Free worldwide shipping on orders over US$ 80  ·  Shipped with care and love from Bali

Single-origin · 8°31′S, 115°27′E · Kusamba, East Bali

Salt of the
black sand,
by name.

Hand-harvested by one family, on their stretch of black volcanic shoreline, exactly the way their forefathers have done for six generations.

No certifications. Only the people who make it, named on every jar.

A salt farmer carrying yoke baskets across the black sand beach, footprints leading from the camera toward the sea
Pak Wayan, dawn tide, March 2026

Our story

Single origin.
Single family.

There is no AOC nor protected name for what we sell. Anyone with a printer can claim to do the same. What we can offer instead is rarer.

What we can do is tell you whose hands raked the brine across the black sand this morning, what the tide was doing, and how much of what you pay reaches them.

We work with an exclusive 6th-generation salt-making family in Kusamba village. No middlemen, no co-operatives, no resellers — single origin, sea to jar. Every pack you buy is directly linked to the family who made it: their faces, their hands, their name on the seal. When you buy this salt, you support them — directly, traceably, by name.

38% of every sale goes back to the family. Roughly twelve times the local wholesale rate. We publish the breakdown on every order, because we should.

— Coastal Saltworks Co.

Black volcanic sand beach at Kusamba meeting the sea with weathered driftwood logs at the tideline

The family

Pak Wayan, Ibu Ketut,
and Komang.

A father, his wife, and their son. Sixth and seventh generation salt-makers on a stretch of black volcanic shoreline in Kusamba village. They make about 600kg per month. Every gram you buy is theirs.

We've spent the last two years learning to do this with them, not for them.

Pak Wayan, sixth-generation salt-maker, in his workshop in Kusamba village
Pak Wayan, March 2026 · Kusamba

From sea to jar

Handcrafted with love.

Carrying seawater across the black sand

Carry

Seawater hauled from the tideline at first light, when the salinity is at its peak.

Brine pooled in volcanic black sand, the moisture drawing salt out of the seawater

Soak

Poured across black volcanic sand. The sun draws out the moisture; the sand holds the salt.

Coconut-fibre cone filtering brine into the wooden basin

Filter

Salt-soaked sand rinsed through a coconut-fibre filter, releasing concentrated brine.

Brine evaporating in halved palm-trunk troughs with the village in the background

Evaporate

Rested in halved palm trunks. Crystals form by mid-afternoon — six hours of patience.

Macro detail of white salt crystals forming on wooden trough during the final harvest

Gather

Hand-gathered, sorted by Ibu Ketut, sealed within 48 hours. From sea to jar, never industrial.

Free shipping over $80

Worldwide. No hidden duties on orders to most countries.

38% to the family

Direct, traceable, named. The full breakdown ships in every box.

Hand-packed in 48h

From harvest to your hands within fourteen days, most weeks.

First taste guarantee

If it doesn't change how you cook, write us. We'll refund.

Why we do this

Pay the maker, not the middleman.

The wholesale price for Kusamba salt at the local market is roughly IDR 4,000 per kilogram — about US$ 0.25. That's not a typo. We pay the family ten to fifteen times that, and publish the breakdown on every order.

1
Family · Single origin
6×
Keep the craft
1wk
From sea to jar
Home  /  The Salt  /  The Glass Jar
Most loved · Free ship over SGD 80

The Glass Jar

Hand-blown Balinese glass · 180g · No. 02
SGD 28.00
≈ USD 21 · EUR 19

An apothecary jar blown by Komang's cousin in Sidakarya, filled with two months' worth of salt for most kitchens.

Each piece is slightly different — the bubble in the wall, the angle of the shoulder, the weight in your hand. The cork is local, harvested upcountry. The salt inside is hand-flaked, never milled. It will last on a shelf, sealed, for a decade.

Made by
Pak Wayan Suarsa
4th generation · Kusamba village
Story →
Size 180g lasts most kitchens 2 months
120g SGD 22
180g SGD 28
3-Pack SGD 76
Add gift wrap Hand-tied with twine, signed card included
No
Yes + SGD 6
Quantity
8 in stock from this batch

Ships from Bali, Indonesia · 7–14 business days worldwide
38% of this purchase goes directly to Pak Wayan and his family

How it tastes.

Bright on first contact, with a salinity that opens rather than punches. Faint mineral undertones from the volcanic sand — earth, iron, faraway smoke. Crystals are flake-form, irregular, designed to dissolve quickly on a finished plate.

