Are there any REAL coffee lovers out there?
By “Real”, I mean those people who really love their coffee so much that they insist that it should be taken black with no sugar or milk. I have met some purists who are like that, but when I spoke with Anton Wismann, the owner of Wiener Kaffeehaus, he did not insist that Kopi ‘O’ Kosong (Black with no sugar) was the only way to go. Coming from someone who insists on roasting his own coffee beans on the premises, that was somewhat of a consolation to me since I have always been a Kopi ‘C’ (Milk and sugar) person.
Coffee is actually quite an interesting subject. It is the 2nd most traded commodity after oil and the economics of coffee trading is just fascinating. Anton was telling me about this particular Ethiopian “Wild” coffee that his cafe is serving. “Wild” coffee comes from coffee beans which are collected in their native environment rather than those that have been cultivated. Whiles the yield per hectare for cultivated coffee is 700 sacks, you only get 7 sacks per hectare for “Wild” coffee. I can just imagine the Ethiopians rummaging through the jungle picking up coffee beans.
“Wild” Cuppuccino $4.60
Being “Wild” coffee means that the beans vary in characteristics, such that not every cup is exactly the same. I had a “Wild” Cappuccino which was quite good. It had a good aroma, slightly bitter and a little acidic. 4/5 Liverpool (A Kopi ‘C’ man) said it was one of the best Cappuccinos around. I found it a good, but being a Kopi ‘C’ man myself, I think I still prefer my cup of simple Kopitiam style Kopi ‘C’ even though the beans have been adulterated by the addition of corn and sugar in the roasting process. I don’t know, its kinda like dogs yeah? Some people insist only on pure breeds, but one can always fall in love with a particular dog even if it is a mixed breed.
Since we are on the subject of local vs other coffees, I would just like to conduct a simple poll to find out how many people prefer local style coffee to cafe style coffee. Would be interesting to see what everyone’s preference is.
Conclusion
Great place to sit down to appreciate a cup of coffee. The prices here are very reasonable considering the quality of beans used and of course the fact that they roast their own beans is always a draw. For those who really want to get into it, they also have coffee appreciation classes that you can sign up for.
