Bali Golden Coffee Comparison: Which Bali Golden Coffee Brand is Best?

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During this trip to Bali, I specifically took some time to purchase several varieties of Bali Golden Coffee for comparison. Of course, this only represents personal preferences and serves as a reference for everyone when making purchases!

How did the name "Golden Coffee" come about? I searched for a long time but couldn't find any reliable related information. If anyone knows, please don't hesitate to inform me~

The so-called Golden Coffee refers to a uniquely improved coffee variety from Bali. It uses the world's most common "Arabica" variety as rootstock, grafted with "Robusta" variety branches and leaves, resulting in smaller coffee beans.

Selection Criteria for the Test Group:

1. Only coffee beans were compared. Coffee grounds naturally have poorer storage conditions, and since all brands use only plastic bags as inner packaging, aroma dissipates more easily. Therefore, only coffee beans with relatively lenient storage conditions were evaluated. However, it's recommended to choose products with newer manufacturing dates and store them in appropriate containers or refrigerators immediately upon returning home.

2. Easy accessibility. This should be the most important factor - nobody wants to spend their vacation time searching for coffee, right?

3. Not too expensive. The principle was not to exceed NT$500 per pound, as this price can already buy very good beans in Taiwan.

4. For fairness, only regular beans were evaluated, without comparing so-called peaberries (although I think the claim that peaberries taste better needs further discussion~).

So ultimately, what I brought back to taste were:

1. Butterfly Globe (purchased from a supermarket in Ubud)

2. Kopi Bali (DISCOVERY mall)

3. Golden rabbits (specialty store)

4. Boma Bali (Matahari Department Store)

I originally wanted to find more brands that tourist groups often visit, such as Golden Kirin and Little Sheep, but after asking many locals who didn't know about them, I had to give up. However, Golden Rabbit, another brand frequently visited by tourist groups, was easy to find - located on the road to ULUWATU, near the InterContinental Hotel.

Evaluation Method:

1. Used a Little Pony grinder to grind the whole beans at setting 3.5.

2. To compare more delicate flavors, used the continuous water pour-over method.

3. Used filter paper instead of cloth filters to avoid flavor residue, water temperature at 87°C, bean-to-water ratio of 1:10.

Evaluation Results:

Butterfly Globe: Best for Personal Use Recommendation!!

For some reason, I only found coffee bean packaging at the Ubud supermarket - other places only sold ground coffee!

Roast: Full city+

Aroma: ★★★

Price: Approximately NT$100/100g

Easy to peel, acceptable freshness, properly roasted with minimal difference between exterior and interior.

Flavor: Slightly bitter with a hint of oily taste, but not unpleasant. Rich mouthfeel with quick sweet aftertaste.

Impression: Truly worthy of being the local's oldest brand - it tastes great and is reasonably priced. Unfortunately, the packaging only uses paper + plastic bags. If they could switch to one-way degassing valves, it would be a significant improvement.

Kopi Bali: Best for Gifting to Superiors!!

Among all brands, this has the most well-designed packaging - worth buying for that alone. Additionally, the inner bag is aluminum foil, making it more sincere for preservation compared to plastic bags. Kopi Bali seems to be from the same company as Butterfly Globe - Kopi Bali is a younger brand taking a high-quality approach.

Roast: Full city

Aroma: ★★★★

Price: Approximately NT$120/100g

Very easy to open, excellent freshness - aluminum foil bags really make a difference. However, proper storage is still needed after opening. The roast control could be improved.

Flavor: Slightly acidic with no bitterness, somewhat lacking in body, with a lighter aftertaste.

Impression: The aroma is prominent - this was the only package with a fragrance that seemed to emanate. A subtle fruit aroma could be detected, and the abundant bubbles during blooming indicated its freshness. Unfortunately, the flavor layers weren't very distinct, but it's still worth trying. I think it's a great gift for family and friends because of its high-quality presentation.

Golden Rabbits: Best for... Chinese Description, I Guess - When You Don't Know the People, At Least You Know the Language!!

Roast: Not specified, appears to be Dark

Aroma: ★★

Price: NT$200/225g

The beans are obviously larger than the other 3 varieties, probably due to the species difference. The roasting is really... burnt on the outside with mottled interior - needs improvement!!

Flavor: Somewhat bitter, with a slightly heavy burnt taste in the aftertaste. Has a strong... tobacco-like flavor, which is a bit strange. Lacks complexity but is relatively smooth. Aftertaste is medium to low.

Impression: I originally didn't have high expectations for coffee from shopping centers, and seeing their poorly roasted beans, I was already deducting points. However, the actual taste wasn't too bad. I don't recommend it as a single-origin coffee but suggest using it as a base for flavored drinks.

Doma Bali: Best for Gifting to Acquaintances and Casual Friends

Roast: I really don't know how to describe this - see for yourself!!

Aroma: ★

Price: NT$40/100g

Manufacturing Date: NA

Roasting it this way shows a real lack of sincerity!!

Flavor: Slightly bitter, not acidic, no sweetness - in simple terms, like generic instant coffee.

Impression: There are only two reasons to buy this: first, it appears too frequently in my line of sight, and second, it's incredibly cheap. I thought this would be an economical choice for those not-so-close friends and neighbors.

Conclusion:

Regardless of the beans themselves or roasting techniques, Bali's coffee suffers greatly from packaging issues - the aroma dissipates quickly. At this price point, coffees in Taiwan already come with simple degassing valves, yet they still use plastic bags. For Butterfly Globe and Kopi Bali, this really does a disservice to such fine products.

Overall, I personally think Bali Golden Coffee is nice for occasional tasting and very suitable for gifting to relatives and friends. However, buying too much becomes a headache due to storage concerns.

Writing this makes me crave coffee again - time to brew a cup of Mantenga. Half a pound costs only 300 NT in Hsinchu, and I can arrange roasting time with the owner for 100% freshness!

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse coffee bean varieties, where you can find both famous and lesser-known beans. They also provide online services at https://shop104210103.taobao.com

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473