IO, Jakarta – Coffee is a beverage closely associated with Indonesians. Made of roasted and ground coffee beans, it is the people’s favorite drink. Just about everyone around the world likes coffee: apart from its characteristic aroma and flavor, it is beneficial for one’s health in moderation. As many people have discovered, drinking coffee speeds up your heart rate and gets rid of sleepiness. It is a mood booster when you have a lot on your mind. Routine, moderate consumption also maintains liver functions. It reduces the risk of stroke and heart attacks, especially if you drink it black.
This is naturally good news for all coffee lovers. What about those who are not too crazy about coffee, or can only drink coffee well-diluted with milk or cream? No need to worry: at Jalan Setiabudi Tengah No. 11, Central Jakarta, there is a coffee shop that serves various types of milk coffee with the bitter taste well diluted: Kopi Susu Bu Lurah (‘The Village Headman’s Wife’s Milk Coffee’).
There are various types of milk coffee that delight both hardcore coffee lovers and those who don’t really like coffee unless it has been well-diluted with milk. Not just the flavor and aroma, but the cute glasses it’s served in add to the enjoyment: the white vintage cups and matching saucers are painted with pictures of a red cockerel, reminiscent of the ubiquitous bakso and mie bowls that have been around the Indonesian street food scene forever. The cold brews are served in cute clear plastic glasses adorned with a silhouette of the eponymous Bu Lurah.
Among the many coffee delights you can get in Kopi Susu Bu Lurah are espresso, Kopi Hitam Bu Lurah (‘Village Headman’s Wife’s Black Coffee’), Kopi Susu Bu Lurah, Latte-lattean (‘Fake Latte’), Vietnam Drip, Pour Over-Master A Dripper, Pour Over-Walker, and Pour Over-Koka Klinik Kopi (‘Coffee Clinic’s Coca Pour-Over’). This traditional warung kopi is part of the Warung Mbah Jingkrak Setiabudi (MJS) Javanese restaurant and serve as its coffee bar.
Following the trend that resurrects the ancient habit of our village coffee drinkers, the coffee here is sweetened with palm sugar. It’s milder than sucrose (refined white sugar), and the formula for each type of brew is a delicate balance of the coffee flavor, the creaminess of milk, and the sweetness of palm sugar. Each cup is brewed manually with a ‘Rok Presso’ to preserve the rustic taste, and you have the satisfaction of knowing that each cup you have contains a uniquely handcrafted brew.
The cheerful rustic ambience will welcome you warmly and help you shed your weariness, whether you are alone or with colleagues, friends, or a beloved. It is a very traditional Java-style warung kopi that brings you back to the cheerful old days of rural Javanese hospitality, complete with Javanese live music played by musicians wearing distinctive Javanese lurik clothing.
(Muhammad Akbar)