{"id":7540,"date":"2016-06-15T07:28:05","date_gmt":"2016-06-14T23:28:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.villa-bali.com\/guide\/?p=7540"},"modified":"2020-03-25T10:52:18","modified_gmt":"2020-03-25T02:52:18","slug":"coffee-workshop-seniman-ubud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.villa-bali.com\/guide\/coffee-workshop-seniman-ubud\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s Coffee Making Time in Ubud: Workshops at Seniman"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ahhh, the heady aroma and strong flavour of coffee…who\u00a0can resist a good brew? Getting a good cuppa in Ubud<\/a>\u00a0isn’t that hard – not if you’re looking at the right places. Make your way to Seniman, where there’s something for everyone – whether you’re a caffeine addict who can’t do without your daily espresso shot,\u00a0or an\u00a0aficionado with a thirst for discovering more about coffee…<\/em><\/p>\n

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Along\u00a0Jalan Sriwedari lies Seniman Coffee Studio<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0– a stylish cafe buzzing with a good crowd, lively vibes and the irresistible aroma of coffee. There’s two parts to the coffee lab: the first is a\u00a0caf\u00e9<\/strong>\u00a0with indoor, outdoor and air conditioned seating areas, while the second is a cold brew bar<\/strong> located across the road from the caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n

In the former you’ll be able to catch Seniman’s skilled baristas in action as they serve up cup after cup of aromatic brews, while the latter displays a collection of cold brew coffee, coffee making equipment and a small seating area. It also doubles up as the venue for Seniman’s coffee workshops.<\/p>\n

Choices are aplenty on the menu – you’ll find a good selection of beverages, as well as desserts and savoury mains listed. But the stars of the show are the coffee beverages, and you’ll find syphon, pour-over, Chemex and Aeropress varieties made with single-origin coffee beans sourced from Indonesia, Africa, and South and Central America at Seniman.<\/p>\n

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Learning about coffee making…\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

You get to do more that enjoying a cup of coffee or two at Seniman. Take your love for the beverage to a whole new level by trying your hand at making your very own coffee, or delving deep into the processes of roasting and cupping coffees.<\/p>\n

Giving espresso making a go…<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

It was probably a good idea to start my morning with an espresso making workshop<\/strong> – the heady aroma of the coffee beans certainly jolts one into an alert state within a matter of minutes. And even if it doesn’t, the coffee tasting that follows during the workshop is sure to provide the\u00a0caffeine needed for an energy boost.<\/p>\n

Alit, my instructor for the day, started off the workshop by showing me coffee beans that had been processed in different ways, such as semi-washed and fully washed beans. He then went on to explain about the processes and elements of espresso making.<\/p>\n

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The art and science of espresso making…<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Espresso making is\u00a0a complicated subject. It’s both an art and a science – the ‘art’ aspects being the tasting and appreciation of the differences in flavours, and the ‘science’ being the precise techniques and timing required to optimise the extracted shot.<\/p>\n

We started off the workshop with tasting<\/strong> espresso made from different grind sizes, timings and roasts. A range of tasting terms<\/strong>, such as acidity, body, sweetness and aroma are used to describe the flavours. At most times the differences were subtle and hard to detect with my untrained palate (particularly when it’s used to milk coffee beverages). It was only when Alit “divided” a single espresso shot into five glasses – each one containing espresso extracted at different timings of the process – that the differences in flavours became much more obvious.<\/p>\n

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The elements that make up a perfect espresso shot…<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In between the tasting and espresso making, I learnt about the key elements of espresso making. A few factors come into play when it comes to optimising the extracted shot: the grind sizes, water pressure, temperature, timing <\/strong>and tamping technique<\/strong>. Precision is key, and much practice goes into making the perfect shot – one that offers a good balance of body and bitterness, yet retains the sweet and fruity flavours of the coffee.<\/p>\n

The highlights…<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I liked that the workshop offered a good balance of theoretical knowledge and hands-on experience<\/strong>. Alit\u00a0shared detailed information about the espresso making process and let me try my hand at espresso making several times. We also tried espressos made from different coffee roasts so I could learn to discern the subtle differences in flavours.<\/p>\n

It was also interesting to learn about coffee beyond espresso making<\/strong>. Alit went on to explain the various degrees of roast, pointing out the differences in the appearance and flavours of the beans between light, medium and dark roasts. He also showed me different types of equipment used for home brewing coffees, and gave a brief explanation into the process of using each equipment.<\/p>\n

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What’s next?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

It was a fun and fascinating experience, so you can be sure I’ll be signing up for other workshops from Seniman. In fact, I’ve got my eye on the cupping, roasting and home brewing courses, so it looks like I’ll be making regular appearances at the coffee studio soon…<\/p>\n

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Wanna give\u00a0coffee making a go?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Check out\u00a0the following workshops<\/a>:<\/p>\n