Mini Review: 2017’s New Hope

Harapan Djaya is a new coffee shop that popped up in Panglima Polim area (no need to guess, it’s South Jakarta). The coffee shop featured a new concept of menu made available to customers. Some of the menus are unusual yet interesting to wonder how do they taste.

I would like to apologize deeply for not being able to show you a nice picture of the store front due to unwanted conditions at the time I visited it, but I promise to take a good picture when I pay a visit next time 🙂

Inside of It

The coffee shop is traditionally small, what made it interesting is it can fit most of needed coffee apparatus, and their espresso machine is not a tiny-compact one! Also, 95% of the barista are girls, which greeted me and a buddy of mine with bright smile. Greetings, THUMBS UP.

Imagine you’re living in a bustling mega city but there’s one corner of the street that offers you a nice cozy coffee shop. Little on the inside, BIG on the taste and that bright smile of the baristas.

Oh not to forget to mention, see that mug rack on the wall, yeah the one with the green wood panel. I got to choose which mug I wanna use for my coffee. Eenie meenie minie moo time! I should call this “the little thing he/she needs”, gotta love that small perk.

Coffee & Beverage

Aside from the unique menu, they also serve traditional coffees (which is kind of obvious but I don’t know why I mention it here). But the thing is, they offer double shots for the coffee. Yep, it’s true, they wanna lit up you coffee lovers. I ordered their flat white, iced due to the hot weather.

As expected, the coffee flavor is a strong one, boldness, acidity, bitterness, all of them bursts inside my mouth. The milk only helps to reduce the coffee flavor during the first sip.

Yeah, the white mug is the flat white, on the other hand, the black mug is a beverage called “White Honey”, under the “MADUSARI” drink category. It’s experimental according to my opinion, and because of the fact it is, it’s a love and hate kind of relationship. Unfortunately, my buddy and I didn’t have the “love” kind of relationship towards the beverage. But if you coffee lovers are curious, give it a chance! Jeez…

Summary

For me, Harapan Djaya is a new kid around the block, and as far as I can tell, they are good enough for a place to grab a coffee and to spend minutes inside. They actually serves ice cream, with weekly flavor rotation. Me and my buddy didn’t bother to try it as we are full of coffee for the day, and coincidentally the flavor of the week is Coffee. So it’s a no go for us.

Go pay a visit to Harapan Djaya you coffee hunters!

Details & Location
Panglima Polim V No 36, RT.1/RW.7, Melawai, Kebayoran Baru,
Jakarta, 12160, Indonesia

 

A Taste of “Tempo Doeloe”

From Indonesian “tempo” + “dulu”. Refers literally to “a time of old” or “olden days”.

First of all, hello again! I have been vacuum for quite a long time due to office stuffs and also spending more time with my buddies. But don’t worry, I never forget about my very own blog. I owe you one good coffee shop worth to visit, a new one of course, well at least regarding the location. 1/15 Coffee introduces itself to all of coffee lovers out there in Jakarta with a totally new concept, different from the previous ones like Gandaria and Bali. Why is it worth to visit? Why not spend more time reading…

Outdoor

The combination of prime exterior and interior along with a prime location made 1/15 Coffee Menteng worth to visit. Located within KAUM’s restaurant complex, it is a 2 separate buildings, could be a luxury bungalow before; one for KAUM and another one is 1/15 Coffee’s. Below is the picture of 1/15 Coffee’s personal “building”. It is in a form of the olden days’ bungalow, quite a Batavia design for some people.  I don’t know who gives the idea of white paint with blue-green accent, but respect for the exterior designer, the result is a lovely tempo doeloe classic bungalow design matched with the red roof tiles. THUMBS UP!

Not only the “building” looks spacious, its terrace is also spacious, with picnic benches seating available for outdoor coffee lovers. Just look at those neatly arranged table cloth and the ashtrays, gotta love those small details. The only drawback is the lack of umbrellas or shades to protect you coffee lovers from the rain or the burning summer sun.

I hate to say this but if I post more of the outdoors it will be a spoiler for you all, because I really want you all to visit this place in person to feel the atmosphere of how tempo doeloe it is, even pictures cannot describe more than the experiences of visiting this awesome place.

Let’s Go Inside!

Well you can’t expect the inside of the coffee shop to be a bungalow style, the walls are torn down of course for business purpose. But the things you will notice are the tables and chairs, also the lighting choices.

