Where I am from, it’s quite intriguing that I haven’t really heard of spiced coffee, especially in chain coffee shops and specialized coffee shops . Almost every cafe I’ve been to rarely sells this item despite we’re one of the contributors of spices in this world. Some spices are even native to this country yet coffee recipes that are often containing spice are rarely found and popular. So, why is that the case?

Even for me, I only know spiced coffee from about a couple years ago when starbucks launched their pumpkin spiced latte. That was the first time I got familiar with spiced coffee. I wonder why not many high end cafes are serving spiced coffee.

One thing that I heard and could agree on is that our people like to glorify other cultures than our own. We prefer to drink something foreign rather than exploring our own.

Honestly, this is something I realized later on when I wondered why it’s quite challenging to find Indonesian meals outside the country and why it isn’t as popular as others. That goes the same with coffee flavors that even chains prefer to adapt tastes from South Korean or some other foreign countries rather than exploring our own spices and ways to serve coffee and beverages.

Where I am from, many of our grown coffee has a spiced aroma and aftertaste. Yet the most popular ones would be things that are sweet and not spiced. In my opinion, the world of spice is and coffee is another endless exploration.

There’s one thing that I could argue that for many Indonesians, we associate spiced drinks with Jamu, a traditional herbal drink that now, has been something called “ health shots” by other people. So, to combine coffee and some type of spice doesn't register that well in most people around here.

Somehow, after many explorations of coffee and ways to serve, I am even more compelled to explore the world of spiced coffee. We do have a few notable spiced coffee such as ginger milk coffee. Yet the problem so far is that people here associate them with instant coffee and something that you would buy on the street stalls. It is rarely served in specialized coffee shops and high end coffee shops. I mean, for a decade, I have never found Starbucks selling ginger milk coffee or even cloves coffee.

For today, I am brewing a spiced coffee with beans from Toraja Sapan. It has a full body with bright acidity and the mixture of warm aroma from cardamom and cinnamon.

Honestly, when I first drank this coffee, I didn’t quite like it. The lingering aftertaste was too spicy for me and it wasn’t really a pleasant drink. That until I remembered something about spiced coffee.

This coffee is perfectly enjoyed as a spiced coffee. If you are not into a pure spiced coffee, you can make an infused latte with the spices such as clove and cinnamon that I used today and add it to the coffee. In rainy weather this makes a great and pleasant drink to enjoy while you’re listening to the sound of rain.

You can use milk of your preference, add 3 cloves and one stick of cinnamon into the milk. Wait until the milk is heated up properly and let all the spice simmer in the milk for 5 minutes. Once it is done, you can add your brewed coffee into the milk.

I think spiced coffee needs its own re-revival. While it has been popular a few years back, there has to be a way to make it viral again and that coffee shops start selling and making spiced coffee regardless of the weather. Anyway, see you in my other spiced coffee experiment!