Today we explore a handful of former Indonesian National Barista Champion Yoshua Tanu’s favorite Jakarta cafés.
BY EMILY JOY MENESES
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE
Featured photo by Anisetus Palma via Unsplash
As someone of Filipino descent, I’m in love with everything about Southeast Asian coffee—from the single-origin beans being sourced from countries like Vietnam and the Philippines, to the cafés dishing out beverages laden with Southeast Asian flavors in both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. Though I’ve never been to Indonesia, I recently tried a coffee sourced from the country and was enamored with its flavor profile—notes of jasmine, dragonfruit, and papaya make for a standout cup. Intrigued, I decided to dive more into Indonesia’s coffee culture, starting with Jakarta and its plethora of noteworthy cafés.
To learn more about the Jakarta coffee scene, I spoke with Yoshua Tanu. He’s a former Indonesian National Barista Champion and owner of the Jakarta-based mobile coffee cart Jago Coffee. Below are a handful of his favorite Jakarta cafés and highlights of each shop’s menu (as well as Yoshua’s own shop).
1/15th
Apart from its unique coffee offerings—including ginger milk lattes and sparkling, pandan-infused iced coffee—1/15th also boasts an impressive food menu. Along with your beverages, try their kaya jam (coconut jam) toast, chia pudding, or a smoothie bowl made with coconut milk, dragonfruit, mango, and other seasonal produce.
Instinct
Home to finalists in the 2018 and 2020 Indonesia Brewers Cup Championship, Instinct can be found most days of the week churning out quality espresso-based drinks. Other special beverages on the menu include lemonade and coffee, Thai tea, and even red velvet milk. The café and roastery also offers roasted coffee sourced from local farms, like the Kerinci Honey—a full-bodied variety with notes of raisin and mango.
Anomali
Established in 2007, Anomali is a Jakarta-based roastery and café dedicated to showcasing coffee from different regions across Indonesia. Some of the varieties Anomali offers include the Bali Ulian, Sumatra Kerinci, and Aceh Gayo. They also offer several barista training classes, including classes on latte art, roasting, cupping, and manual brewing.
Jago
No Jakarta café guide would be complete without mention of Yoshua Tanu’s very own company. Jago is a mobile café that delivers coffee across Jakarta on wheels via a fleet of electric vehicles. The café menu features coffee sourced from Indonesia as well as standouts like the kopi susu jago (an iced coffee beverage with brown sugar and mint) and hojicha lychee tea. The café on wheels works through an app and is an innovative take on street vendor culture, which is an integral aspect of Southeast Asia.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Emily Joy Meneses (she/they) is a writer and musician based in Los Angeles. Her hobbies include foraging, cortados, vintage synths, and connecting with her Filipino roots through music, art, food, and beverage.
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