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Sojourn: Rain And Coffee in Pupuan Rain and coffee
âA rainy day leads to a cup of unforgettable experience âWords Luhde Suriyani Photos Anton MuhajirThe sound of the rain hitting the leaves of coffee and durian plants crafted a sensuous music that caressed our ears as we huddled inside a rugged barn that for years has served as the heart of a locally owned coffee company
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'A rainy day leads to a cup of unforgettable experience '
Words Luhde Suriyani Photos Anton Muhajir
The sound of the rain hitting the leaves of coffee and durian plants crafted a sensuous music that caressed our ears as we huddled inside a rugged barn that for years has served as the heart of a locally owned coffee company.
Along the wall of the barn were five crude wood-fire hearths staffed by five women, who at regular intervals turned the metal handles of the iron drums hung over the fires. Inside each drum was around 17 kilograms of coffee beans.
We had been there for only five minutes and the heat generated by the fires had already driven the cold of the January rain away. The women work near the hearths for eight hours a day and chat and mock each other casually, as if they are oblivious to the heat.
The drums are not equipped with any sensors and the fires do not have any temperature gauge. The workers do not need them anyway. Using only their sense of smell, honed by years of experience, they can accurately recognize when the beans have been perfectly roasted.
One of these women was Ni Nyoman Minten, who has worked for the company for 15 years, making her the most senior worker around. Diligently, the 40-year-old woman maintained the fire, feeding firewood into the hearth and rolling the drum at regular intervals.
It took around 90 minutes to roast the in PupuanRain and coffee 'A rainy day leads to a cup of unforgettable experience ' Words Luhde Suriyani Photos An ton Muhajir beans to perfection. Minten lifted the lid of the drum to check the escaping fragrance, which convinced her that the beans were ready. She then took the drum to a nearby room, where another worker would empty the contents onto a cooling pad.
'This coffee processing company has existed since before I was born. In the olden times, we used much simpler methods and tools,' Minten recalled.
The company, which produces the Mutiara brand of powdered coffee, is managed by Kompiang Artini and her sisters. It can process up to 400 kilograms of coffee beans and produce up to 200 kilograms of powdered coffee per day, mostly sold in local markets in Tabanan and Denpasar.
'It is getting difficult to find a steady supply of firewood. We once switched to gas and electric stoves, but the coffee was less tasty than when it is roasted in a wood-fire hearth,' she said.
Most of the beans come from plantations owned by Artini's family and their neighbors.
Her company is one of several locally owned small and mid-sized coffee processing companies that dot the hilly region of Pupuan in Tabanan.
The rain had not stopped but we did not mind at all. Cups of hot coffee were placed on the table before us and nothing could beat the contentment brought by sipping on good coffee while watching the long-awaited rain.