The lighting got the antique looks, as well as the wall paintings. If you pay attention, the tile flooring is also the same colour as the exterior. There are enough sunlight to pass through the window, which gave sweet effects. However, choose your table wisely if you want the sunlight effects.

Overlooking the glass door and the windows, you’ll be pleased with the neatly but natural looking plants and ferns. The terrace will catch anyone’s attention once they step their foot on the walkway either to KAUM or to 1/15 Coffee.

Il Caffè e Il Corso Principale

I actually ordered two types of coffee to find differences between the one at Gandaria and here in Menteng. First I ordered their flat white (I’m starting to order flat whites instead of lattes for my default coffee standard)

Unforgettable. Really awesome, perhaps I should ask about the beans they used first before ordering one as I am quite surprised with the acidity. Well turned out they used their own house beans, and I am okay with it. Also this time, I ordered their Scrambled Eggs for my brunch session as I tried their Scrambled Eggs before at Gandaria and it was really good.

I am very pleased with how the scrambled eggs are done, and additionally, the one in Menteng surprisingly got the umami flavour! Perhaps that day I am very lucky having to eat one of the best normally cooked scrambled eggs in my life!

Also tried their cappuccino, again using their house beans. If I got to mention this, the one in Menteng is still using their default beans and the one at Gandaria already utilizes beans rotation every week. Of course, with a strong reference by asking one of the nice servers there.

Summary

Courage. That’s the word I can compliment for 1/15 Coffee, for opening a nice tempo doeloe style for a modern coffee shop. Also with the prime location, there are no excuses for me to drop by if I happen to travel to Central Jakarta. Totally worth the visit, the quality coffee, the vibes, the everything.

Details & Location
One Fifteenth Coffee (1/15 Coffee)
Jl. Dr. Kusuma Atmaja No.79, RT.10/RW.4, Menteng, Kota Jakarta Pusat, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta 10310, Indonesia

Hygge 2.0

Remember that time when I posted the HYPE coffee? Don’t be surprised, because this is it, A BRAND NEW COFFEE FOR THE HYPE! Well, not only for those hype people, well this time they added a whole new experience; COFFEE FOR THE HYPE AND CLASSY!

I remember very well while I was collecting photos at HYPE market, I was involved with a warm chit-chat with the barista that said they will move to a new spot, surprisingly not far away from PIK, he mentioned Pluit Village. I was not sure that it will be exciting as he mentioned a bit about The Goods Cafe-ish concept. But until I visited them at the not-so-difficult-to-spot new store, it was mind blowing.

They got that front store thingy which is very cool! Just like Toby’s Estate, which made it an upclass, upstreet, up up up everything! You can relax while watching the barista pouring your latte art while enjoying a Belgian atmosphere outside the store. I said this because it feels like Europe, I mean the storefront and stuffs.

The coffee shop is large enough, extending 2 blocks of stores combined together, not to forget they got a fancy store of their own brand too, just on the right of the coffee shop. And for you coffee venturers who love to spend your own time alone just like me (yes, me time is #1) there is a sweet spot for ya’ll:

OMG, just like Valhalla! I can spend hours in there, like literally, hours of just between me and my cup of flat white. Lovely.

Going inside, you’ll find an XL size coffee shop, many tables everywhere, ample amount of seats available, and moving to the back end, even more spaces and a long table. Maybe they are looking for more hype coffee venturers out there. Trust me back at HYPE Market, the seats are not as many as this one. Space is great, but not so unique. This one really is, a major evolution.

Psst! They got their roaster machine right over there! Just behind that window panes.
And to the left of the entrance, over the barista counter, there’s a space which I called “Ambiente”, what a perfect space to spend your afternoon ladies! Lovely pinky moody lighting!

Le Coffee?

Le coffee? Yeah what about the coffee? FLAT WHITE, as usual!

Their flat white is a type of flat white that is done right. They got the perfect beans for my taste bud, and it really is acid-free! The last time I ordered a cappuccino during my first visit at their very first coffee shop, it it really is acid-free. I think they serve it very well, give them a big round of applause!

But one downside of the flat white was, it’s a bit bland. The milk itself is rather bland too, the only thing I remember about the milk is buttery flavor. More towards the “salty” taste, however I can still feel the espresso, although still dominated by the buttery milk flavor. I didn’t stop right there, I was craving for a cold brew, but alas they do not have bottled white cold brew yet, so I decided to try my luck with their Ice Cappuccino.

