I was going through the archives looking at old posts of mine (as you do) and one going back to 2001 caught my eye.
It was 2001 my 6th trip and espresso machines and "good" coffee was becoming widely available (btw - I love bali kopi, but coffe freaks know what I mean).
It's nice to remember the little changes that have taken place in Bali over the years, that all add up to huge overall change.
****Just back from my 6th trip. Since I was here last year it seems espresso machines (coffee shrines) have landed in great numbers and my coffee experiences were uniformally and consistantly good.
The balinese are natural barista's!!
They understand the subtle connections between temperature,
grind coarseness and dampening etc.
Bali kopi has it's own magic but......
I won't name names but EVERY decent place I went into that had a proper machine and made great coffee in all the usual styles.
So there is now no reason not to go to Bali (I was hesitant to go again with the chance of a fruitless coffee hunt every morning then at about 3pm and again at 5pm.)****
Postscript - This trip was before the bombing but just after the big turn down after sep 11, and of course the discussion de jour was "should I go blah blah"