Liu siang Deng (63), often invites his Japanese customers to try Indonesian coffee from less popular regions, because they usually opt for Torajan coffee. Although they hesitate at first, they finally pluck up the courage to be more adventurous with Indonesian coffee from other regions. Deng (or Aky, as he prefers to be called) is quite successful with his coffee shop and he has attracted many customers not only from Japan, but also from Korea, who have embraced coffee from Sumateran regions. Those are just some of the stories told by the Coffee Tree’s owner; a coffee shop located at Kelapa Gading Square and originanting from a small business that is in its fifth generation with an outstanding survival age of over a decade.

Aky’s ancestors came from mainland China to Jakarta in the beginning of the twentieth century, and started his own coffee business as a walking vendor and offering coffee in Kota area, before he moved to Glodok. In 2000, this family business that focused only in selling roasted coffee opened up a small café at Mall Artha Gading, before they finally settled down in their current address since last 2009.

More or less, the decision to permanently open up a coffee shop was advised by both of his sons who have lived in the states for years. Why not open a café? That was what was on Denny’s mind, one of Aky and Shirley’s sons who did his degree in San Francisco for 9 years. And so Coffee Tree was born, a place that is never quiet from day to noon and even midnight.

Image 3: Liu Siang Deng. The fourth generation of the family who continues the coffee vendor business until it becomes what it is now: Coffee Tree.

As a family business, they don’t have any intentions to expand any further, because according to Aky, it’s quite challenging to monitor the quality of the coffee that they roast themselves. They supply several cafés although in very limited amount, because Coffee Tree really limites the coffee they roast, solely to maintain the freshness of its aroma and taste, so they only produce dozens of kilogram of coffee each week.

For Indonesian coffee enthusiasts, Coffee Tree provides plenty of choices that can be hand picked by the customers themselves. The prices range from thirty thousand rupiah for 100 gram of arabica or robusta coffee.

Image 4: Everyday, Coffee Tree only roast enough amount of coffee for a week’s supply, although sometimes this doesn’t suffice. This is done solely to maintain the quality of the coffee itself so it doesn’t go past its serving period by the time it arrives to the customers.

Of course Coffee Tree customers are not only foreigners, because they’re still aiming for the domestic target market, and one of them is Iman Nugroho, who I met accidentally while I was there. He is a serious barista who just happened to be choosing a coffee variant to brew, using his brand new amazing toy – the Vibiemme V3.

Coffee Tree opens from 10.30 am to 10.30 pm everyday without day off, and it occupies a two-storey, 200 meter squared building. For me, Coffee Tree  is a micro roastery that is highly recommended. In Jakarta alone, cafés that are equipped with their own roasting machines can still be counted with fingers, and Coffee Tree  is one of them.

Aky also sees how the coffee enthusiasts in Jakarta are much more critical in evaluating coffee and its development is expected to continue. In line with Aky’s opinion, I can’t help but agreeing, since having a roasting machine in a café will definitely increase the numbers of its customers in years to come. Even more that local-made machines like those by William Edison is quite affordable, with results that can easily complete with roasting machines that are far more expensive.

Coffee enthusiasts, I do recommend that you visit Coffee Tree, where your tastebuds will be spoiled by all kinds of coffee from many regions in Indonesia.

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Image 6: Indonesian Coffee. More than 15 variants of coffee from all over Indonesia are provided here at Coffee Tree, priced around Rp. 30,000 per 100 gram, either Arabica or Robusta.

Image 7: Sumiyaki. One of their Japanese customers told them about a roasting technique that is different and unique, so Sumiyaki – a Javanese Arabica coffee – was born.

Image 9: Imam Nugroho.A creative worker in advertising as well as a home barista who I happened to meet at Coffee Tree. Don’t be surprised when you visit his house, as it’s equipped with commercial coffee machines.