I forgot one little thing, they will give you free mini croissant (try to imagine me pronouncing “croissant” with a heavy failed french accent coz I always do), which is nice for you guys’ lovely stomach. The cappuccino, should’ve ordered it hot, not cold. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good, but not for my taste bud :D. Maybe I should wait for their real white cold brew.

Verdict

If you guys want to try out a new coffee shop around North Jakarta with an up street, up class, up up up everything with their originality still in place, definitely drop by Hygge if you have a spare time…. or I don’t care, whether you are busy or have a free time, just visit them. You’ll love it, trust me.

Details & Location
Hygge Coffee & Roastery
Pluit Village, 1st Floor – West Mezzanine, Jl. Pluit Indah Raya, Jakarta, Indonesia
+62 21 6683888

 

 

 

Mi Mi Mi Mi Mi Mi Mi

Mi mi mi mi mi mi mi, mi mi mi only mi mi. Mi mi mi mi mi mi mi, Mimiti Coffee me. And I thought that song really suits this coffee shop. And no, it’s not Jakarta, it’s Bandung! This coffee shop is the reason I visited Bandung last week and it surely amazed me with it’s concept. Check it out!

Coffee & Space

This is an honest representative of the words “coffee & space” as it really has a wide space, enough for outdoor parties. And thankfully with the clever spacing between tables, benches and chairs, this lot seems to be large enough although it is just a space located at the corner of the famous Setiabudi Road.

It’s black, gray and white dominated theme to follow the minimalist trend which is still on-going right now (gosh how I love them). You’ll be greeted by Mimiti’s signature glass “fence” with it’s logo written on it and it’s really cool, one of a kind. With this, the coffee shop looks more like an art space.

Enough boasting the exterior, now let’s go inside! Notice that tall square-ish bulding with large windows at the background? Yup that’s the main building, where all the baristas with their stuffs located.

Mimiti also has clothing and wears displayed as a divider between the space with the glass roof above. Yup those are designers’ clothes and with a hefty price tag, one can buy and wear it with pride! Also with minimalist, black or white colour options. The inside of the main building is surprisingly small, compared to the exterior space. This is where the coffee shop distinct from the others.

I’m sure all of you readers are curious to visit Mimiti. Jakartans, go grab your car key and go to Bandung for this is a must-visit spot. Satisfied for every corners of the coffee shop? What about their coffees?

Finally A Good Coffee

Why finally? The last time I visited coffee shops around Bandung, not what I expected. No offense intended, but this is just from an honest opinion of mine. But Mimiti made me forget those awful experiences. Their coffee is really good, similar to other coffee specialists at Jakarta and Bali.

Judging from the coffee taste, Mimiti is serious about this game. They really hired professional baristas and tried to match up with the coffee competitions from it’s rivals in Jakarta. And they successfully proved they are worthy.

Fun fact; took me 2 days a row just to enjoy Mimiti at the fullest. It’s because during the first day, I only got the chance to visit this haven at evening, which is not the preferred time to enjoy coffee. So the next day I woke up early and paid a visit again to have my breakfast.

I ordered their hot cappuccino and as I expected, they are serious about it. Not sour, not that milky, and it was just fine. Quite strong is the perfect expression towards the cappuccino. And for the breakfast, I ordered a friend of mine Ice Mocha and a white cold brew for myself. For the food, I got myself a berry cheese brownies. Honestly I forget the name written on the menu (my bad), it was really good as I can recall the taste.

Nope that’s not a fancy mineral water or stuffs. They also sell fresh pure coconut water in a bottle! Surely it is very refreshing, after a warm sunny morning walk away from the hotel to the coffee shop. Highly recommended for those who had enough of coffee. Overall I love their coffee and beverages. So, what to say about my mi mi mi experiences?

Conclusion

It was a fun visit at Mimiti! I love every corner of their coffee shop and it really eases my mind as I am a very big fan of minimalism (note: NOT a fanatic kind of fan). I find it enjoyable, just imagine: sipping your cup of joe while listening to the sound of fountain dripping and with the shades of trees above you. Just a perfect situation! Oh did I mention why they can match their coffee game with the others?

