Jakarta serves up a mean brew
Indonesian coffee has come full circle.
FEATURE
IN Indonesian culture, coffee is more than just a drink. Villages have coffee shops that double up as information centres, where locals get together to swap news and local gossip. The coffee is thick and bitter, and the non-stop flow matches only the length of the conversation.
It’s not too different today, and even urbanites have lately acquired the habit. Jakarta, for instance, is
enjoying a thriving coffee culture, with cafes becoming the nuclei around which people revolve.
The young gather with their laptops and smart phones. Their brew may not be the same kind of hard ground local coffee their elders consume, but they hang out at the cafes to catch up with friends and colleagues, and sometimes even work.
It’s also not uncommon to find workers sitting at cafes and sipping their cuppas to wait out Jakarta’s
infamous traffic crawl.
So important is the coffee culture that locals consider cafes the third most significant place for them after the home and the office.
For many Jakartans, coffee has also become a social drink. As alcohol is forbidden in Islam and the majority of Muslims obey the injunction, coffee has become the go-to drink for people to socialise and get together.
What further cements locals’ love affair with coffee is the cafes’ inviting ambience and friendly concept. There’s free WiFi, for example. Other perks include prime locations, splendid views for people-watching and secluded booths for relaxation.
Many may be surprised to learn that while the names “Java” and “Sumatra” have become synonymous with flavourful coffee among connoisseurs around the world, Indonesian coffee beans have always been exported rather than used locally.
That is why at Bakoel Kofie and Antipodean, two of Jakarta’s well-known cafes, the owners are pioneering the way in educating the locals on their own coffee.
At Bakoel Kofie, customers enjoy beans sourced from the archipelago’s best in Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi, roasted the way they have been for 125 years. Each brew is distinct, with a flavourful taste and aroma, which makes customers appreciate it even more.
At Antipodean, the selection, the premium beans are roasted and blended in-house, allowing the cafe to offer brews with optimum flavour. It also uses fair-trade beans, endearing itself even more to the growing number coffee drinkers in the city.
Coffee places are also helping to boost locals’ understanding of coffee. There are coffee appreciation classes, where customers learn not only about the different beans, but also flavours and tastes.
For Jakartans, at least, Indonesian coffee has certainly come full circle.