A Crappy Cup of Coffee

After Jogja, Martha and I headed to beautiful Bali for some chillaxing.  On the way to our hotel, our driver, Pak Made (same friendly fellow who shuttled me and the ladies around last year), asked us if we had tried kopi luwak yet... we hadn't, so we stopped at a local producer's shop for a taste.

For those of you who don't know, kopi luwak is the most expensive coffee in the world.  It also comes from poop.  Cat poop.

OK, more specifically, kopi luwak comes from the feces of the Asian palm civet "cat" (it's not really a cat... probably more akin to a raccoon or possum, I think.)... the civets eat the ripest of the coffee berries and then poop out the coffee beans whole after their digestive systems do something to the beans that make them less acidic, ultimately producing a smoother cup of coffee.  Photo of a napping civet above.

Here's the coffee in its various processing stages:

Here is the hand-roasting method used on Bali for all coffee (civet poop or not):

And here's their grinding process... no fancy burr grinders here!  Just some serious elbow work:

And here's Martha taste-testing the kopi luwak... our host gleefully told us that he likes to refer to it as a "cat-poo-ccino."  Snort...  he told the joke with such joy, you would think he didn't tell it 75 a day:

We tasted a whole bunch of other teas and coffees produced at this farm, including mangosteen tea, ginger and coconut coffee, and jamu (traditional Indonesian herbal drink/remedy), among others:

One final shot of the crappy cup of coffee, with a cinnamon stick for the true Balinese preparation:

My New Favorite Neighborhood Joint

There is a great coffee shop, Anomali Coffee about a 4 minute walk from our apartment here in Jakarta... amazing, locally (well, local as in Indonesia- Sumatra, Java, Bali, Sulawesi) grown coffee (or kopi, as they say here), comfy seats, quiet atmosphere, no smoking.  Plus, if you buy beans to bring home, they give you a free cup of brewed coffee that comes in its own personal French press.  My new favorite neighborhood joint.

Maybe next time I'm there I'll splurge on their crappiest cup of coffee.  Har har.

Lady of Leisure

Since we're still living the hotel life (still haven't pinned down a permanent abode in Jakarta), I still don't have a job in Indonesia (although am technically still on paid leave from my old job), and Tim still has to go to work (poor Tim), I get to lounge around as a lady of leisure this week.  It's definitely not a tough job... I think I am up for it.  It helps that the hotel where we're staying this week, the Dharmawangsa Hotel, is totally luxurious.  

Check out these photos:

Yes, this is a new camera and I am still figuring out how to crop out my toe.  But look at the pretty water!

Coffee by the pool.  Ain't nothin' wrong with that!

Inviting, eh?

Sup.

Sup, ladies?

This here is your boy, Linc, comin' atcha from the red room bed.  

I'm loungin', chillaxin' and thinkin' 'bout civet cats and that crazy coffee made from their poop.  Yeah, it's a thing... in Indonesia, baby.  And that's where we're headed...  sweet.

I'll post more here once on my way to the home of batik, orangutans and komodo dragons.

But for now, it's back to nappin'.  Peace.