In Jakarta it can be hard to find a coffee shop that is not a starbucks or not in a shopping mall! So when we discovered Bakoel Koffie we were very excited and ended up spending a few afternoons relaxing there reading and using the wifi….and of course drinking the fantastic coffee!
The company is the oldest coffee roaster in Java with a history dating back to 1878. Liauw Tek Siong, an immigrant from southern China bought fresh coffee beans from ladies who carried them in ‘bakoel’ – which are traditional Javanese baskets, and roasted them using firewood. Business flourished from that day and eventually the coffee shop itself was opened back in 2001 by the fourth generation of the family and named to give tribute to the ladies carrying the coffee beans back in the 1870s. In addition the logo for the store which you can see in the shop windows, pays homage to these ladies.
The shop sells three blends of coffee – Heritage 1969 (Sumatran beans), Brown Cow (northern Sumatra and Java beans), and Black Mist (Sulawesi and Java beans). They recommend using different blends depending on what type of drink you want to try and I can say that they are all amazing! I can’t remember which is my favourite sadly…but I can say that I enjoyed every cup of coffee drink I had here!
As soon as you enter the coffee shop there is a feeling of warmth from the staff’s smiles and friendly greeting, the sound of the coffee grinding, the intoxicatingly rich smell of fresh coffee, the cakes and delicious looking food, the wooden furniture and inviting sofas and the buzz of contented customers.The shop stays open until at least 9/10 at night which is nice and the staff are happy for you to spend as long as you want there without hassling you to buy more! It’s hard not to be tempted though and you can see below a selection of foods we sampled whilst there! If you are craving western food then there are some good options on offer here.
Posts
