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THE MEETING between foreign students and coffee experts in Yogyakarta took place at the “Coffee Cupping and Tasting” event on October 7, 2022 organized by the Komite Kopi Nusantara in collaboration with Instute Alam Bahasa, taking place at the Office of the daily Tribun Yogya.
“We in California have similarities with the people of Yogyakarta. It consists of various people with different ethnic backgrounds,” said Monica Pons. She further added that Yogyakarta is a place for residents who have a long-life expectancy.
According to her, one of the causes of this longevity is a vegetarian diet, “coffee” and the love of sports. Other international students from France, Singapore, and the United States also delivered similar opinion. They say that the taste of Indonesian coffee is so distinctive and aromatic.
“I have to convey to the people of my country that Indonesian coffee needs to be enjoyed every day”, said Emine Gundogmus from Turkey.
In his opening speech, Bagas Hapsoro, from the Coffee Diplomacy stated that coffee, which is one of Indonesia’s leading export commodities, is a way to provide welfare for the Indonesian people. In addition to providing benefits for the country’s foreign exchange income, coffee exports can also prosper local farmers.
Indonesian coffee products are specialty coffees that have the description and classification of the special aroma and taste of a coffee. Therefore, Bagas entrusted the Komunitas Kopi Nusantara which has an Arabica Q grader coffee expert, to explain the specialties of Indonesian coffee.
Furthermore, Wisnu Birowo, Chairman of Komunitas Kopi Nusantara stated that coffee enthusiasts adhere to the principles of heritage and competition. Heritage concerns authenticity and competition is associated with the principle that consumers deserve the best coffee. Therefore, for this coffee cupping event, the participants can judge for themselves the quality of a coffee.
Meanwhile Ruth Isabella of the Language Nature Institute expressed her appreciation for the invitation and look forward to have exchange of views regarding the coffee from each student. She conveyed that her students who specialize in learning languages also gained knowledge about Indonesian coffee.
The coffee tasting event was led by Agus Prasetyo, a Q Grader who has participated in international specialty coffee festivals several times. According to Agus, coffee cupping is the process of observing the taste before the coffee arrives in the cups of coffee connoisseurs. In coffee cupping the process occurs in two places, namely in the mouth and in the nose.
The first part of the cupping process is inside the tongue, here people will feel the basic characteristics of coffee such as acidity (sour character), sweetness (sweet character), bitterness (bitter character), saltiness (salty character—if any), and savories or its core taste. The standard process of coffee cupping begins with sniffing it deeply, then sipping it vigorously so that the smoked coffee can be “thrown” all over the palate.
In the coffee tasting process, several participants tried the coffee served by Agus directly. They expressed interest in trying themselves after the gathering.
Other participants such as Bynes Liauw Wei Jie (Singapore) and Tolga Satilmis (Turkey) expressed their views that Indonesia has the most geographical indications in the world. For this reason, Indonesia deserves appreciation and fair treatment in international trade.
At the end of the event, all participants conveyed their commitment to continue the “message” from Yogyakarta that the coffee problem is not just an economy, but also a cultural heritage that needs to be thoroughly discussed at the international level. In addition, education about coffee including certification also needs attention from all stakeholders.
[Written by Bagas Hapsoro, a coffee enthusiast, Coffee Diplomacy Team, former Indonesian Ambassador to Sweden and Latvia (2016-2020)].