Surprise, surprise! EXPAT. beans found at Mimiti! Spoiler alert for June’s blog post! *Oops*

I will visit Mimiti again for sure, they got my heart ❤

Details & Location
Mimiti Coffee & Space
Jl. Karang Sari No. 1, Bandung, Indonesia
ask.mimiti@gmail.com

Coffee For Ya’ll

Yes, it’s coffee for ya’ll! It’s the direct translation with a bit of spelling alteration (Kopikalyan = Kopi Kalian). To many, the headquarter at South Jakarta is the well known chic coffee spot, one of a kind actually. It features a large space for a coffee shop, with 2 outdoor spots inside it. But recently, it extended to a galaxy far-far aw- I’m sorry, to a far-far away spot outside Jakarta, which is at BSD to be precise. Why do they put their second branch very far away from its HQ? But maybe it could be the featuring of a new furniture spot too, which is called Pineapple.

Back to Kopikalyan, the new branch is very contrast to the HQ at South Jakarta. The building is a type of business loft, a new kind of office block concept located at BSD, 5 minutes away from AEON Shopping Mall. The business loft complex is quite vacant, not many companies set up their offices yet over there. But it can be a big opportunity for a good coffee shop to appear over there (main target: office employees, duh!)

Space Well Managed

Moving inside the coffee shop (or… furniture shop), you can imagine how I smiled widely. The interior, I must say, thumbs up. Who could resist such a minimal with a mixture of white and black walls and tables with wooden parquets? They really amazed me, I just love how they can manage the floor really well. No more squeezy and tight spaces!

Lighting is excellent too, more than adequate to support the whole space. Once I entered the coffee shop, I can directly spot the most exclusive place to sit on:

Say hello to my mom! Yup, she sat on it first, right just after ordering her beverage. The seat overlooks the outside terrace, which will give you coffee shop hoppers a nice view, especially during a rainy day.
There are spaces too behind the wide wall, or to the right of the barista counter.

The view accross is another business loft, currently occupied by a company. And if you look down, you can see a very neat and well treated green garden. Once again, visit this coffee shop during rainy day, a perfect timing to waste your time in a good way.
I’m not sure about the viewers of this blogging website, but if among you all are students or power hunter, I can give you a good news:

Worry not, Kopikalyan is being super prupper kind to ya’ll. Not just on the long table, but below some of the sofa tables near the black wall and behind the divider between the long table and the front porch, where the stools are located. Get ready to boost your juices!

#halongopiyuk

I really love their hashtag, which really translates to “hello, let’s grab a coffee”. It really is inviting the target consumers to have a coffee at their coffee shop. A warm invite, to be precise. Despite the joint venture between a furniture store, it doesn’t mean the concept is similar to IKEA’s. This one is a specialty coffee shop, ordered their latte and cappuccino for my standard benchmarking.

Very neatly served, along with their signature wooden drink mat. The taste, very similar to that of their HQ’s coffee. Found out why, one of the barista I talked to has been working at the HQ, but moved over here for better mobility. I’m very satisfied with the same polite and fun conversation experience of Kopikalyan’s crew. The latte? Excellent. But this is way more milkier than other lattes at various coffee shops. Still liked it tho’.

The cappuccino’s standard, as it should be. Well I kinda prefer the latte here, but will try their flat white next time. The cappuccino was flat, not too kicking, and less bitter. I’m not saying it’s bland or boring, but probably because I forgot to ask them which beans they are using for the coffees I ordered. My bad, will focus on that for the next update. Overall coffee experience? Great!

Remarks

With their new branch located at the to-be-strategic place at BSD, this is a very large welcome for me. I thought they will just focus at South Jakarta, but I was wrong, they are brave enough to expand to a new territory. And for the place, although not so unique like the one at their HQ, this one here is very neat, and the simple interior collaborated with Pineapple is superb. Not to forget their similar & unchanged original coffee taste, I must say they are really professional in terms of serving people their coffee. Keep it up Kopikalyan, and welcome to the new territory outside of the comfortable & bustling South Jakarta! #adayangbarunih #ngopiyuk #kopikalyan

Details & Location
Pineapple X Kopikalyan
Foresta Business Loft 2 Unit 20, BSD, Tangerang, Banten, Indonesia
+62 21 7223712

Mini Review: Swedish Showdown

When you heard the word “IKEA”, what crosses your mind? Well obviously furnitures…. and their signature restaurant. But what if in this post, I mention something about coffee? And not just that coffee-machine coffee, I’m talking about a real coffee shop settlement inside the restaurant.

