Last updated on April 19, 2022
Contributed and posted by ‘The Indonesian Way’, a textbook for the Indonesian language by George Quinn and Uli Kozok.
Indonesia is famous for its tea and coffee. Picturesque tea plantations cover the hills in many parts of the country, particularly in West Java, and sipping glasses of tepid, very sweet tea is a national pastime.
The Indonesian islands are so well-known for its coffee that the very name “Java” is synonymous with coffee although most coffee is in fact not produced in Java but on the islands of Sumatra and Sulawesi. The computer programming language Java is represented with a logo in the form of a stylized cup of “Java”. A fascinating history of coffee in Indonesia by Gabriella Teggia and Mark Hanusz is titled A Cup of Java(published by Equinox, Jakarta, 2003). The most prized, and very expensive, coffee beans are those that have been through the gut of the Indonesian civet cat (musang). This is known as kopi luwak.
Kopi Pahit and Kopi Manis
In Indonesia tea and coffee are by default served sweet (manis), and usually with an enormous amount of sugar. If you like your coffee black you need to specifically order kopi pahit, literally “bitter coffee” or black coffee. Coffee and tea are also often served with sweetened condensed milk, this is called kopi susu, and teh susu.
Kopi Tubruk
Traditionally, coffee is served very strong, very black and very sweet. Roughly ground coffee and copious amounts of sugar are spooned into a glass tumbler. When boiling water is added the finely ground coffee sinks to the bottom of the glass and the rough grounds float to the surface. This drink – almost a national institution – is called kopi tubruk.