Best on: roasted vegetables, fresh tomatoes, cultured butter, dark chocolate, the rim of a margarita, soft eggs. Resist using it for boiling pasta — it deserves a more visible role.

Specifications

  • Net weight180g · 6.3 oz
  • Crystal formFlake
  • Sodium~38g per 100g
  • OriginKusamba, East Bali (8°31′S)
  • MethodSolar / coconut-wood evaporator
  • VesselHand-blown soda-lime glass
  • StopperSumatran cork
  • HarvestedMar–Apr 2026

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Customer gets a tracking link as soon as Bali team marks the order shipped. Auto-emails at "in transit" and "delivered" milestones.

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Pak Wayan working at the wooden evaporator troughs

The family · Generation six of six

Pak Wayan
& family.

Salt-makers of Kusamba village. Six generations on this stretch of black sand.

At a glance
LocationKusamba, East Bali
CoastApprox. 80m of beach
GenerationsSix (since 1872)
Yield, May 2026~28 kg
We pay themIDR 60,000/kg

Their story

The same patch of beach. The same coconut frames. The same patience. For six generations.

Pak Wayan was eleven when his father first walked him down to the tideline before sunrise. He carried the small bamboo yoke with two clay pots, and his father carried the larger one. They walked back together. The salt they made that morning sold for a few hundred rupiah.

Forty-one years later, he walks the same beach with the same kind of yoke. The pots are plastic now — the clay broke long ago, and plastic doesn't — but the rhythm is the same. He arrives before light. He reads the tide. He carries until the sun is high. He filters, he pours, he waits. By late afternoon, he has roughly two kilograms of salt to show for the day's work.

Two kilograms of salt. At the local wholesale market, that is worth around US$ 0.50.

His father did this. His grandfather did this. His great-grandfather did this. This stretch of beach, the family's particular set of frames and troughs, the rhythm — it has been continuous since 1872. Long enough that nobody alive remembers how it started.

What threatens it now is not the work, which is hard but bearable; nor the weather, which is what it has always been; but the price. At 4,000 rupiah per kilogram, salt-making is not viable as a profession. Pak Wayan's neighbours have left, one by one, for jobs in tourism, in construction, in faraway cities. The craft does not pass on if there is nobody for it to pass to.

That is why we exist. We pay the family ten to fifteen times the wholesale rate. We sell their salt by name, from a hand-blown jar, to people who care where their food comes from. The math, finally, works.

Pak Wayan pouring brine onto the black sand
— Pak Wayan, mid-pour
The wooden evaporator troughs at the family's workshop
— The family's evaporator yard

A day in the life

The rhythm hasn't changed in a century.

A typical dry-season day, hour by hour. Wet season is different — they wait, mostly, and prepare equipment. The sea, not the calendar, decides.

04:30before light

The first walk

Pak Wayan walks down to the beach. The tide is at its lowest. The salinity at this hour is roughly 35 parts per thousand — enough to taste, sharp on the tongue. He fills the first two pots and starts back.

06:00sunrise

The pour

Across his patch of black sand, he pours the brine, then rakes it smooth. The volcanic sand is dark and porous — it holds water and heat the way ordinary sand does not. By 8 a.m. it has begun to dry, leaving a faint white crust.

10:00second carry

Repeat

Another two pots. Another pour. Now there are three crops of sand drying in different stages. He uses the time between to tend the coconut-fibre filters, to rake older sand into piles, to sweep, to wait.

13:00peak heat

The filter

The morning's first sand is dry. He gathers it into the filter — a coconut-fibre vessel raised on bamboo legs — and slowly trickles fresh seawater through it. What comes out is the most concentrated brine of the day: 240 parts per thousand. Enough that it stings if you taste it.

15:30the trough

Evaporation

The brine goes into halved palm-trunk troughs — long, narrow, weighted with volcanic stones at the corners to keep them flat. Six hours of afternoon sun. By dusk, the trough holds a thin layer of perfect, flake-form crystals.

19:00dusk

Gather. Sort. Walk home.

Pak Wayan gathers the crystals into a woven palm-leaf bowl, hands the day's haul to Ibu Ketut, and the day is done. She will sort it tomorrow — the work she does sitting cross-legged in the shade, separating fine flake from coarse with a small wooden tool.

The household

Three pairs of hands.

