IO, Jakarta – Indonesia as a fertile country has many excellent commodities, one of them is coffee beans. As a country with the best coffee beans, it is very easy for you to taste various flavors of coffee from various regions in Indonesia. One of the best shops to taste the best coffee is Common Grounds. As it’s been established for four years now, Common Grounds has become a place for special coffee developments, especially in the capital city. Located in the Sudirman City Walk, in the middle of business centers and premium apartments, Common Grounds has created two national champions Latte Art and the Barista championship in June in 2014.
The initiators of Common Grounds are not new in the business world. Before the Common Grounds was recognized as a coffee shop that was able to produce champions in the competition, the name Pandava Cafe was already glorified by some Common Grounds owners. Before it closed in 2015, Pandava Café became a vehicle for learning the ins and outs of the coffee industry on an in depth basis. Hosted by Aston Utan, Yoshua Tanu, Daryanto Witarsa, and Philip Chen, Common Grounds adheres to the idea of ‘Splitting and Conquering!’ (Divide and Conquer). Not only relying on one’s own strength and trust in teamwork, making each individual in the Common Grounds become a family.
“Within a year, two of our baristas won the national level and became representatives of Indonesia in the international championship,” said Aston, owner of Common Grounds Coffee.
One of his barristers, Iwan Setiawan, who became the head of the barista, won the ‘Indonesian Latte Art Championship’ in Bali in March 2014. He also competed at international events in Melbourne, Australia. Yoshua Tanu, who is also the owner of Common Grounds Coffee, was once a champion in the ‘Indonesia Barista Championship’, in May 2014. Now, Yoshua Tanu is participating in an international championship in Europe.
“This business (coffee) is not just about how delicious the coffee is. But this is also a matter of interaction between people, how to share knowledge, and build communities. That’s the most important part in it. “, Aston explained to the Independent Observer.
Aston acknowledges that the key to Common Grounds success is when they can grow as a team. All four initiators of Common Grounds were experts in different fields. From there they work together to improve the quality and consistency of products from the four corners. Because according to Aston, it is impossible to be able to do everything by yourself.
“That makes everyone’s life easier. Because, again the coffee business is very complicated. Lots of layers and aspects in it. “Aston said.
The relationship between workers in the coffee shop is equally important. It was clear when the Common Grounds baristas competed, each competitor supported each other like a family. Team collaboration is more emphasized here. For Aston, if you want to compete, you can’t compete and hope to win without a good team.
Iwan Setiawan said, people could feel another sensation in consuming coffee at the Common Grounds.
“Here is like a complete, one package. Visitors can enjoy a good way of drinking from superior coffee bean mixtures. In addition, baristas can also be invited to discuss or explain about coffee concoctions and show directly how to mix coffee,” said Iwan.
Several choices of drinks are worth a try, including Hot Expresso, Macchiato, Gilbratar, Cappuccino, Coffee Latte and Long Black. Coffee is made from the best choice of coffee.
“The superior ingredients are coffee from Toraja and Aceh Gayo,” said Iwan.
Besides sipping coffee, you can also try a variety of tea and juice concoctions at this cafe, such as Camomile, Earl Gray, English Breakfast, Green Tea, Peppermint, Orange Juice, and Apple Juice. Prices for various types of coffee and other drinks range from Rp. 20,000 to Rp. 40,000.
Although from the outside it looks more like a coffee shop, Common Grounds also serves a variety of heavy foods. Such as breakfast menu or Western lunch menu, Two Egg Any Style, Truffle Scrambled Egg, Huevos Rancheros con Rendang, Breakfast Burrito, Smoked Salmon Fritata, Corned Beef and Potato Hash, Butcher’s Wife Steak and Egg, Tunisian Shakshouka, Soboro Don, California Roll Burger. These foods are pegged between IDR 60,000 and IDR 95,000.
“What is different again from us, we try to present the right food menu if consumed with coffee. Initially, it was a challenge to present a food menu that can be put together with coffee, but we are able to do so. This is what makes us different from other restaurants or cafes,” Aston said. (Aldo)