{"id":3906,"date":"2026-01-03T14:16:22","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T06:16:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/heybali.info\/news\/?p=3906"},"modified":"2026-01-03T14:16:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T06:16:24","slug":"a-governors-unconventional-cure-balis-wayan-koster-swears-by-coffee-mixed-with-local-arak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/heybali.info\/news\/a-governors-unconventional-cure-balis-wayan-koster-swears-by-coffee-mixed-with-local-arak\/","title":{"rendered":"A Governor’s Unconventional Cure: Bali’s Wayan Koster Swears by Coffee Mixed with Local Arak"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

DENPASAR, Bali<\/strong> \u2014 In a revelation that blends traditional folk remedy with a distinctly Balinese twist, Governor Wayan Koster has publicly detailed his daily ritual of drinking coffee mixed with locally distilled\u00a0arak<\/em>\u00a0spirit, claiming it is the solution to his acid reflux.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two-term governor, who has championed the island’s cultural heritage, shared the anecdote on Saturday at a local Denpasar coffee shop, Tan-Panama. He attributes the knowledge of this potent mixture to the communities in Karangasem, a region on Bali\u2019s eastern coast famed for its traditional arak<\/em> production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I received this knowledge from the people in Karangasem\u2014that if coffee is mixed with arak<\/em>, it becomes neutral. I have proven it,” Governor Koster stated. He explained that drinking coffee alone aggravates his stomach acid, but the combination with arak<\/em> prevents the discomfort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The practice has become a strict part of his daily regimen. “Every day, morning arak<\/em>-coffee, noon arak<\/em>-coffee, evening arak<\/em>-coffee. That’s the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for my daily routine. It tastes good, the acid doesn’t rise. So it’s healthy,” he added with a smile, asserting he has experienced no adverse health effects from the regular consumption of the caffeinated-alcoholic blend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The governor\u2019s visit to the caf\u00e9 was part of a wider, more public gesture. In celebration of Tumpek Krulut, a Balinese Hindu holy day dedicated to affection, he treated residents to free coffee and babi guling<\/em> (suckling pig) at three locations across Denpasar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Tan-Panama Coffee, he mingled with young locals enjoying the complimentary drinks. He explained the dual nature of the day’s observances: the spiritual (niskala<\/em>) aspect involved prayers at Pura Candi Narmada, while the physical (sekala<\/em>) celebration was about community connection over shared food and drink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Tumpek Krulut is conducted in both the niskala<\/em> and sekala<\/em> realms,” Koster said. “The sekala<\/em> activity involves meeting young people, having coffee together at Jenar Kopi and Tan-Panama, and then continuing to Babi Guling Men Wenci.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the governor’s personal health hack offers an unconventional glimpse into local customs, his public treat underscored a traditional Balinese principle: that spiritual observance and communal harmony are often nurtured through simple acts of sharing a meal\u2014or a uniquely prepared cup of coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#heybalinews<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DENPASAR, Bali \u2014 In a revelation that blends traditional folk remedy with a distinctly Balinese twist, Governor Wayan Koster has publicly detailed his daily ritual of drinking coffee mixed with locally distilled\u00a0arak\u00a0spirit, claiming it is the solution to his acid reflux. The two-term governor, who has championed the island’s cultural heritage, shared the anecdote on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3907,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard"},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_bookmark_settings":[],"jnews_food_recipe":[],"enable_food_recipe":"","food_recipe_title":"","food_recipe_description":"","food_recipe_serve":"","food_recipe_time":"","food_recipe_prep":"","food_recipe_level":"","food_recipe_keywords":"","food_recipe_category":"","food_recipe_cuisine":"","food_recipe_yield":"","food_recipe_calories":"","enable_print_recipe":"","ingredient":[],"instruction":"","jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_review":[],"enable_review":"","type":"","name":"","summary":"","brand":"","sku":"","good":[],"bad":[],"score_override":"","override_value":"","rating":[],"price":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"jnews_post_split":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,52],"tags":[541,47,540,106,146,82,204,54],"class_list":["post-3906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bali-update","category-bali-news","tag-arak-bali","tag-bali","tag-bali-coffee","tag-bali-expat","tag-bali-life","tag-bali-tourism","tag-koster","tag-news"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/heybali.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/heybali.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/heybali.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heybali.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heybali.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/heybali.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3906\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heybali.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/heybali.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heybali.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heybali.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}