The best coffee in the world: Black Eye Coffee, Ubud
Updated: Oct 27, 2020
The top spot on my Search For The Best Cup of Coffee list has, for quite a long time, been held by Burgundy & Black in Dorking. It is not for lack of searching, they just make a really good cup of coffee.
But their crown has finally been taken - and I had to go some distance to find a conqueror.
Black Eye Coffee is a Balinese staple, with branches in Kuta, Ubud and Kabupaten Tabanan. I discovered it entirely by mistake while strolling along the streets of Ubud. The town itself is everything you could want, with cars and local bustling by as tourists allow themselves to be swept along by the throng and energy.
Black Eye Coffee is an unassuming, open-fronted store on a packed run of shops on the main drag through the town. It caught our eye thanks to the efforts of the team member out the front who offered to sell us some of the brand's beans - they have a roastery at their Kuta branch - before inviting us in to sample the coffee.
The store itself is small and fairly simple. Two of the three walls are lined by shelves offering all manners of coffee, from the brand's basic in-house beans to complex and rare varieties which cost more than most other things available for sale in Ubud.
We took a seat at the bar and were put in the capable hands of Mali and her colleagues.
I opted for the home filter brew.
One of the joys of sitting at the bar, rather than at a table removed from the action, was watching the staff at work. Making the home brew was a work of art for Mali. She painstakingly prepared a heated pot and cups before beginning the slow process of filtering the coffee.
This is not your cup of morning fuel, to be thrown down your throat as you rush out of the door. This is something to be savoured. The pot which arrives is accompanied by a small glass, from which you can drink the black nectar it produces. It makes about three cups and it is worth the time to savour every drop.
After an experience that good, I couldn't leave without picking up a couple of my own bags of beans. I doubt I'll be able to recapture the magic at home, but it is worth a try.
Do you know of a coffee shop which you think can take Black Eye's title? Let me know in the comments below or drop me an email.
The Blacklist: Top cups of coffee
1. Black Eye Coffee, Ubud, Bali 2. Burgundy & Black, Dorking, UK 3. Dark Horse Espresso Bar, Toronto, Canada
Collage photos courtesy of Black Eye Coffee on Instagram