We were hiking beside rice paddies, pineapples and lemongrass in rural Indonesia when we were startled by a small homemade sign beside the trail.

It was for a coffee shop located just above where we were walking. 

Really? Here amid rice fields on the slopes of Mount Sumbing, on the island of Java, as far from your neighborhood Starbucks as you could possibly get?

We climbed some dirt steps to look and there was a stylish open-air cafe offering locally grown tea and coffee along with fried bananas, boiled cassava and other snacks. 

The cafe was also selling colorful packages of roasted local coffee beans and herbal teas. It had free wifi and accepted credit cards. The scenic view and fresh mountain air were free.

The young owner, Dodik Yudiantoro, above, opened Selogriyo Coffee in 2019 after attending tourism school — just in time for the pandemic. He reopened two years later and has been serving tourists and a growing local coffee culture ever since. 

Our barista, Joko Utomo, above, said they’ve been working with local travel companies to attract tourists visiting the nearby Selogriyo Temple, below, a beautiful Hindu structure set in a natural basin. We were among the tourists who combined a hike to Selogriyo with a trip to Borobudur — the largest Buddhist temple in the world — and other attractions near Yogyakarta. 

The cafe charges about US$1.75 for a latte and other drinks, which is expensive for the local trade but far less than a similar order in Europe or the United States. You also have to pay a small fee to hike the trail to the temple. 

We enjoyed chatting with Joko and thought both the coffee and tea were excellent.

If you’re ever in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, do give it a try. It’s the most unexpected — but memorable — cup of Java you’ll ever have. 

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