The Hunt for Arabica Coffee in Bali

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Karl Priston, a coffee supplier, sent me an email and said that he needed a Bali tour guide who can assist him while travelling around Bali in search for Bali coffee. In particular, it was called Arabica coffee. He was not interested in any other type ofcoffee (Robusta coffee or any other coffee).


First we went to Seribatu village and met my acquintance, Oka, to ask him about where can we get the Arabica coffee.


Based on Oka's info, we headed to Mengani Village (S8°17'17.25", E115°14'58.78") , north of Kintamani Village. It was a remote village, far from any where. While observing the village, Karl asked if the people who lived around the village would enjoy spending in a place like Kuta which was totally different from this mountainous area. Maybe not.


arabica coffee.JPGWe arrived at the coffee processing place. I walked to the main building and saw a stack of wet coffee beans waiting to be peeled off. The beans go to a kind of chanel where it will then squeezed by certain kind of machine. At the other end, some workers who said that they have been working late the night before, were collecting the beans and put them into sacks.


Around the building, you could see a lot of coffee plantation. The coffee plants were short, maybe 1 to 2 metres with dark leaves and bigger beans. This is the characteristics of robusta coffee.


Pak Wayan, the keeper of the place, said that we could not buy any coffee there nor taste any sample. They did not do that.


"Go to Maharaja Resto, please."Said him. "You will get this coffee bean for sale there, and even try the sample."


There was no time to waste. Well, we were hungry. It was already half past one. We jumped to the van and made a haste to Kintamani village where the Resto was located.


arabica tasting.jpg


Finally we tried the coffee in Maharaja restaurant forty five minutes later. According to Karl, as he sipped the coffee, it had a strong aroma. Well, being a coffee supplier, I would believe he knew what was talking about very well. "The coffee is slightly bitter," he commented again. "And it has a good body."


Well, I ageed about the aroma but I am not sure if the coffee can also have a sexy body.


"It means, it is not watery, and more complex."


"A good breakfast coffee," he concluded.


We went back to hotel via Tegalalang and Ubud. Karl said that he would contact me again to hunt for coffee at Banyuatis village, north Bali again. After the tour, he would go to beach to relax.

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