When I arrived at Telu, a recently opened zero-waste cocktail bar at the Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay, I expected something that looked a bit more, well, new.
Instead, Telu was tucked away in an open-air garden courtyard overflowing with lush, mature greenery and home to several rustic, pavilion-style structures. Underneath one of the larger pavilions, a softly-lit main bar area decorated with vintage elements — think antique mirrors and weathered wood accents — served as the venue’s centerpiece. Instead of feeling like a shiny, freshly constructed addition, Telu felt like it could have existed at the Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay for ages.
I later found out from bar manager Jan Jurecka that, in some ways, it had been. In line with Telu’s “waste not, want not” ethos, the bar’s development involved a revamp of existing structures from a restaurant that closed around 10 years ago, and most recently a storage space.
In fact, virtually everywhere you look at Telu, you can spot something that has been repurposed or recycled. All of the bar’s chairs and tables were salvaged from the property’s stockpile of old furniture. The bar’s marble surface was once part of a villa’s TV console countertop. The menus are made from 100% recycled paper and imprinted with tiny seeds. If it is planted and watered, flowers will grow.
Jurecka said that dedication to sustainability carries through to the venue’s cocktail menu, with the vast majority of each drink’s ingredients locally sourced.
I ordered the Down to Earth, one of the bar’s most popular offerings. The drink is made using a local Balinese gin, spirulina, matcha, passion fruit, guava and honey nectar, with the concoction then “clarified” using coconut milk.
Per Jurecka, the ancient practice of clarification, has emerged as a hot trend in the mixology sphere. The Telu team uses coconut milk to kick-start a natural curdling process, with those curds then filtered out via a strainer. The result in the case of my Down to Earth was a faintly yellow-green libation that tasted incredibly smooth and subtly sweet.
The cocktail was also served in a unique glass tumbler that was partially covered in what appeared to be small, gritty rocks. It looked — and felt — like the drink had been plucked straight from the garden soil.
Other recipes put more of a spotlight on Telu’s zero-waste philosophy.
The bar’s vodka-based Unusual Suspects cocktail, for example, incorporates cascara coffee grinds, a coffee-roasting byproduct that Telu purchases from a local coffee supplier. Fermentation also plays a key role in eliminating waste, with the bar’s gin and Aperol Aloe Spritz featuring a housemade “strawberry and aloe vera wine” crafted using leftover strawberry and aloe plant trimmings. The kombucha-like blend is fermented using strawberry leaves and stems, aloe vera trunks, water and a bit of sugar.
Beyond the cool venue and creative drinks, Telu has even more layers when it comes to incorporating its sustainable approach. Take the bar’s name, which is a nod to the Balinese word for the number three. According to Jurecka, this “three” is a reference to the traditional Balinese philosophy of Tri Hita Karana, or harmony with the three elements of nature, people and soul.
Each cocktail on Telu’s menu is organized into one of these three categories, and each category is paired with a local nonprofit dedicated to an environmentally friendly or community-focused cause. Proceeds from the sales of cocktails in each category are donated to the respective partner organization.
These include Sungai Watch, which invests in specially constructed river barriers that collect trash and help protect Indonesia’s water ecosystems, and the Bali Children’s Project, which outfits kids in need with school supplies. The third organization is Ocean Gardener, a nongovernmental organization focused on coral reef education and restoration.
“It allows us to give back to the community, and it gives our guests a chance to not only get a good cocktail, but they can also feel like they’re doing a good thing,” Jurecka said. “It’s a place to inspire and make an impact.”
