Seniman Coffee Studio

Seniman Coffee Studio describes itself as the original specialty coffee and design studio in Ubud, and its café on Jalan Sri Wedari, in the Taman Kelod neighbourhood of central Ubud, remains the flagship of a business that has since spread across Bali. The name means artist in Indonesian, and the business combines coffee with design, art and music; one coffee writer calls it one of the originals of Bali's specialty coffee scene.

Coffee is the core. Seniman runs its own roastery, across the street from the café, along with a separate espresso roastery at Sakah and a green bean business called Karana, and it produces cold brew on a larger scale. In the café, single-origin coffees are the thing to order, and a cold brew taster lets you compare three different coffees side by side, which is a good introduction to how much Indonesian beans can vary. Espresso and piccolo flights, Japanese-style iced filter and hot filter coffee are also offered, and the shop sells beans, gift boxes and even home roasters. Later in the day the bar turns to coffee cocktails, including coffee martinis.

Food is lighter, built around snacks and baked goods, and the café is open from early morning until late in the evening. Seniman has its own bakery, Joni Cheder, and recent visitors have picked out cakes such as apple crumble and matcha pound cake to go with their coffee. The café has long been popular with people working on laptops, and it is a comfortable place to spend an hour or two in the morning.

Beyond the café, Seniman Industries handles production design, including the company's coffee flavour wheel, and the group runs workshops, art galleries in Ubud and Renon and a record label and shop, Tektonik Records, with branches in Ubud and Renon. It has also published a book, Bali Coffee, and sells coffee online for domestic and international delivery. Other Seniman coffee studios are in Sakah, Renon, Trunojoyo and Manyar, but Ubud is where it began, and the Ubud site still brings the different strands of the business together, with coffee, art and records under one roof. For visitors, that makes it more than a quick caffeine stop: it is a window on how Bali's coffee scene has grown up.

Seniman suits coffee enthusiasts, remote workers and anyone curious about Indonesian coffee. Allow 45 minutes to an hour, or longer if you settle in to work. Jalan Sri Wedari is in central Ubud, also home to Hujan Locale, so the café is easy to combine with a meal or a walk around the town centre.