photo: Rarobang Coffee
Almost hidden within a row of shop houses along a dusty road was a shop serving a specialty coffee in a cup made from one half of a coconut shell. The flavor of the thick locally grown coffee is further enhanced as the customer sipped the aromatic brew through a stick of cinnamon. Such scenes are getting increasingly common in Indonesia as modern café culture explodes across the cities and slowly spreads throughout the archipelago, albeit with an Indonesian twist.
Coffee, locally known as Kopi, has an intimate place in Indonesian history, and with it a coffee culture that no modern latte or cappuccino can fully replace. Coffee is not native to Indonesia, and was first brought into the region by Dutch traders. Indonesians mostly drink their brew black with a healthy helping of sugar (Kopi Tubruk). Today, Indonesia is the fourth largest producer of coffee and cultivates some of the most premium coffee (Kopi Luwak) in the world.
In the last two decades, returning students and expat workers into Indonesia brought with them their café style coffee drinking habits. With rising income, demand for coffee boomed. Foreign chains such as Starbucks made their way into the local market. Local shops recognized the need for not only quality coffee but also a different experience in order to compete. They rose to the challenge and their maturing coffee culture offers some of the most novel Indonesian style brews worth trying in your next trip to Indonesia:
- Durian coffee
The durian coffee is basically thick black Robusta coffee with an extract of durian fruit. This exotic local blend is a specialty from the Lampung province.
- Takar coffee
Takar coffee uses locally produced coffee bean from the Mandailing Natal region. The thick black brew is usually served in a coconut shell and customers further enhanced the taste by sipping the thick brew throw a cinnamon stick.
- Kawa Duan coffee
The coffee is brewed using coffee leaves rather than the actual coffee beans. The drink is light and fragrant. However, some might consider this a tea with coffee flavor rather than actual coffee.
- Rarobang coffee
This coffee is a treat to anyone who loves the pungent aroma of herbs and spices of the Indonesian archipelago. Rarobang coffee is basically black Arabica coffee served with a choice of ginger, cloves, cinnamon, sugar, lemongrass, or walnut slices.