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Tasting impressive Balinese coffee flavor
Features - June 13, 2002
Wahyuni Kamah, Contributor, Denpasar, Bali Indonesian
coffee lovers are familiar with local coffees, such as Medan, Lampung
and Toraja coffees. Still, Balinese coffee does not ring a bell despite
its impressive taste.
Only a few who cannot forget the taste of Balinese coffee keep coming
back for more, getting what they need in a small specialized shop in
the heart of Denpasar, on Jl. Gajah Mada. Nestled among the old and unpolished stores, the small shop draws pedestrians with the aroma of coffee.
Don't expect fancy cafe-like settings, since the shop only has one
table with cappuccino and espresso makers on it and several seats to
allow visitors to sample coffee on the spot.
There are tall shelves on the wall where attractively packed coffee --
in aluminum wrapping, batik, paper, fabric, tins and bamboo boxes --
are on display.
"The attractive wrappings are to tempt tourists to take them home as
souvenirs," said Djuwito Tjahjadi, owner of the Bhineka Jaya shop.
Visitors can choose either roasted coffee beans, medium grind coffee,
fine blend coffee or cappuccino in different sizes and packets. Others
coffees like Toraja are also sold.
In order to meet the demands of coffee fans wanting to buy more than a
kilogram of coffee, a series of large rectangular tins for fine-blend
coffee are neatly lined up next to an old fashioned scale used to weigh
the coffee. Large pictures showing the coffee-making process hang on the wall.
Whenever the 82-year-old Djuwito Tjahjadi is in his shop, he will
kindly invite visitors to taste a cup of espresso or cappuccino.
"It took me seven years to find the right taste of espresso to meet the
different tastes of coffee drinkers," said Djuwito, who visited other
countries in his youth to learn about and taste different coffee
flavors.
The excellence of his coffee, claimed Djuwito, had drawn Malaysian
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to drop into his shop several years
back.
"I visit Bali regularly and never miss coffee shopping in this shop,"
said an American tourist from Wisconsin, who bought many packets of
coffee.
Djuwito's father, Bian Ek, started selling coffee at Bhineka Jaya in
the 1930s. Since the mid-1960s, modern machinery has been used to roast
the coffee.
When the director of Worldwide Coffee Research, Dr. Hubert S. Koehler,
visited Djuwito's coffee retail shop and factory in 1995, he left a
written statement praising the hygienic process of coffee roasting and
the authentic taste of Balinese coffee.
According to Djuwito, the secret behind the excellent taste of his
coffee is its freshness. He said that the coffee sold at his outlet is
always freshly produced in the factory. Moreover, he never uses
chemicals and only selected coffee beans grown at plantations in
Kintamani, Pelaga and Singaraja are roasted, making his coffee 100
percent pure Balinese coffee. At times, Djuwito helps visitors select which coffee to buy. "Bali Gold is a favorite of Westerners," he said.
Despite its relatively expensive price, customers keep coming back to
replenish their supply of fine blends, ground coffee and beans. The
price of coffee in tins starts from Rp 20,900 per kilogram while those
in attractive wrappings cost Rp 15,000 to Rp 25,000 per 500 grams.
In order to ensure the coffee's quality, Djuwito does not let customers
buy a great amount of coffee at a single time. "The coffee could be
damaged (in the long run) and possibly be returned. I don't want that
to happen or to disappoint coffee drinkers," said the Bali-born man.
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