Got the picture from their official Instagram account here but you can also find it on lots of Indonesian news company posts
My weekend was awesome! After a long time, I finally went out to the party and festival! I went to Gala Party on Saturday (and I will tell you about it in another post) and then I went to Jakarta Coffee Week 2021 on Sunday!
I came to my neighbor's house, Elise, to return the dress I borrowed for the Gala Party on Saturday. And then she asked me to join her at Jakarta Coffee Week 2021 in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta. Clue: I live in South Jakarta. It's still Jakarta but that's so far away from where I live in. But because it's Sunday and I never went to that place before, so I said "yes".
It's very easy for me to say "yes" anyway.
Long story short, after a long journey by Transjakarta bus (which I rarely use), we arrived in Mall Of Indonesia (MOI). I thought it's not a mall because it doesn't look like that. It's more like an apartment with "roman theme architecture" (just Google it, and maybe you will know what I mean). But that's (surprisingly) a mall. For the rich one.
We bought the ticket for 20k IDR (maybe around $1.40). SADLY we can only buy that with Mandiri's product. Mandiri is one of the most famous banks in Indonesia but I'm not their customer (and so-do my friend). Fortunately, we still can pay them with Mandiri e-money that we can buy beside the ticket booth. So I need to pay 50k IDR for two tickets and one new e-money card (that I probably not use again). Damn it.
Got the orange ticket! That's means I can enter the venue from 4 pm to 6 pm. So I can have lunch first. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of this mall. BUT, in my honest opinion, the interior has very different vibes from their exterior. AND ALSO YOU CAN FIND PORK! In Indonesia, it's really rare to find a restaurant that writes "PORK MENU" so big on its sign, especially inside the mall.
"Because it's North Jakarta," Elise said.
There are lots of expatriates who live in North Jakarta (but they work in South Jakarta). Not to be racist, but there are lots of Indians and Chinese who also live in North Jakarta. It's near the harbor, so lots of people from other countries live there. That's why you can easily find a pork menu in North Jakarta. If you visit Jakarta someday and you want to eat pork or find the best pork restaurant, just go to North Jakarta.
Enough for the story about North Jakarta. At 4 pm, I take the escalator to the ground floor and I see a long queue. That's very crazy. It was probably more than ten meters long. There seemed to be hundreds of people wanting to enter the festival area at 4 pm. So I went to H&M, spending my money like a crazy rich Asian (which I'm not), and come back to the gate at 4.30 pm.
AAAAAND....
I CAN'T SEE ANYTHING lol. It's too crowded because people who wear blue ticket (they can only enter the venue starting from 2 pm to 4 pm) is still here. The crew is working hard to hunt them and kick their ass to the exit gate. Lol.
There are around 85 tenants from around Jakarta city. The most interesting thing about this event is we can try lots of coffee from lots of coffee in Indonesia FOR FREE. Of course, they can't give us a full of cup of coffee but that's enough. We will definitely die if we drink 85 cups of coffee just in 2 hours.
They will give us one cup containing one sip of coffee as a tester. If you like, you can buy the coffee beans (or you can also buy ground coffee beans) or buy a cup of ready-to-drink coffee.
There is not only a coffee, they also have a JAMU! Acaraki is the name of a famous jamu cafe in Jakarta (maybe the one and only too). Jamu is a traditional drink from Indonesia that is made from lots of herbs. It's very healthy. Usually, we can buy jamu from traveling merchants (usually women wearing the kebaya, a traditional Indonesian dress). And basically, acaraki means "barista" in jamu. And Acaraki store made jamu in a modern way.
If you have a chance to visit Jakarta, YOU MUST try Acaraki. They have several stores, but I recommend you to visit their cafe in Kota Tua. Because it is in historical sights. When you visit that shop, don't forget to ask them to teach you how to make Jamu and to tell you what is "acaraki". I ever tried that, and they will be very welcome to tell you about it.
p.s: I don't know how to say "traveling merchants" in English, but I hope you got what I mean
There is also a coffee machine shop at this event! If you want to build your own coffee business, you can buy the machine at this event for a good price. Like this roasting machine!
