Bhutan/Nepal; DW is coffee snob--should she take her own?

[2017ish]

DW, a literal caffeine addict, has a reasonable source of pour over coffee packets for travel, but prefers to buy at destination IF it is good (by her standards). Is anyone who has traveled outside of the capitals in these countries able to opine on the caliber of the coffee? (For example, she was very disappointed in Colombia's coffee--they appeared to export all the good stuff.... So too, the less populated islands of Indonesia...)

We are looking at nearly 2 months between these two countries, so any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Koolau]

Even if one knew that a county had "good" coffee, they wouldn't know if your DW would like it. It's personal taste in such things.

My only question is whether the "host" country would have any issue with your DW bringing her own coffee (customs issues?)

 

[2017ish]

Even if one knew that a county had "good" coffee, they wouldn't know if your DW would like it. It's personal taste in such things.

My only question is whether the "host" country would have any issue with your DW bringing her own coffee (customs issues?)

We haven't run into problems in bringing processed foods into countries--and coffee, once it is roasted, has fit into this comfortable category.... Not so much customs as agricultural/pest, non-tariff import restrictions...

 

[Surewhitey]

We bring our own coffee (or find a decent brew) when going to Mexico as the store bought stuff is not great. We found an Italian roaster in Playa del Carmen who knew his stuff, but we rarely go there anymore. He literally converted his home to house 2 large roasters & bought bean from mostly Chiapas (14 hrs drive). He would custom blend & make an espresso for us to try... Super cool place in a neighborhood you otherwise wouldn't go to.

I'd bring my own & hope for finding a good option while there.

 

[frank05]

Coffee was good at Western style hotels. Local shops, in both, will have stronger coffee in smaller serving sizes. In Bhutan mountains are everywhere, even in the towns, so pack light if you are going to be lugging your own luggage.

 

[brett]

My spouse needs decaf in the evenings. So, we buy, and pack instant decaf when we go to certain countries where we know it many not be available or what is available may not be to her/our taste. Mainly for having in our room at night. In room hotel/resort coffee is often not very good or non existent in our experience.

On our recent trips to Mexico and Morocco we ground some of our preferred regular coffee as well as taking decaf. Placed both is plastic bags. Absolutely no issue in going through customs in Mexico, US airports, SE Asia, Oz, Europe, Morocco, etc.

We are carry on travelers and pay attention to weight since many of the regional airlines we travel on have a carry on weight restriction of 6-8KG.

If worst comes to worst...put the coffee in your handbag where it probably will not be subject to any weight restriction.

 

[kevink]

For what it's worth I was a professional coffee buyer/roaster/taster for 28 years at Starbucks (in the early days) and Allegro Coffee (acquired by Whole Foods). I still roast all of my own coffee at home in retirement. And of course I traveled a lot for my work and continue to do so whenever I can.

Coffee in Nepal and Bhutan will be dreadful. If you're lucky you'll get decent chai in Nepal but that's about it. What I travel with and heartily recommend is the high-end instant coffee made by Swift Coffee. They offer their own brand and are also the toll decaffeinator for any specialty roaster you might have heard of in the U.S.

Swift Coffee

I particularly recommend their Kenya and Ethiopia Guji natural. This stuff is expensive on a per cup basis (buy the 25 cup bulk packs not the individual packages) - ~$1.50 per 10 oz. mug - but IMHO it beats the next best option, which is to buy an Aeropress Go coffemaker.

If you like dark-ish roasts (I don't) the good cheapskate option is to buy the packets of Starbucks Via Instant Colombia at Costco.

 

[jabbahop]

We travelled to Bhutan 5 years ago and it was very nice but the food was really quite bad so I assume the coffee (I don’t drink coffee) will be bad as well. I can’t think of a place I have travelled where I didn’t enjoy the food but Bhutan was my exception.

 

[yakers]

Love Bhutan, but like kevink said-coffee not good. AFAIK India is the 5th largest grower of coffee and most of it ends up as Nescaffee, no kidding, it's a sought out flavor. Even in Indian cities one has to hunt for ok coffee. So bring the Aeropress but don't miss Bhutan regardless of coffee (and my wife calls me a coffee snob)