Searching High & Low for Coffee in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

In Ubud, a bustling town at the heart of Bali, Indonesia, specialty-coffee culture is blooming—and locally grown coffee is at the forefront of the movement.

BY MICHAELA TOMCHEK
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE

Photos by Michaela Tomchek unless otherwise noted

Bali, Indonesia, is a destination widely considered a paradise—and it makes sense why. This small island in the Indonesian archipelago has become well-known around the world for its lush plantlife, vibrant culture, and excellent food. The province also happens to be home to some great cafés, serving up locally grown coffee varieties and regional cuisine.

In Ubud, the lush, terraced center of Bali, specialty-coffee shops find a home amongst awe-inspiring temples and fragrant aromas of incense. Today, we’ll take you on a trek through the hidden paths of Ubud to find some of the area’s top coffee spots—and, as you walk through, be mindful of the delicate canang sari, offerings placed by locals along the streets.

Tucky

For visitors who’ve just arrived in Ubud and are urgently in search of coffee, Tucky is a great place to get a first caffeine fix. At the center of Ubud is a crowded tangle of streets, overflowing with souvenir shops, massage parlors, and great places to eat local food. In the midst of all of this, Tucky is a shop that easily stands out.

Nestled next to a multitude of charming shops and chic restaurants, Tucky is a great place to relax and enjoy a cup of locally grown coffee. Operating since 2023, the café was founded with the mission of introducing single-origin Indonesian coffee to tourists visiting Ubud. But their reach extends beyond coffee: They also have a stunning brunch menu and operate as a wine bar, Bacari, at night. 

Here, a relaxed ambience invites you to stay awhile: Artwork and plants beautifully decorate the space, and unique food items like mint chutney-marinated avocado toast with poached eggs, or brioche with pandan jam, perfectly compliment the beverages. Coffee here is brewed with immense care, and standout items include their house cold brew and iced peanut butter latte.

Tucky works with local farms in Indonesia to create excellent blends to serve to their clientele, but they also often bring in single estates from other origins throughout the world to add complex flavors to their coffee—an ideal first stop in Ubud.

Duue

One of the great things about Ubud is that there are always new coffee places to try—and what a joy it is to discover new spots to taste and support. Duue opened just this year and is tucked down one of the streets perpendicular to the main touristy sector.

This quaint spot serves some excellent Indonesian-grown coffee and is a great place to grab something to-go before heading out on an adventure. The expansive menu tempts you to order something flavored with Southeast Asian ingredients, like the pandan latte or taro latte: sweet and made with so much care.

For those who are leaning more towards tea, Duue also offers quality matcha-based drinks or iced black tea for cooling off on particularly hot days. If you’re lucky, there may be a cinnamon roll or some banana cake to snack on alongside your drink. The cozy outside seating area beckons you to take your time, so bring a book, have a seat, and take some time to watch the motorbikes pass by.

Seniman Coffee

A coffee tour of Ubud would be incomplete without a visit to Seniman Coffee: one of the first on the coffee scene in the region, roasting and brewing coffee since 2010. Founders Rodney Glick and David Sullivan started this enterprise, with the name meaning “artist” in Bahasa, the local language. The café is situated in the middle of Ubud and is easy to access, located just off of one of the busiest streets in the city. Now operating as a bakery, roastery, beer shop, record store, and art gallery, this coffee spot truly has it all.

Upcycled materials are a key feature at Seniman, with water glasses made from old glass bottles and café seating made from old patio furniture adding to the eclectic feel. The coffee is roasted right next door to the café, and there are a variety of options for pourover or filter coffee, including coffee grown in Bali, Sulawesi, Java, Sumatra, and Flores.

Seniman also offer some excellent specialty menu items that feel more like experiences than drinks. For example, one of their top offerings is the “Find a Rainbow”: high-quality robusta coffee mixed with ginger, brown sugar, and dulce de leche, also known locally as Bali kopi tubruk. 

Apart from their coffee, Seniman’s food menu alone makes the café worth a visit. Try the nasi bakar, rice cooked in banana leaves with chicken or tofu, or some fresh dumplings. The menu is endless but somehow, each item is worth trying.

Isaac Specialty Coffee

New to the Ubud coffee scene, Isaac Specialty Coffee opened their doors this past July, alongside another location in Seminyak that opened last year. The owner, who goes by Hedi and named the café after his son, Isaac, lived in Sydney, Australia, for ten years, and grew inspired by the coffee scene there, soon returning to his home in Bali to open a shop of his own.

“We simply want to serve excellent coffee, create genuine hospitality, and build a place where both locals and visitors feel comfortable,” Hedi told Barista Magazine. And when you visit his shop in Ubud, his dedication to perfection and precision are noticeable in every aspect of the space.

Situated outside of the bustling center of town, Isaac is a humble spot, serving simple espresso-based beverages and pourovers. They have coffee from roasters like Densapar’s Series Coffee Roasters, as well as coffee roasted in-house.

“Ubud has one of the most exciting coffee scenes in Indonesia. Over the past few years, we’ve seen a shift from cafés simply serving coffee to cafés becoming more intentional about quality, sourcing, and hospitality,” says Hedi. He explains that baristas in the region are becoming more attentive to the craft everyday, with growing influence from Australia’s specialty-coffee scene and more care towards the quality of the coffee.

The baristas at Isaac dedicate immense attention to brewing pourovers, primarily using beans sourced from Indonesia. “Our focus is on showcasing the incredible quality and diversity of Indonesian coffee, because we believe it deserves greater recognition, both locally and internationally,” says Hedi. “Indonesia produces exceptional coffees from regions such as Bali, Flores, Aceh, Java, and Toraja, each with its own unique character.” And though his shop specializes in Indonesian-grown coffee, Hedi shares that they’re still eager to acquire coffee from other origins.

“I believe Bali has the potential to become one of Asia’s leading specialty coffee destinations. With talented producers, passionate café owners, skilled baristas, and visitors from around the world, there’s a unique opportunity to keep pushing coffee culture forward,” Hedi says. “We hope here at Isaac coffee we can contribute to that journey by serving great coffee, supporting quality producers, and creating meaningful connections through hospitality.”

Komorebi

A grand finale for a coffee journey in Ubud is Komorebi, another new spot to the area. This Japanese-inspired café is sleek, with handcrafted tables, woodwork, and chairs: an art museum in itself. Komorebi is a Japanese word that translates to mean “sunlight filtering through the leaves of trees,” and that feeling—that emotion—is felt as soon as you enter the shop.

The menu at Komorebi is simple, focused on quality over quantity. Order one of their exceptional pourovers, all of which are sourced from Indonesia, or one of their high-quality teas, like the genmaicha: an earthy and savory green tea. Nibble on an onigiri, a traditional Japanese rice ball packed with various fillings and wrapped in seaweed—or, if you’re craving something sweet, try their warabimochi, a Japanese chewy treat made with bracken starch and covered in sugary syrup made from soybeans. 

The ideal ending to your time sipping coffee throughout Ubud, Komorebi emits sunshine and excellence: an apt ode to the blossoming specialty-coffee scene in the region.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michaela Tomchek finds coffee an important part of life and the world. She is an appreciator of the crop, the producer, and the many cafés throughout the world serving beautiful beverages. Currently, she writes about coffee, hoping to spread her joy across the globe. 

Subscribe and More!

As always, you can enjoy your own copy of Barista Magazine by subscribing or ordering an issue. Long live physical media!

You can read the digital edition of Barista Magazine for free here.

Support Barista Magazine and show your love with a Membership.

Signup for our weekly newsletter.

Join us at Camp Coffee Shop in Napa, California.