Pak Wayan is the public face of the work, but the salt does not arrive in your kitchen without all three of them. The family is the unit; nobody works alone.

Ibu Ketut sitting in the shade, packing salt by hand

Ibu Ketut

The matriarch · The finishing hand

She does not go to the beach. She works under the awning behind the house, sorting crystals by size and colour, packing them, weighing them, sealing them. She has done this for thirty years. Her stamp is on every wax seal.

"My husband makes the salt. I decide what salt is good enough to leave the house."
Komang at the salt frames

Komang

Their son · The seventh generation

Sixteen years old. Comes to the beach after school, and on the weekends works alongside his father. He says he wants to keep doing this. His parents are clear with him: he should choose freely. He chose this.

"I see what my father does. I want to be able to do it as well as him one day."

Pricing transparency

Where every rupiah of your jar goes.

Average breakdown for The Glass Jar at US$ 21. We show you because we should — and because it is the proof that "we pay our farmers fairly" is more than a marketing line.

To the family↑ 12× the local wholesale rate
US$ 7.9838%
The vesselHand-blown glass, Sidakarya
US$ 3.7818%
Packaging & labelCotton, wax, paper, twine
US$ 2.9414%
Stripe + shippingCard fees, courier, customs
US$ 2.1010%
OperationsStudio, photography, software
US$ 4.2020%
My father taught me. I will teach Komang. The sea will tell us when to stop.
— Pak Wayan, March 2026

Take some home

Each pack carries the family's name.

Three vessels. One extraordinary mineral. The everyday way to taste Kusamba — and to support the people who make it possible.

Shop the salt →
Pricing transparency

Where your money actually goes.

Most premium food brands won't tell you. We will, down to the cent — because the trust between you, us, and the family is the entire product. Numbers below are for one Glass Jar at US$ 21, published Q1 2026.

The breakdown

One $21 jar, six pieces.

To the familyDirect to Pak Wayan & Ibu Ketut
$7.9838%
Shipping & customsBali → your door, duties paid
$4.6222%
PackagingHand-blown glass, cotton, paper
$2.9414%
MarginWhat we keep to grow this
$2.3111%
Platform & paymentStripe, hosting, web
$1.899%
Marketing & opsThis site, photos, customer care
$1.266%

Numbers rounded; full audited breakdown in our quarterly report.

Why this matters

The local wholesale rate is $0.90 per kilo.

Bali salt has no AOC. No protected name, no enforced standard. Anyone with a printer can claim "artisanal Bali salt" on a label and pay the producer the local wholesale rate — about ninety US cents a kilogram. That's what middlemen offer when they come to Kusamba village in the morning.

We pay the family $11.40 per kilogram, direct, no middlemen. That's roughly 12.7× the local rate. Of every jar you buy, $7.98 goes back into a coastline that has been making salt this way for six generations.

$0.90
Local wholesale rate / kg
vs.
$11.40
What we pay / kg · 12.7×

My grandfather sold his salt to a man with a truck. The man had a label. I never saw the label.— Pak Wayan, March 2025

Inside the 38%

And inside that, where it really lands.

The 38% to the family isn't a single line item. We agreed the structure with Pak Wayan and Ibu Ketut over three sit-downs in 2024.

25%

Direct labour

Pak Wayan, Ibu Ketut, and Komang. Paid weekly in IDR via direct bank transfer.

8%

Family reserve

For new wooden troughs, palm-thatch repairs, vessel replacements, eventual retirement.

5%

Community trust

School fees for younger cousins, ceremonial obligations, repairs to the village access path.

How we hold ourselves to this

Audited & published quarterly.

The numbers above are checked against our books and the family's records by an independent accountant in Denpasar. Every quarter we publish a one-page report: total revenue, total paid to the family, and any adjustments. We email it to every customer, post it on the journal, and keep the back catalogue here.

If our claims and our books ever stop matching, you'll know. So will we.

Read the Q4 2025 report →

The journal

Notes from Bali.

Letters, observations, and the occasional photograph. Sent from the workshop in Kusamba, the shoreline at dawn, and our small office in Singapore. New issue every few weeks.

photograph: Komang at the morning trough MARCH 2026

Komang's first solo harvest.

Pak Wayan's son, Komang, ran the workshop alone for two weeks while we were at a trade show in Singapore. The salt that came out is in the March batch — bagged, signed, and sealed by him. We didn't tell him we'd be gone that long; he found out the day before. What came back was the most consistent batch we've seen in eight months. The flake is finer. The story behind that is its own story.