I didn't buy it. Of course.
Some tenants not only sell coffee but also clothes and mugs with a coffee theme. Like these two.
WHAT I BOUGHT IN THIS EVENT
For some reason, the first thing that I bought at this coffee festival is a cup of tea. It's cold and the tenant is close to the entrance gate. And I'm thirsty.
They called this one "Prettea Sunset Tea". I don't know what it is, but it seems like a red tea with rosella flower. The taste is very light and fresh. It's a little bit sour, like a rosella tea. But that's nice.
Made my day. I'm really happy that I start my journey in this event with a cup of refreshing tea. They sell it for around 25k IDR (or around $1.75).
The next thing is...
CHOCOLATE!
You might be starting to wonder, why I came to the coffee event but I didn't buy a coffee. Sstt, please be patient. I'm the type of person who saves the best for the last. I will eat the cherry after I finished the cake.
I bought this chocolate ice at Krakatoa's stall. Krakatoa is a famous chocolate factory in Indonesia. They only use Indonesian cocoa and they make lots of unique flavors. I had ever got a box of all Krakatoa products for my last Christmas (I'm a Muslim but somehow I get it and I'm still happy about it). I remember that I had chili flavor, ginger dark chocolate, etc. I also got 100% pure chocolate bar that made my day bitter than usual. Please go check their site here to find more crazy flavors that they have.
And this one is 60% chocolate with milk. I like it. They also have 45% chocolate and 70% chocolate, but 60% is enough. If you don't like a bitter taste, like me, the 45% cacao might be too sweet for you. But the 70% is definitely too much bitter. My life is already bitter...
FINALLY, THE COFFEE!!!
Out of 85 tenants that I found in this event, I choose this one. Only this one. It's a Bamboo Coffee. It's from a little store in North Jakarta.
Bamboo coffee it's not from bamboo, but they use woven bamboo as a filter. So the aftertaste is a bit more unique. We tried bamboo filter with Toraja's coffee. The after-taste is sweet, and in my tongue, I can find something like cinnamon too.
They even have bamboo cups too! But because we need to take the coffee outside (because the time is running out), so we use a paper cup.
But trust me, drinking coffee with a bamboo cup can boost the unique flavor. It tastes different. I definitely will find them and try it again someday.
And this is how he made bamboo coffee. It's like a usual coffee, he just replaced the filter with woven bamboo, and voila!
It's their things. It somehow looks too messy lol. Anyway, can you see the jar on the right? It's a cascara tea. Cascara's like a cherry but not a cherry. To be honest it's my first time trying cascara tea. The taste's like rosella tea but more bitter.
I google it and I found that cascara can help your diet and improve your digestion lol. So I bought it. It's only 30k IDR for a bag (around $2 maybe).
BONUS STORY!!
In this event, I also saw a "mystery box machine". I never tried a mystery box before because I think that's nonsense to spend your money on something that you don't know. I mean, why do you buy a product but you don't know what kind of product that you will get.
But that day, I really curious about it. Maybe because the machine is red, and I'm also wearing red. So our red spirits met each other. AND I BOUGHT IT! A MYSTERY BOX!!
See? Look how similar I and the machine lol. We look like twin sisters. That's why I spend my 50k IDR on this box. CAN YOU GUESS WHAT I GET FROM THE MYSTERY BOX MACHINE AT COFFEE FESTIVAL?
A bag of coffee?
A coffee machine?
A lifetime coffee voucher?
NOPE! YOU ARE WRONG!
I got a cute mini avocado portable fan with a mirror and lamp. I also got a print of The Mystery News. Basically, it's a story about the mystery box. They said it comes from a meteoroid...
I didn't expect that I will bring a fan and a bag of tea home after going to the Jakarta Coffee Week. It's an unpredictable ending, right?
I took these photos using my Samsung Galaxy A6 (2018) that probably passed away today because I can't turn it on
And now you know my real name and my real face. I don't often upload my face and real name, so be proud of those of you who read this. lol.