Web Coffee Tree : http://coffeetree.web.id/

Coffee Tree

Liu Siang Deng (63) sesekali mengajak pelanggannya yang dari Jepang untuk mencoba kopi dari daerah lain karena selama ini mereka hanya memilih kopi dari Toraja. Walau sejenak ragu, akhirnya mereka memberanikan diri untuk berpetualang dengan rasa kopi Indonesia dari berbagai daerah. Usaha Deng yang biasa dipanggil  Aky cukup berhasil dan sudah semakin banyak pelanggannya yang bukan hanya dari Jepang, tapi juga Korea membuka diri dengan kopi terutama dari daerah Sumatera. Itu hanya sepetik kisah pemilik Coffee Tree yang berlokasi di Kelapa Gading Square dari sebuah bisnis yang sudah mencapai generasi kelima dengan rentang waktu lebih dari satu abad.

Leluhur Aky datang dari daratan Cina ke Jakarta di awal abad ke-20 dan membuka usaha kopi yang masih dijajakan dengan cara dipikul di kawasan Kota sebelum pindah ke Glodok. Di tahun 2000an usaha keluarga yang hanya menjual kopi yang sudah digoreng kemudian membuka sepetak cafe di Mall Artha Gading sebelum akhirnya menetap di alamatnya yang sekarang sejak tahun 2009 lalu.

Sedikit banyak keputusan untuk membuka warung kopi secara permanen sebagaimana layaknya sebuah cafe dilatarbelakangi oleh anjuran kedua anaknya yang sudah bertahun-tahun tinggal di Amerika.  Mengapa tidak membuka cafe sekalian ? begitu pikir Denny, salah satu putera dari Aky dan Shirley yang selama 9 tahun kuliah di San Francisco dan jadilah Coffee Tree yang suasananya tak pernah sepi dari siang hingga menjelang tengah malam.

Walau usaha keluarga ini belum berniat untuk melebarkan sayap karena menurut Aky agak susah melakukan pengawasan terutama kualitas kopi yang mereka roasting sendiri. Beberapa cafe mereka pasok walau dalam jumlah yang terbatas karena Coffee Tree sangat membatasi jumlah kopi yang mereka roast demi menjaga kesegaran aroma dan rasanya hingga tak lebih dari puluhan kilogram yang mereka produksi setiap minggunya.

Buat para penggemar kopi dari berbagai daerah di Indonesia, Coffee Tree menyedikan cukup banyak varian yang bisa dipilih oleh pembeli. Demikian pula harganya berkisar antara 30 ribuan untuk 100 gram biji kopi arabika dan rosuta terpilih.

Tentu saja pengunjung Coffee Tree bukan hanya orang asing, pasar utamanya tetap untuk kalangan domestik dan salah satunya adalah Iman Nugroho, yang baru saja bertemu secara tidak sengaja. Beliau adalah home barista serius yang kebetulan sedang memilih varian kopi untuk ia seduh dengan mainan barunya nan hebat itu (Vibiemme V3).

Coffee Tree buka dari jam 10.30 hingga 10.30 malam setiap harinya tanpa hari libur yang menempati dua lantai dengan luas lebih dari 200 meter persegi. Buat saya Coffee Tree, sebuah micro roastery yang layak direkomendasikan. Kalau dihitung khususnya di Jakarta, jumlah cafe yang dilengkapi dengan mesin roasting sendiri masih bisa dihitung dengan jari dan Coffee Tree adalah salah satunya.

Aky juga melihat bagaimana sudah banyak konsumen kopi di Jakarta sudah semakin kritis dalam menilai minuman ini dan perkembangannya akan terus berlanjut. Sejalan dengan pendapat Aky, saya juga mengamini pendapatnya hingga keberadaan sebuah mesin roasting di sebuah cafe tentu akan semakin banyak jumlahnya di tahun mendatang. Apalagi harga mesin lokasl seperti hasil karya William Edison cukup terjangkau dan hasil yang cukup bersaing dengan harga mesin yang jauh lebih mahal.

Buat para penikmat kopi, mari berkunjung ke Coffee Tree, tempat lidah Anda akan dimanjakan dengan rupa-rupa kopi dari banyak wilayah negeri ini.

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