Graha Kopi

Image : For Hadi, who is a law graduate, coffee is the other love of his life, which he realized through Graha Kopi. So if you ever go there, don’t ask “Which coffee is good?” because it will be a rethorical question, especially in this place.

Don’t ask “Which coffee is good?” to Hadi Lesmono, the owner of Graha Kopi at one of the small home office at Pasar Segar, Garaha Bintaro, Pondok Jagung, Tangerang. According to him, it’s a question that can’t be generalized even just for anybody. Something that tastes good for one person doesn’t necessarily mean that it will taste good for another, or even Hadi himself, who collects so many kinds of coffee that are almost impossible to list down. This is Graha Kopi, a coffee shop where each guest doesn’t need to hesitate or feel shy to make his or her own coffee. Unique, isn’t it?

A self-taught roaster. It’s almost impossible to list down how many kinds of coffee are available at Graha Kopi, but it does have several variants of Arabica and Robusta from various regions in Indonesia. The owner who is a self-taught roaster roasts them all.

Hadi received his very own coffee epiphany – and this was what probably deems him as a true coffee drinker – when he was on a business trip to Medan and took pleasure and ultimate ecstasy in a cup of Lintong and Mandheling coffee. He has just had his early retirement, and he seems to be very content in starting the coffee shop, after spending half of his life working as a banker – holding the position as a commissioner at a private bank before he retired. When he resigned from a white-collar job, the unused home office was finally turned into Graha Kopi, a decision he had first consulted with his wife.

Image 3: Graha Kopi always provides freshly roasted coffee using equipments made of recycled items, like this pan, for example.

Having a career in a bank surely feels 180 degrees different with working in the coffee industry, but the possibility to explore it is limitless, and Hadi takes pleasure in being completely lost in it, although he has just started to recognize different characteristics and aroma of coffee from different regions in Indonesia. His creativity includes assembling a roasting machine in which one of its component is a wok that can be used for general cooking. Somehow, after several trials and errors, he finally succeeded in creating a simple, smoke-hidden roasting machine, and using this machine – with a 500 gram capacity and 20 minutes roasting time per batch –  Hadi roasts his coffee everyday. Other than this unique roasting machine, at his home, Hadi also owns another machine with a much bigger capacity.

Graha Kopi’s beverage anthem is served tubruk-style, with or without sugar. If you prefer yours white, Graha Kopi also provides a small espresso machine for beverages like cappuccino, although it’s rarely used.

Patrons of Graha Kopi – which is only less than 50 meters wide – are mostly male-dominated, although according to Hadi, female patrons can be found there too. If you do plan to go there, feel free to choose your own coffee as well as brewing it with any brewing equipment available on the bar counters, although most usually prefer brewing it the traditional Indonesian style, which is tubruk. Graha Kopi opens everyday from 10 am till whenever the last patron wishes to leave, so it can either close at 9 pm or even later, if the patrons choose to linger and involve in an exciting discussion with Hadi.

Located in Tangerang, spare some time to visit this place and experience a different atmosphere that is hard to get in Jakarta.

*  *  *

Graha Kopi

Jangan menanyakan “apa kopi yang enak” kepada Hadi Lesmono, pemilik Graha Kopi di salah satu  ruko Pasar Segar  Garaha Bintaro, Pondok Jagung, Tangerang. Menurut Hadi ini jenis pertanyaan yang tak mungkin bisa digeneralisasi buat siapa saja. Enak buat tamunya belum tentu sama dengan tamu yang lain atau malah dirinya sendiri yang mengkoleksi berbagai jenis kopi dalam jumlah tak terhitung banyaknya. Inilah Graha Kopi, sebuah kedai kopi dimana setiap tamu tak usah sungkan atau ewuh pakewuh untuk membuat kopi sendiri. Unik bukan ?

The majority of the coffee provided here are Arabica, including civet coffee from various coffee-plantations in Indonesia. Some of his coffee collections are a year old, which he started to collect during his corporate years.

Hadi lebih tepat dikatakan penikmat kopi sejati saat ia seakan menerima “wahyu” dalam sebuah ekstase kenikmatan secangkir kopi Lintong dan Mandheling di kota Medan saat ia tengah bertugas di sana. Ia baru saja pensiun dini dan seakan memperoleh kebahagiaan saat memulai usaha kedai kopinya setelah separuh hidupnya dihabiskan berkarir di bidang perbankan dengan jabatan terakhir sebagai komisaris bank swasta. Saat ia berhenti jadi orang kantoran, ruko yang belum dimanfaatkan akhirnya dijadikan “Graha Kopi” setelah berkonsultasi dengan istrinya

Karir  di bank tentu berbeda 180 derajat dengan di dunia kopi, tapi seakan dunia baru yang tak berbatas, ia semakin “tersesat” walau secara perlahan mulai mengenali karakteristik aroma dan rasa kopi dari berbagai daerah di Indonesia. Kreativitasnya termasuk merangkai sebuah alat roasting yang salah satu komponennya adalah kuali yang biasa digunakan untuk keperluan memasak. Entah bagaimana caranya, tapi akhirnya setelah beberapa kali melakukan percobaan, sebuah mesin roasting sederhana yang asapnya tersembunyi berhasil dibuatnya. Dengan alat roasting inilah setiap hari Hadi menggoreng kopi dengan kapasitas 500 gram dalam jangka waktu 20 menitan per batch. Selain mesin roasting unik ini, di rumah hadi mempunyai mesin lain dengan kapasitas yang lebih besar.

Pengunjung Graha Kopi yang luasnya kurang dari 50 meter persegi banyak didominasi oleh para pria walau menurut Hadi sebagian para perempuan juga datang ke sini. Saat Anda bertandang, silakan memilih kopi yang disukai sekaligus menyeduh dengan alat yang tersedia di bar kopi-nya walau banyak yang memilih di tubruk. Graha Kopi buka setiap hari dari jam 10 pagi hingga tamu terakhir beranjak pergi, jadi bisa tutup jam 21.00 atau malah lebih bila pelanggannya betah berlama-lama sambil berbincang seru dengan Hadi.

Di Tangerang ? coba mampir ke sini dan merasakan suasana lain yang rasanya sulit didapat di Jakarta.

*  *  *