warung kopi
Robusta is known for its thick coffee body and strong bitter taste. Becoming one of the reasons why most people are a little concerned when it comes to brewing with that bean. But the situation is different in Southeast Asia. At some period, Southeast Asia had a fairly abundant supply of robusta compared to arabica or liberica. But precisely because of this situation, unique ways to enjoy the taste of robusta coffee were found. And most of the methods are much simpler than you think.
Vietnamese drip
Commonly called Vietnamese coffee or “cà phê sữa nóng” which means brown dark coffee with milk. It’s a blend of robusta black coffee with sweetened condensed milk. The uniqueness of this coffee is in the tools and methods that are used. They use a metallic dripper or in Vietnamese “phin” to brew this coffee. The idea is to pour ground coffee into the dripper container, close the dripper using a thin metal filter, then pour hot water right into the dripper and let the water flow out from the bottom. Under the dripper, a cup filled with sweetened condensed milk is waiting to be filled with coffee. Resulting in a smooth and clean coffee taste, slightly lighter than espresso. Gives you a unique smooth sweet taste of robusta coffee milk. It’s also enjoyable to be served with ice. Simple yet tasty is the reason why this method is popular in Southeast Asia and usually served in their coffee shop.
Kopitiam
Kopitiam is not really the name of the coffee. It’s a mixture from Malay word “kopi” for coffee and Hokkian word “tiam” for “shop”. Basically you can call it a coffee shop and that term is mostly used in Malaysia and Singapore. But what is unique about this kopitiam is the coffee that is served there. Most of the coffee served there is robusta, brewed manually and then filtered using “socks”. Not a real sock, but it’s a filter made of cloth to filter the brewed coffee. Producing a unique thick coffee taste. Not only black coffee, there are many variations that are also being served there. You can add sugar, milk, ice, even tea to your coffee. You can also order the thickness of your coffee, by adding the word “gao” for stronger and “po” for weaker. But apart from the coffee itself, what is unique about kopitiam itself is the culture of chatting while accompanied by coffee. Usually the uncles there gather to talk and play together while enjoying coffee, beer and cheap food. The warm atmosphere that you get there will make you forget your problems for a moment. If you visit Malaysia or Singapore, don’t forget to stop by here.
Butter Coffee
Still from kopitiam, this unique coffee comes from singapore. Yes, you read it right. It really is a butter coffee. A hot black robusta coffee with a slice of butter on top. At first you may feel uncomfortable imagining it. but believe me, the taste will surprise you. The strong coffee taste combined with the slightly salty taste of butter makes this coffee have a unique savory taste. The texture of the coffee itself is silky and has a little greasy aftertaste. This idea came when times were tough in Singapore. At that time butter became a symbol of wealth. From there emerged the tradition of adding butter to coffee and this tradition has survived to this day. Adding its own uniqueness in the world of coffee.
Tubruk
Of all the brewing methods that I’ve tried, this is the simplest and most straightforward brewing method. Tubruk is a unique brewing method from Indonesia. Taken from one of the local languages, “tubruk” means to be hit. It’s as simple as ground coffee in your glass, getting “hit” by hot water poured over it. Yes, it’s that simple. Simply prepare your ground coffee into a glass, you can add sugar according to your taste, then pour hot water into the glass. Of course if we go deeper, there are elements that we can pay attention to such as blooming time, water ratio, and grind size. But even without those rules, we can still create a delicious coffee. And if brewed properly, the taste of the coffee produced is truly extraordinary. You can taste the originality of the coffee beans that you brew. Making it the most honest brewing method I’ve ever tried. You can also try it with robusta or arabica.
Klotok
Lastly, still from Indonesia, we have Klotok coffee. Made by boiling water along with the coffee grounds inside a pot over a charcoal stove. It’s a traditional recipe that has been passed generation after generation in Indonesia, especially in Java Island. The name of this method is taken from the sound that is made from the brewing process, “klotok-klotok” (sounds of the boiled water). Some people consider this method to be quite similar to Turkish coffee. The taste and texture itself seems to be quite similar too. It has a rich flavor inside with a thick body. But, the aroma of the coffee is the one that will make you captivated with this unique brew. If you ever visit Indonesia, you can find this coffee mostly in Yogyakarta. There are so many variations of this coffee too. Some local coffee shop in Yogyakarta even use alcohol as a variation mix. Are you not interested enough to try?
For the end note, yes most of those methods were born to overcome the bitter taste of Robusta coffee at first. But that doesn’t mean that those methods can’t be used for Arabica coffee. Nowadays you can see local shops in Southeast Asia not only use those methods to brew Robusta coffee, but also Arabica or even mix. You are free to experiment using the method that you want and coffee beans that you like to find the right coffee taste that would sit comfortably on your tongue. Because that’s what it means to be ngulikenak. Just keep wandering!
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