“Yervan stop bullshitting”, yes yes yes whatever, but I’m not even kidding.

Hard to believe, eh? I got into a small conversation with one of their “barista”, the idea actually came from customers who demanded special coffee like cappuccino or latte instead of the mainstream espresso or americano from the coffee-machine at the refill stations. Hence the “coffee shop” idea. They also include small condiments and snacks on their IKEA racks

Of course some of you might think “aww they must’ve used mediocre coffee machine. I’m sorry BUT YOU ARE ALL WRONG!

Amazing? Yes. Good coffee? Read further below.

Cappuccino A La IKEA

One thing I haven’t mention here, the prices. They are cheap af, for a cup of joe made with La Marzocco. Imagine, Rp 15k for a cup? That is US$1.2! WOW!

But the taste though, ain’t that wow like the surprisingly low price. I’m not saying it’s bad. Further little chit-chat with the “barista”, they are directly told to make coffee without any special training. So I can’t complain much, especially given the amazing price.

Conclusion

Well not much I can conclude. What made it unique is this is one of a kind. An innovation combines with the trend of the people of Jakarta. If I have the opportunity to write a small tips for IKEA Coffee, that would be better trained baristas and more seating. Other than that, perfect

Details & Location
IKEA
Jl. Jalur Sutera Boulevard Kav. 45, Alam Sutera, Serpong, Kunciran, Pinang, Kota Tangerang, Banten 15320, Indonesia

 

All The Way From Sydney

Wow it’s been 2 weeks since my last blogging session and I apologize for my long absence, but here I am back again typing this post.

It is about time when something hyped outside Indonesia to venture in Jakarta. Toby’s Estate opening was just on time, when all of the mainstream coffee shops around Jakarta are popping out here and there with mostly shop-houses concept. Toby’s Estate didn’t want to venture subtly instead they open up their first store with a huge bang; PIK Avenue Shopping Mall. They are right, PIK Avenue are crawled with modern upscale visitors ranging from teens to adults. Their store were invaded with the typical upscale youngsters during their early grand opening, and I was lucky to visit this after the early hype, although I can still find quite a bunch of tables already reserved in the morning the day I visited and slowly PIK-ers were filling up the empty tables.

I got a very good parking spot which is very close to the coffee shop and that boosted my morning mood. Anyway, the coffee shop can be seen straight from the car entrance, right beside the main lobby. It has the well lit “TOBY’S ESTATE – Coffee Roasters” logo which stands out beside the main lobby. You can find it with no difficulties at all.

Toby’s Estate makes good of every space they got. They even have the outdoor bar style table which not many coffee shops in Jakarta have, and the take away station which is very convenient for to-go coffee drinkers. And the view of the barista station from here is very clear, perfect spot for chit-chatting while looking around the main lobby and inside the coffee shop. Spotted something catchy? Yeah right, check this baby out:

Stepping my foot inside, you may find a very vibrant ambience. That high round table with stools looked like St. Ali’s, and the rest? Come on, I know you guys wanna say it…

It feels like a deja vu, OLIVIER at Grand Indonesia. I can feel the upscale atmosphere with their golden accents everywhere, and the yellow lighting too. Perfectly matched with white hexagonal tyles and walls, including royal blue color. Especially the table and the long sofa facing the barista station. Reminded me of OLIVIER’s bar environment.

While not many visitors around yet, I got myself an opportunity to snap a few of their corners:

At one of the corners, there’s a huge wall with products displayed on racks. I think they also got their own labeled products for sell, I wanna grab their shirt and mug but I’m quite broke at the moment, maybe next time. Note: they are high quality products!

They also got outdoor area too, which is also quite nice. Overall, ME GUSTA!

My Coffee Journey At Toby’s Estate

Yes, I call it “journey” in this post, because you’ll soon find out why. My first cup here’s a classic cappuccino. For a best dramatic picture of the drink, go see my featured image. Very neatly done.

First sip, wonderful. It kicked me straight after my first and second sip, no compromise. It tasted so wonderful that I asked the waitress whom served me the cup about what kind of beans they used, and she replied with a word I never heard of before. Then she showed me this:

New kind of beans, signature Toby’s Estate WOOLLOOMOOLOO beans. And as descripted on the card, the aroma and flavours are just right. Except I was unable to smell the maple syrup aroma and taste the spice. Unique experience, and it is perfect for milk-based coffee drinks.

