coffee project #1

Let's talk about coffee....

caribou coffee, 2016

Nowadays, there are a lot of coffee shops in the world, people called it the third waves of coffee, where it considered as an artisanal foodstuff, like wine, rather than a commodity. These coffee shop like to call themselves as specialty coffee.

Okay, starbucks is still the largest coffee brand in Indonesia, no one can deny these fact. But there are some people who prefer to drink coffee in specialty coffee rather than on starbucks. 

How about the taste? Is starbucks' coffee not as good as specialty coffee? 

For me, its Ice Latte is amongst the best. For the hot beverage, I enjoy in specialty coffee more. It's just too hot for my taste. Sbux really sets the bar high. Another privilage on starbucks is that you can custom your drink as you wanted. I always make my milk "breve", which is they mix the milk with the liquid whip cream with a 3:1 ratio, and it tastes fantastic when poured into ice latte.

starbucks reserve - Grand Indonesia - 

"Starbucks is focusing on business now, it's a lifestyle. The shop is designed where people will buy coffee, and go. It is not for people who would like to enjoy their coffee and get some 'me time' moment."

-Erick Glenn, Barista -

I wanna share some thoughts about some of my regularly visited coffee shops

1. One Fifteenth Coffee

espresso - 1/15th Coffee

My numero uno for coffee shop. Been drinking coffee there since 2014 and never get bored with their coffee. Ice beverages, excelent. Hot beverages, WOW!!

They really treat their coffee well. They also served manual brew and also espresso based. They also served various types of coffee bean, local and sometimes international roasted.

one fifteenth coffee - Jakarta

cold brew - 1/15th Coffee

 

rock java lime - 1/15th

  

2. Trafique

I found this coffee shop by accident. Driving car in the rain, suddenly I found their sign board. It was just soft opening back then, even they haven't set their price for the drinks.

I ordered hot latte that time, and their espresso was so STRONG and ACID. It was my first impression, it tasted good. They have a beautiful outlet, really well designed.

Trafique Interior

Trafique was my 1st choice around Senayan area if I want to drink coffee. They also served a lot of kind of beverages. The most unique one is Lestretto, which is a single shot espresso combine with sprite. It is unique. The only drawback from Trafique is that they only serve one kind of bean, Toraja, while others have various kinds of bean. You will get bored if you go there 2 days in the row.

3. Coffee Smith

Another coffee shop in South Jakarta. Founded by one of the famous barista in Indonesia, M. Agah, which is now become their roaster on the shop. Coffee Smith is more like a informal coffee shop, where all baristas chill out and have a chat on their 1st floor. It's often overcrowded there, so I always go to the 2nd floor, which is slightly more silent, where I can enjoy coffee while listening to music and reading a book.

2nd floor, Coffee Smith

The coffee here is undoubtly fantastic. With a well roasted bean and also well settings espresso machine, it never fails me. The baristas here are all experienced. One of them, is formerly barista in 1/15th coffee. My favorite beverage here is called MAGIC. On 1/15 coffee, it's a hidden menu, where you had to ask the barista to make it. Basically it's a latte, but the shots are ristretto. What is ristretto? From what I read, ristretto is originally a shot of espresso, with the same amount of coffee, but extracted with the half amount of water. For me, it will boost the concentration of the coffee.

MAGIC - CoffeeSmith

4. Tanamera Coffee

Tanamera Coffee is one of the pioneers of the third waves of coffee in Indonesia. Their 1st outlet is behind the Grand Indonesia, one of the biggest mall in Jakarta. They had produced a lot of great baristas in Indonesia, one of them is now a roaster in Coffee Smith.

Tanamera Coffee - 2016

Their coffee is so acid, and that becomes their unique taste. They have won a lot of international award for roasting bean, so the quality is undoubtly fantastic.

They serve a lot of types of coffee, even they now provide cold brew coffee in the bottle, so people could buy and drink it while on the go.

5. Kopimana

Kopimana is a coffeeshop located in Pancoran, Jakarta, near my old house. I was living in Pancoran for 10 years, from 2002 until 2012. My best friends live around there too, so when this coffeeshop was opened, around the early 2016, it became our regular meeting spot.

Kopimana - 2016

The coffee here is acceptable for my taste, one of the drinks which name is kinda weird, "kopi buatan istri" (wife-made coffee) was pretty good. Unfortunately, as the time goes, the quality of the coffee here has declined. The coffee was made in vain, so me and my friends prefer to eat at Indomie in front of the coffee shop rather than to have coffee there.

Kopi Buatan Istri - 2017

6. Djournal Coffee

Djournal Coffee has the sexiest coffee bar in Jakarta. Their open bar is so sexy, with the espresso machine and also all the brewing utentils are exposed in front of the customers. People could see how their coffee were made. The interior was fabulous, with all the wood panels and parquet all over the place. It shows elegancy.

How about the coffee? In my opinion, the coffee tastes average. It's acceptable, but not that delicious compared to other specialty coffee. Their hot beverage is head to head with starbucks, but their ice beverage is even below starbucks. It's sexy place, with acceptable beverage.

Djournal Coffee, Grand Indonesia

I think it's enough talking for this time. I'm gonna share about coffee again in the future.

caribou coffee, 2016