Coffee Culture in Ubud: A Guide

Why is coffee such a big part of Ubud?

Bali grows its own coffee in the highlands, and Indonesia is one of the world's larger coffee producers, so good beans are close to hand here. Ubud, as the island's arts and wellness town, grew a strong cafe culture on top of that, where a morning coffee is a slow ritual rather than a takeaway. The result is a centre full of cafes, from busy roasters to quiet corners set back from the main streets.

What should you look for in an Ubud cafe?

For coffee, look for places serving specialty or single-origin beans, ideally Indonesian ones, and brewing them with care rather than by the pot. For everything else, it comes down to the room: whether you want somewhere lively to watch the street or somewhere calm to read, write or start the day slowly. The best cafe for you in Ubud depends as much on the atmosphere as the cup.

What is Balinese coffee?

Bali's best-known coffee comes from the Kintamani highlands around Mount Batur, where the altitude gives the arabica a bright, citrusy character. Indonesia is also the origin of kopi luwak, the novelty processed coffee you will see advertised on tourist trails, though it is more curiosity than everyday cup. For most visitors, a well-made Kintamani arabica is the coffee worth seeking out.

Where can you find a calm cafe in central Ubud?

The busiest cafes cluster along Monkey Forest Road and the streets around the market, which are lively but rarely quiet. For a calmer morning coffee or a late brunch, the cafes set back from that core, along Jalan Raya Pengosekan and the lanes off it, tend to be gentler. Riviera's cafe and coffee lounge sits on Pengosekan and serves specialty coffee and a small selection of artisan pastries in a warm, softly lit room open to guests and visitors.

What happens at the lounge in the evening?

The same room that serves coffee in the morning shifts mood after dark. In the evening Riviera's lounge turns to wine, with occasional wine tastings, storytelling evenings and small gatherings. It keeps the same calm, private feel, which makes it a softer end to a night out in Ubud than the busier bars in the centre.

When is Bali's coffee harvested, and how does it taste?

Most of Bali's coffee grows in the Kintamani highlands, between the volcanoes of Batukaru and Agung, and it is mostly grown by smallholders. Unlike Sumatra, Bali has a single harvest a year, usually from July to September. The beans are generally wet-processed, which gives a sweet, soft cup with lemon and other citrus notes.

Many Kintamani farmers belong to Subak Abian, a traditional farming system based on the Balinese Hindu philosophy of Tri Hita Karana. In 2008 Kintamani coffee became Indonesia's first Geographic Indication, which protects the name for coffee grown in that area.

What is kopi tubruk?

Kopi tubruk is the traditional way coffee is made in Bali. Finely ground coffee is steeped straight in hot water and left to settle, then drunk without a filter, stopping before the grounds at the bottom of the glass. Because nothing is filtered out, it drinks differently from the espresso and pour-over in a specialty cafe.

Is kopi luwak made from civet droppings?

Yes. Kopi luwak, or civet coffee, is made from coffee cherries that an Asian palm civet has eaten and passed, which are then collected, cleaned and roasted. It was traditionally gathered from wild civets in plantations and forests, but demand pushed many producers into caged production, and investigations by PETA and the BBC have reported caged animals and coffee from caged civets sold as wild-sourced.

For coffee grown on the island itself, ask for Kintamani arabica instead.