BALI KINTAMANI CARBONIC MACERATION HONEY

This particular lot comes from the Kintamani region of Bali. Harvested cherries are transported to a centrally located mill operated by Karana Global, which has equipment for a variety of processing methods. Producers practice meticulous harvesting standards, which include selectively picking during specific phases of the moon and taking brix measurements to ensure maximum sugar concentration in the coffee fruit.

This lot of coffee is a honey process that includes a carbonic maceration step after the depulping process. Coffee cherries arrive at the Karana Global central mill; they are carefully sorted and floated to remove damaged and underripe fruit. The cherries are de-pulped and placed in a sealed chamber. The chamber uses a one-way valve that allows carbon dioxide, generated during fermentation, to escape, without allowing new oxygen to enter, creating a “carbonic” environment. This process takes 72 hours to reach the final fermentation pH of 4.0, at which point the chamber is opened and the coffee beans are moved to patios to sun-dry between 15 to 20 days until the moisture content reaches around 12%. 

For the export preparation, dried coffee is transported to Karana’s Global dry mill facility where coffee is received, cupped and selected for export. The coffee is sorted with gravity beds, screens and an electronic color sorter.

We love coffees from the Kintamani region of Bali and this year is our first time having a carbonic honey from the region. This additional step in processing brings out berry-forward notes with a tea-like sweetness. We're already finding ourselves reaching for this coffee on the daily.