
Process: Natural
Farmer: Coffee producers organized through Subak Abian (SA) a traditional structure of farmer organization in upland Bali
Variety: Bourbon, (S795 & USDA 762) Typica, and Catimor
We Taste: Maraschino Cherry, Dark Chocolate, Apricot
Roast Level: Light (Agtron: 79)
We visited both the Rukira washing station (“factory”) and
the Othaya Society’s Dry Mill and Cupping lab, hosted throughout by Newton
Ndiritu one of the brightest coffee personalities in Kenya. Newton is both the
factory chairman at the Rukira factory with approximately 560 members and the
chairman of the entire Othaya Society (which comprises about 15,000 farmer
members across several other factories).
Newton has raised the bar for his fellow member farmers at
Rukira in a few ways. By using best-practice pruning methods and appropriate
amounts of fertilizers he’s been able to increase the yield from around 5kg per
tree to around 23 kg per tree, thereby showing a way to make farming coffee
sustainable in the long-term. He’s smoothed the path for construction of the
Othaya society’s own dry mill, which has helped control the quality all the way
to our roastery. The dry mill also includes a state-of-the-art cupping lab, the
best cupping lab our coffee buying team has seen at any society or factory. By
controlling the process and continuously cupping the coffee, Rukira (and some
other factories at Othaya) consistently turn out some of Kenya’s best coffees.
The Rukira AA placed third in the Taste of Harvest competition this year, and
we think you’ll enjoy it tremendously!
Maraschino Cherry, Dark Chocolate, Apricot