Nope, I didn’t stop at cappuccino. I unleashed my curiosity further by ordering my next drink; latte.

The latte tasted similar to the cappuccino I ordered even though I “washed”down my mouth with a full glass of mineral water. And no wonder, as they used the same WOOLLOOMOOLOO beans. Except this one is more milky….. come on Yervan, YOU DON’T SAY? For a latte, I must say, it tasted stronger than the usual lattes I drank. Good for you strong latte lovers out there. So sorry I ruined the latte art, but I did it on purpose, because it’s the same with my previous cappuccino’s latte art.

So… conclu- no wait, I haven’t said stop. I went to explore deeper to Toby’s coffee style. Experts said “you will never understand coffee if you do not know how the manual brew tasted like.” So I did what the experts said.

You guys may noticed from this picture of which type of manual brew I ordered. No? How about this:

Yup, V60, my first favorite kind of manual brew. I don’t just simply like the taste of the coffee made by V60 brew, but the processes too. From the pouring of hot boiling water into the kettle, till the dripping of the coffee. I was very lucky to have been served by one of their champs; Aldian. From what I observed, he’s very quick and precise in everything. As a Toby’s champ, he got a very deep knowledge about coffees and how to serve it. When I approached the brewing table, he politely greeted me and had a very nice conversation about coffee. Cutting through the process, he boiled the water to 100° C and gave it a few secs to  be around 95° C-98° C and gently pour over the grinded coffee beans. Oh by the way, this week’s beans rotation, I chose the Nicaraguan origin La Cascada Lot 1850.

Hot, fresh manual brew ready to be sipped up. Aldian also gave me a cold glass of mineral water to let go of the remaining latte flavor stuck on my taste bud. My first sip, I can feel the fruity flavor, more into pear flavor. It’s not acidic, just fruity, which is friendly for my stomach. Body is precisely medium, not too bold. I actually can’t taste the finishing citrus flavor as all I can taste is the peary flavor. Maybe I need to level up my tasting skill soon. Aldian told me to save the reserve 20ml of the brew to be left cold, he needs me to taste the difference between hot and cold manual brew. When left cold enough around room temperature, I sipped up the remaining 20ml. Gosh it was different, always prefer it hot.

So can we jump into the conclusion? Uh oh, not yet. My next coffee is a dessert of all the coffee I drank:

Their home-brewed cold brew, I ordered this straight from the barista counter to be the finale. Aldian poured over the glass beaker from the cold brew jar. When I’m about to drink up, he offered me a small glass of cold brew. It turned out that the two cold brews are different. Told me to drink the first cold brew he poured over, then the one in the small glass. After several sips, I concluded him the one in the small glass is tastier. Well his answer is right, the one on the beaker was brewed last night before closing, while the one in the small glass is just brewed right before he served me. For best cold brew taste, small tips for you readers; drink the cold brew in the afternoon for the most fresh ones!

Conclusion

Alright, alright, it’s finally conclusion time. My stomach’s fine after 4 coffees straight in the morning, if anybody asks. But boy, it’s a new record for me anyway!

IMHO, my experience at Toby’s Estate was extremely pleasant. I love the interior and especially the excellent service they offered. I don’t know if anybody got the same services like me as I visited in the morning  around 8:30 in the morning where there wasn’t much customers yet. And I wanna thanks Aldian for the good V60 and the opportunity to talk about coffee. I really enjoyed my morning at Toby’s Estate. Will drop by again in the morning next time! Oh and by the way, please do ask about their beans when you ordered coffee drinks, it’s worth to know about beans.

Don’t forget to follow my Instagram account @yervan for more of my coffee hunting. Ciao bella fellas!

Details & Location
Toby’s Estate
Jl. Pantai Indah Kapuk, Kamal Muara, PIK AVENUE GF #E2, RT.6/RW.2, Kamal Muara, Penjaringan, Jakarta Utara 14470, Indonesia
+62 21 22570966

 

 

Greek Mythology

“Cassiopeaia is a constellation in the northern sky, named after the vain queen Cassiopeia in Greek mythology, who boasted about her unrivaled beauty.” or “The Queen Cassiopeia, wife of King Cepheus of Phoenicia.”. I hope my guesses are right behind the true meaning of this coffee shop around PIK area. Fun fact is, I can never find this coffee shop without the ‘help’ of a friend of mine who’s always on Instagram.