Subscribe to read it →

Why we don't sell on Amazon.

We've turned down four offers in the last six months — three from third-party fulfilment partners and one direct from Amazon Fresh. The temptation is real: we'd 4× our reach overnight. The math is not. To make Amazon's margins work for a hand-harvested product like ours, we'd have to either (a) cut what we pay the family by 60%, (b) double our retail price and lose the customers we love most, or (c) cut the packaging that keeps the salt dry on its way to you. None of those is acceptable.

Subscribe to read it →
photograph: workshop at low tide, looking south FEBRUARY 2026
Archive

Earlier letters, going back as far as we have them.

The November storms

Seven weeks of unusable weather. Why your jar arrived three weeks late, what we did with the time, and how Pak Wayan stays sane when he can't work.

On the question of plastic

We use a single sheet of food-grade plastic to line the brine pools. We've thought about it more than we'd like. Here's where we are.

Ibu Ketut's mother

She turned 88 this month. She started harvesting salt at fourteen. We asked her what's actually changed in seven decades. The answer was shorter than we expected.

Choosing the basalt

Why a stone from Mt. Agung sits inside every Lava Vessel, how we picked the carver, and the reason every vessel is slightly different.

By post

One letter, every few weeks.

From the workshop and from us. No marketing. No discount codes. Just the actual notes — sometimes long, sometimes a paragraph and a photograph.

Wholesale & restaurant

If you cook with it,
we'd love to know.

We work with a small number of restaurants, hotels, and specialty stockists. The family makes about 600kg per month — every kilogram is spoken for. Our wholesale list is by application, and there's a thoughtful waitlist.

Currently with us

A small family of partners.

We don't list names publicly out of respect for our partners' own brands, but here's the shape of who we work with. New partners are added on a quarterly basis when supply allows.

  • A two-Michelin-star restaurantSingapore · since 2024
  • A boutique resortUbud, Bali · since 2024
  • A specialty grocerHong Kong · since 2025
  • An organic deliTokyo, Daikanyama · since 2025
  • A modern Indonesian restaurantSydney · since 2025
  • A coastal hotelPhuket · since 2026
What we offer

Beyond what you'll find on the shop.

Bulk format

1kg cotton pouches and 5kg paper-lined wooden crates. Same salt, fewer touches, much lower per-kilo cost.

Custom labelling

Co-branded glass jars for tabletop service, minimum 200 units. We design alongside your team in Bali.

Staff training

Direct video calls with Pak Wayan and Ibu Ketut for your front-of-house. Translated by us. Your team will care more, and so will guests.

Workshop visits

For chef-owners and your guests. We arrange a half-day at the workshop in Kusamba, lunch with the family included. Limited availability.

How it works

Five steps. About six weeks.

  1. You enquireTell us a little about your kitchen, your volume, and how you'd cook with the salt. Form on the right.
  2. We send samplesThree small jars — coarse, flake, fleur de sel. We cover the postage. About a week.
  3. We agree on volumeA short call. We're honest about what we can supply this quarter. Sometimes there's a small wait.
  4. You pay 50%On confirmation. The remainder ships with the goods. We work in USD, SGD or IDR.
  5. We deliverTwo to three weeks from order, freight inclusive of customs duties to most countries.
Pricing tiers

Volume gets you better economics.

All prices ex-Bali, USD per kilogram, on 1kg cotton pouches. 5kg crate format is roughly 18% lower again.

Monthly volumePrice / kg
1 – 5 kg$80
6 – 15 kg$65
16 – 40 kg$52
41+ kgby conversation

Restaurants buying for tabletop only typically fall in the 1-5 kg tier. Hotels with multiple outlets and bakeries usually sit at 16+.

Enquire

Tell us about your kitchen.

We read every enquiry ourselves. Pak Wayan and Ibu Ketut are part of the conversation when we're considering a new partner. You'll hear from us within five working days.

FAQ

Shipping, care & questions.

Everything we get asked, with honest answers. If something isn't here, write to us — we read every email and reply ourselves.

Shipping

Getting it to your door.

How long does shipping take?

10–14 working days from Bali to most major cities — Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Sydney, London, Paris, New York. Add 3–5 days for less common destinations and rural addresses.

We dispatch every Tuesday and Friday. If you order on a Sunday evening, your package leaves Bali on Tuesday morning. We email you the tracking link the moment it's collected.

