Beyond Bintang: Bali's craft-drinks scene is shaking things up in style

But just as the crowd has moved along the coast from Kuta to Seminyak, Canggu and beyond, the drink scene has undergone a revolution. Breweries, distilleries and wineries have opened their doors, and new craft brands - with a flavour that speaks to their roots - are lining the shelves of the best bars. For visitors to the Island of the Gods, sunset drinks have never gone down so well.

The ancient Balinese spirit arak, typically made from the fermented sap of coconut palm or rice, has had a jungle juice reputation for being cheap, hangover-inducing and, if not distilled properly, downright dangerous. But the hard-edged spirit also has cultural significance, a fact recognised by Bali governor I Wayan Koster who, in 2020, mandated that the oft-bootlegged booze could only be produced in regulated distilleries by licensed arak producers. Cue a new wave of distiller-preneurs who paired a softer mouthfeel with stylish branding. Today arak tastings are popular guest experiences at resorts.

While Bintang singlets are still for sale in the market stalls in Ubud and Kuta, it's now a thing to take a bottle of local craft spirit home. East Indies Archipelago dry gin, with its stylish crystal-clear bottle and neon pink label, is a favourite at duty free (and half the price of most gins at home). Local bars and bottle shops now readily stock other niche drops including island-made Saba vodka, made at a distillery in East Bali's Saba Bay, Nusantara Cold Brew coffee liqueur, made from hand-picked coffee beans from Bali's Kintamani highlands, and Palapa, a local nutmeg liqueur with a Bali arak base.

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The pandemic years saw Bali's craft-beer scene go from full strength to full strength with a raft of new artisan styles. Kura Kura launched in 2020 with funky retro cans of beers including a fruity Island Ale pale ale and a light-bodied Kolsch Easy Ale. Island Brewing followed with its Kaba Kaba brewery, producing easy-drinking beers such as a fruity Summer Pale Ale and Black Sand Brewery IPA. In 2022 small-batch brewer Islands of the Imagination launched a colourful range influenced by the Indonesian archipelago. The light, sweet Padiluwih Lager is brewed from Jatiluwih rice. The creamy Coffee Porter ale is made from coffee beans sourced on the Indonesian island of Flores. The craft beers at Denpasar's Canard Brewing Co come in stylish slender cans with an elegant gold font, but Canard is not shy of suggesting its beers, such as the German strawberry gose or the wheaty yeasty Weizenbock, be served in elegant glassware.

There's a reason why holidaymakers in Bali tend to drink more cocktails than wine - they're cheaper. But Indonesia's wine import tax might have kick-started the local market. Bali's vineyards have their roots in the alluvial, volcanic soils of the north coast where the combination of heat, humidity and a salty sea breeze provides the right conditions for growing grapes including the native Alphonse Lavallee varietal.

Hatten Wines and Sababay Winery produce quaffable sparkling, fortifieds, and red, white and rosé table wines from local and imported grapes. Cantine Balita winery's focus is on Italian grapes and Italian organic winemaking culture, a point of difference for the group's Isola label. Hatten's sister label Two Islands imports Aussie chardonnay and shiraz grapes, vinifying them in Bali, while boutique winery Lazarus Pulp uses South Australian grapes to create its excellent Alter Ego, Indonesia's first pet-nat sparkling wine.

Dome, Seminyak: Famed day-club-turned-sustainability-hub Desa Potato Head's latest opening is Dome wine and food bar (pictured above), a futuristic venue given over to more earthy food and wine pursuits. Chef Diego Recarte's European dishes are locally sourced with distinctive Balinese flavours, and head sommelier Minyoung Ryu's drinks menu follows suit.

Natural, organic and biodynamic wines, including Bali-made Isola Wines, are the focus, with cocktail cameos including Saba grappa, the flavour hit in Dome's "everyone is born a genius" cocktail. seminyak.potatohead.co/feast/dome

Pinstripe, Ubud: Ubud's swanky Viceroy Bali Resort has recently opened Pinstripe, a speakeasy-style bar with billiard tables and a central wooden bar around which bow-tied bartenders shake their cocktail makers. Head barman Panji Wisrawan is a fan of local tipple Karusotju, an arak-style liquor made from sweet potatoes, and The Selaka Ning, distilled from fermented salak or snakefruit. "It's difficult to choose between the two," he says. "Karusotju, with its clean and floral notes, is typically used in martini or highball-style cocktails. Selaka Ning, which has fruitier and slightly smoky notes, is more suited to old-fashioned or sour-style cocktails like our The Dancer, a twist on a brandy sour." pinstripebar.com

Mosto, Berawa: Mosto is Indonesia's first natural-wine bar. The 70-seat eatery showcases Bali ingredients in its Euro cuisine and has a serious low-intervention wine list. While sommelier Nicolas Lento champions imported wines, Mosto is also behind Bali's Lazarus Pulp, the boutique wine label producing Indonesia's first pet-nat sparkling.

Denny Bakiev, beverage director of Mexicola Group, Mosto's parent company, says Bali's drinks industry is not afraid "to curate drinks menus that satisfy guests from any corner of the world". One example is Mosto's range of "Not Wine" house cocktails, a concept that mimics wine's PH and alcohol levels. They are "batched and stored in wine bottles and served in wine glasses, just like our house wines," he says. "In Bali, anything goes". mostobali.com