Anyway, This place is quite amazing, not only because of its mythological name, but the location. Far far far away from most restaurants and hang out spots at PIK. I think it is because of 2 big schools across the coffee shop; Bina Bangsa School and SIS. For those students, I envy you guys!

From the outside, well….. it does not look like Greek style at all. But it’s neat, when you visit this coffee shop, you will be greeted with Euro-style environment. Just look at the paved sidewalk with white umbrellas on top of the coffee tables, and the blue accent mixed with white painted walls. Not bad at all!

Inside the coffee shop, you will be greeted with yellow lighting made of wooden crates on the ceiling, long white-tile barista counter, side-window table, standard sofa and cozy corners on the back end of the coffee shop. Space? Standard shop-house stlyle, do not expect extra large spaces like other coffee shops. But it is adequate.

Coffee

Ordered a cappuccino for the opening, I asked today’s available beans for the mix and got ‘Rosso’ Lintong and Aceh origin. I expect another acidic cup of cappuccino, but this got me wrong. This mix of beans altered the taste of the conventional 50% coffee 50% milk format to become 65% coffee and 35% milk flavor. And the amazing thing is, not acidic at all.

I gulped this to finish in under 1 minute to taste the maximum coffee strength and you kick me in the head, Cassiopeia! Widen my eyes during the cloudy weather outside.

Did I mention the cappuccino for the opening? Yes, cause I ordered a second coffee menu for this evening, their signature coffee: Kopisob
It is basically a latte with their special secret “sugar” ingredients which made the latte into sweet one. I’m not a big fan of sweet stuffs, when I sipped the latte, what surprises me, the special sugar not only sweetens the latte but it made the latte more ‘colorful’. I like it, but I still prefer classic latte though.

Conclusion

I truly recommend this coffee shop for those who loves quiet environment. Not many disturbances, great services and great cappuccino too. I love the outdoor space with the Euro-style paved sidewalk, adds the Euro feeling. Although it’s quite far, but it’s worth the visit.

Details & Location
Cassiopeia Coffee
Ruko Manyar, Blok C, No. 5, Jalan Manyar Raya, Pantai Indah Kapuk, Kapuk Muara, Penjaringan, Jakarta 14450, Indonesia

 

 

Coffee For The Hypes

Anyone who visits PIK frequently whether they are PIK-ers or just hanging out during the weekend will definitely know HYPE Bazaar. Yes the venue that has been used for multiple hype events like coffee bazaar even to international circus. But I’ll not be talking about the HYPE Bazaar itself, instead my eyes are caught to the thing beside HYPE’s main entrance; a coffee shop. Maybe most of you PIK-ers already know this, but as a type of person who’s lazy to visit bazaars, I’m a late-comer to this hype people’s coffee shop. And by the way it reads “hee-geh” not “hai-jee” or something, the more you know.

From the outside, honestly it will look real cool but due to the dirt-like parking space, it gives the coffee shop a not-so-good view from the outside, especially from the inside if you are sitting by the wide window. But who cares anyway, let’s go inside:

Spacious, that’s the right word for to describe its interior. There are plentiful of seats available and for those people who prefer small and cozy coffee shops, this is not the place. The black ceiling gives the coffee shop a cool ambience, meaning even if it’s hot outside, you can still feel a bit cool inside the coffee shop. The large wall art dominates the empty white space on the left of the barista bar, and the big HYGGE line-art shapped dog is well placed just right behind the cashier. Overall, black and white baby! How about the coziest spot? Here you go:

Hype Coffee With Hype Taste

Maybe some of you think that this is just a normal coffee shop with mall-ish taste (which is clearly not good). BUT that’s where you’re wrong, this is a classic style coffee shop with truly skilled barista. I ordered a classic cappuccino, to determine the overall taste of the coffee. This one gave me a smoother experience than my previous blog’s cappuccino. Less acidic taste and it turned out the barista used the mixture of Sumatra and Toraja beans. Well well, he know’s quite well how to give a coffee drinker like me a comfort to my stomach. However, it’s not strong enough to give a kick in the head. If you guys need a strong kick in the head, don’t mind to ask the barista first which beans to use for the base of the cappuccino.