Where do you ship?

Worldwide, with a small number of exceptions: countries where customs make food imports impractical (Russia, Iran), and a handful of small island nations where logistics aren't reliable enough for us yet.

Customs duties to the US, EU, UK, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, Japan, and Canada are paid by us — the price you see at checkout is the price you pay. For other destinations, your customs office may collect a small duty on delivery; we estimate this for you at checkout.

Free shipping threshold?

Orders over US$ 80 ship free worldwide. Below that, we charge actual cost — usually US$ 9–14 depending on your country.

Can I track my order?

Yes. As soon as the package leaves the workshop, you receive an email with a DHL or local-equivalent tracking number. You can also check status by replying to your order confirmation — Komang or Sarah will look it up for you.

What if my order is delayed?

Two main reasons orders are delayed: weather (the rainy season makes harvest sporadic — we'll email you ahead of time) and customs (occasional inspections in transit). Both are visible in tracking. If your package hasn't moved in 7+ days, write to us and we'll chase it.

Care & storage

Looking after the salt.

How should I store it?

Sealed, dry, away from direct sunlight, ideally in a cupboard. The Glass Jar's cork is enough — no need to decant. The Pouch is best transferred into a small jar once opened, or used within four months.

Does the salt expire?

Salt does not expire. The minerals are stable. We mark a "best before" date of two years for retail compliance, but our salt three years out tastes the same as our salt one month out. We've tested.

Why does my salt feel slightly damp?

That's the magnesium and potassium pulling moisture from the air — a sign of real unrefined sea salt. Industrial table salt is heated to 600°C and chemically dried until it's bone dry. Ours isn't. If it bothers you, leave the open jar in the sun for an hour and it'll dry out. Most chefs we work with prefer it slightly moist.

Can I refill the Lava Vessel?

Yes — that's exactly what the Refill Subscription is for. A 180g kraft pouch arrives every two months and pours straight into the vessel. The vessel itself lasts forever; in fact we'll engrave your name on the underside if you ever buy one.

Returns & refunds

If something isn't right.

What is the first-taste guarantee?

If you taste the salt for the first time and it doesn't change how you cook, write to us within 30 days. We refund you, no return needed. Keep the salt — give it to a friend who'll appreciate it. We'd rather lose the sale than the relationship.

This is honour-system. We've refunded twelve people in the last year. We'd happily refund twelve thousand.

What if my package arrives damaged?

Reply to your order email with a photo. We send a replacement same-day. You don't return the broken one.

What if my package gets lost?

If tracking shows no movement for 14 days, we resend the order at our cost. If the original shows up later, that's a happy bonus for you. Our shipping insurance covers it on our side.

Subscription & account

Managing your refill plan.

How do I pause my subscription?

From your account dashboard (link in any subscription email), or just reply to the most recent shipment email. We'll pause within 24 hours, no questions, no resistance. Resume whenever.

Can I change shipping address?

Yes, anytime — from the dashboard, or by email. Up to 48 hours before the next shipment dispatches.

Can I gift a subscription?

Yes. At checkout, choose "this is a gift" — we send a card by post (signed by Pak Wayan if you'd like, just ask) and you can choose when the first shipment arrives. The recipient never sees a price.

Wholesale & trade

Buying for a restaurant or shop.

Do you offer wholesale or trade pricing?

Yes, by application. We work with a small number of restaurants, hotels, and specialty stockists worldwide. Volume is limited — the family makes about 600kg per month and every kilo is allocated. There's a thoughtful waitlist when capacity is tight.

The full picture, including pricing tiers and the enquiry form, is on our wholesale page.

Still nothing answers your question?

Write to us. We read every email and reply ourselves — usually within a working day, sometimes faster. If you're a first-time customer trying to decide, that's exactly what we're here for.

Checkout.

A few details and you're done. We pack within 48 hours.

1

Contact

A valid email is required.
2

Shipping address

3

Shipping method

4

Payment

Your card details are encrypted and processed by Stripe. We never see them, and we never store them.

First-taste guarantee
30 days, no return needed
Free shipping over $80
Worldwide, duties paid
PCI-DSS secure
Encrypted by Stripe

Thank you, friend.

Your order is confirmed. Pak Wayan will be told this evening — he likes to know who's getting which jar.

CSW-2026-00342

You'll get a confirmation by email at your inbox within a few minutes. Tracking arrives the moment your package leaves Bali — usually two days.

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