Mitos Kopi: New kid on the block
Jl. Arjuna No. 25, West Denpasar
It was a dreary Sunday evening, the lack of caffeine that day made me feel particularly dreadful, so I decided to get off my chair and look for a coffee shop.
Having passed the place many times before, I had no trouble locating it. In fact, the place was difficult to miss, even for newcomers, thanks to the brilliant centrepiece: a light-box of the logo. From across the street, the whole place lights up, taking in all the attention. Enter through the glass door, and you will instantly be tuned into the aroma of coffee pervading through the air. The walls were of natural concrete finish, continuous with the L shaped bench on the periphery, and eventually with the floor, in a slightly darker shade from the thousands of footsteps it receives by the day. The tables were made of solid-black metal, with white stools of the same material to complement it. The concrete bench has black pillows that provide extra comfort for its inhabitants. The lighting was… comforting to say the least. Golden lights washed the air, originating from light bulbs along the ceiling, and a hanging lamp across the bar.
The bar in itself is made of concrete, still continuous with the floor. Its U shape provides the space for the many apparatuses they are equipped with: from their double-head La Marzocco, their Mahlkönig EK43, to the vast collection of single origin coffee beans that were up for display. Besides the Mahlkönig, they had 2 other grinders for their espresso blends. Here at Mitos, every cup of espresso-based coffee is made with your choice of 2 blend options: their signature blend (Expat’s Nomad), and a seasonal blend that they will alternate from time to time. Despite the small space, the place was very energetic, very alive. The air was filled with lively chatter, barista-to-consumer conversations, the periodic sound of frothing milk and cups clanging in the wash bin, not forgetting pop music playing in the background.
An outdoor seating area is provided, with the same concrete bench as seats, and simple wooden boxes as tables. It was the perfect setting for a cup of evening coffee and a cigarette. A brown rug was sitting on the entrance just before the door, a piece of fabric that spoke of home.
The coffee: piccolo. (IDR 23k)
By default, they came in a 4 oz. demitasse, based off a single ristretto extracted from Expat’s Nomad, which featured arabica beans grown from the mountains of Kintamani in Bali. The beans underwent honey process, and were roasted to medium wellness. It had a naturally balanced taste, bold flavors, and was particularly nostalgic — it reminded me of coffee from a coffee shop I used to visit back at my hometown. Some flavor notes I could pick out were caramel, cocoa, nuts, a bit of citrus, and a hint of spices — it was perfect.
Besides the piccolo, they provided an array of espresso-based coffee, filtered manual brews, flavored lattés, and other non-coffee drinks, all in the price range of IDR 20–30k. The kitchen also offered light bites in the form of roti bakar and pisang bakar, coming on at IDR 20–25k. I thought the food and drinks were very affordable and student-friendly.
The philosophy here at Mitos calls for friends. Coffee is not the priority, customer experience is — coffee is merely the media. You come back because you will feel like you’re at home; not necessarily for the coffee. The logo has 3 kids playing on a playground: two playing with the swing, and one on the grass holding a flower. The logo, as I learnt, depicts the owner’s children, eternally conserving their youth in one simple frame. The name in itself, Mitos, symbolizes the many many myths surrounding the “perfect” techniques on how to grow, harvest, process, roast, and extract coffee beans. The fact that none of these are evidence-based, rather experience-based; backed by strong familial and traditional culture dating generations back — gives a beautiful but accurate portrayal of the coffee industry. At the end of the day, nobody knows why specific brewing methods can produce flavor notes otherwise concealed when brewed differently.