The milk foam is medium, not too thin, not too thick. So it’s easy to penetrate through the foam to reach the liquid black gold. You know that kind of experience when you are about to sip your first liquid black gold but you know you have to go through a thick/thin cloud of foam? I call it self-pleasure of drinking coffee. What’s good about this milk foam? It lasts forever, even after taking several shots of about 8 minutes, it stays just like it came fresh from the barista table.

Conclusion

I love it. Thought I could’ve known this place earlier. The place is comfortable and spacious, with great coffee too. I love how they arranged the wide place and efficiently fill it up with plentiful seats without making the place squeezy tight. No wonder they are good, the owner is also HYPE Bazaar’s owner. And I felt lucky enough for the opportunity to visit this place, cause (sadly) they are moving soon but with new exciting concept. Kind of sad-but-happy feelings but things have to go on for greater outcome, eh? I’m also really impatient for my next experience at the future HYGGE. *Thank God it will be closer to my current workplace*

That’s all guys, keep exploring and thanks for reading the 5th blog post of the Caffeine Republic. Stay tuned with me for more future posts and if you guys are impatient (people are never patient ya’ know), do not hesitate to follow me @yervan on Instagram, coz I always upload pictures first before posting over here. Ciao bella!

Details & Location

HYGGE Coffee
Jl. Pantai Indah Kapuk Boulevard 1 Diamond Circle (Inside HYPE Bazaar)
Pantai Indah Kapuk, Penjaringan, Jakarta Utara, 14470, Indonesia

 

Drizzle With POPOLO

 

When I ask about Bogor, my friends always tell me the same line all over again; “the rainy city.” Well they aren’t wrong, it rains almost everyday over here. And I have to admit that it’s the same as during my previous weekend trip to the rainy city. Dark clouds, breezy air, and wet. This kind of weather is perfect for every Indonesians out there; “it’s a perfect time for Indomie.” But not me.

That Kind of Cozy

Yes, while everyone’s sipping their noodle soup, I visited this place instead. It’s easy to spot, with their large black banner written “POPOLO” with white colored font on it. Parking is easy, plenty of spaces available. When I set my foot inside, it’s that kind of coziness you get. Long table, bar table upon the window, armchair corners and plenty of outdoor areas. Although it will be better if they utilize some of the outdoor areas to be a part of indoors, but well it is quite enough I guess. I snapped a few of outdoor corners for you guys to enjoy, check it out.

How about Insta-corner….? These are my favorites:

Wait, I’m not finished yet until I show you guys this rare feature of a coffee shop:

Yes, free phone and tablet chargers for ya’ll who are busy snapping cool pictures but forgot your cables and adapters at home. They still made Apple’s 30-pin chargers for older iDevices as well as the lightning chargers for your newer iDevices as well. Android and other phone users are also served with the 2.0 USB chargers. No worries, carry on snapping.

Talking About Coffee

Cozy interior, check. But we have not talked about coffee. I ordered a classic cappuccino for my entire coffee experience in POPOLO. Taste wise, it is not bad. But compared to cappuccinos I had, this one has a strong acidity. A warning for you coffee lovers out there with stomach problems, it’ll be a kick in the stomach instead of a kick in the head. I like it strong, and I got it. Wakens me up and widen my sleepy and tired eyes. My opinion; strong & acidly.

You can taste the thick foam of the steamed milk as they customized it a bit, I assume. It’s thicker than most cappuccinos I had before. I have to sip more to get through the black gold.

Well not only the good ol’ cappuccino, I tried my friend’s unique ‘beverage’ called Bailey’s Latte. Sipped it once, never again. It’s extremely sweet for my taste buds but for people who do not like coffee-ish latte and prefer the sweet taste, there you go.

Overall Experience?

With a good cappuccino and that-kind-of-cozy interior, I guess POPOLO will make it to the top coffee shop from Bogor. POPOLO gave me a sweet experience and changes my perspective about coffee shop from outside of Jakarta; they can compete with the ones in the Capital. And POPOLO got the essential point of a coffee shop, that is  excellent services from their baristas. Cheers for you all, will drop by again next time.

Details & Location

POPOLO Coffee
Jalan Loader No. 9, Baranangsiang, Bogor Timur, Baranangsiang, Bogor Tim., Kota Bogor, Jawa Barat 16143, Indonesia
+62 811-110-225