Australian coffee culture storms Jakarta
To spot the best cafes in Jakarta right now, just look for the ones with flat whites and piccolos on the menu.
The traditionally tea-sipping citizens of Indonesia's capital are newly obsessed with coffee, and more often than not, it's served with a very Australian vibe.
In go-to webguide Manual's recent shortlist of the best cafes in Jakarta, almost half had links to Australia.
It makes sense when you consider that about 19,000 Indonesian students are in Australia right now, fuelling their degrees on caffeine.
Most will tell you it's tough returning to Jakarta, where the brew usually comes from an instant sachet or a Starbucks.
Former Perth cafe owner Andrew Tang is co-owner of Morph coffee roasters, a leader in the new Jakarta scene.
When he arrived three years ago, things looked grim.
"When I first came here I couldn't drink the coffee. I thought, this is terrible, why is it so over-roasted, why is it so dark?" he recalls.
"We're so spoilt in Australia and then you come here it's like, `What's going on?'"
One of the cafes serving Tang's beans is One Fifteenth Coffee.
It's in Jakarta's south, but feels very much a little piece of Sydney.
"What had been missing here was something Australian in style, where everything is done fresh," he says.
"Given the proximity of this country to Australia, I was surprised there wasn't more influence."
But that is changing, rapidly.
A few kilometres away, near Jakarta's CBD, a bunch of South Melbourne boys has a captive audience.
The team from St Ali Coffee Roasters met the guys from Jakarta's Common Grounds cafe at the World Barista Championships, sparking an interest in the city.
Lachlan Ward says when St Ali decided do a "pop up" series of barista classes hosted by their new mates, they didn't anticipate the response.
Hundreds of wannabe baristas and enthusiasts signed up for the four days of workshops.
"I was overwhelmed," says Ward. "I didn't know much about what was happening in Jakarta."
His colleague Matt Perger says Australians are catching on to the potential.
In a city of 28 million people, even a niche market such as specialty coffee becomes huge.
"Specialty coffee hasn't considered moving in because they didn't think there was a coffee culture here," he says.
"But now that they see how rapidly it's being taken up by a lot of Southeast Asians; it's definitely on the radar."
Tang says much of the enthusiasm now is "pure hype".
It's early days, he says, but the thirst for good coffee - and the knowledge behind it - is a positive sign the scene will mature.
"The end user isn't demanding quality yet," he says.
"Over here it's different, it's not a 'I must have a coffee to get started' kind of city, and if people want it, they will have it from a sachet.
"But we're slowly getting there."
If you're looking for a good coffee in Jakarta:
Morph Coffee http://www.morphcoffee.com/
One Fifteenth Coffee http://www.1-15coffee.com/
