I am not a coffee lover. All I know,  a coffee lover has to drink at least a cup of coffee every single day. I only have it occasionally, and what I usually  drink is an instant cappuccino from quite famous brand in Indonesia. I tried to avoid black coffee, but after my experience in Terminal Kopi, I drink a little bit more of black coffee. Well, not every day but once or twice a week.

Ok.It’s all begin from a friend’s message on whatsapp. She sent me a picture with an announcement that there would be a session of coffee tasting from a kind of coffee with different roasting level. It was held in Terminal Kopi. I was interested with the event. So, would the roasting level of coffee bean create the different taste? Well, I am  an amateur.

I visited Terminal Kopi at 2.45 pm. I came earlier. The schedule  actually started at 3.00 pm. I met my friend  there. I hadn’t seen her for years, so I was very happy.

Terminal Kopi is a small coffee shop near Terminal Dago (a station for public transportation) and it is not difficult to find. When I entered  the place, i could smell the roasted coffee and heard the grinding machine in operation. The smell was good and made me more energize. Terminal Kopi is a coffee shop which focusing in selling packed coffee, so they don’t have a big place to enjoy a cup of coffee.  But, the place is comfortable.

My friend showed me two boxes of coffee beans. Roasted coffee beans and green beans. Green beans is the form of coffee beans before it is roasted. The color is green. It was the first time for me to see it. It smelled like common plant. The roasted coffee bean had a bold aroma. Which i amazingly like it.  This roasted coffee bean  reminds me some places at hotel or restaurant, they often put roasted coffee bean in a corner. When i told her about this, she told me that roasted coffee beans has ability to absorb odors.

I took  a bite of roasted beans. It was hard, bitter and little bit sour. It reminds me eating a hard nut. At that time i ate Mandailing Robusta coffee bean. Mandailing is a place in Sumatra Island in Indonesia.

All kinds of coffee contains acid. But I found out that Robusta and Arabica have different acid level. Robusta has more acid than Arabica. The industry uses more of the Robusta, because of its short harvest time and it has cheaper price.

Arabica  has little less acid. Its good for you who has a gastric or heart problem. It is also cost more price. It’s because of the harvest time is a lot more longer. Arabica and Robusta are well spread around the world. Mostly in Indonesia.

Indonesia have many kinds of coffee  and named it according to where  its growing. For example Mandailing coffee, it comes from Mandailing and Toraja Coffee comes from Toraja. Beside Mandailing and Toraja, there are also Java Coffee, Papua Coffee, Aceh Coffee and so on. Every coffee has its  own signature flavor. She said that climate, soil contours, even constellation can affect  the flavor. Amazing.

She told me about quality of coffee bean. She said the quality affecting the flavor. She showed me Arabica green beans. She sorted out  the green beans according to its shape (perfect shapes,  fine shapes, and  bad shapes). I did understand that the perfect shape beans must have the perfect flavor.

My friend brewed  a cup of Mandailing Arabica coffee. I saw a light brown foam  appeared on the cup. She said good coffee always foamy right after we pour hot water. I asked her if  is there a way to enjoy coffee like enjoying  tea or wine. She said just wait until the coffee powder went down and then we can enjoy it.

Mandailing coffee has bitter and little sour taste. She  offered  me condensed milk  and sugar, just in case if I couldn’t take the bitterness. I took a sachet of condensed milk and pour a whole sachet in my coffee cup. I stir it with the spoon until it was no longer black. It tasted little bit different. Well it wasn’t good as before. I regretted. I should have put sugar maybe the taste would be better.

She said we better pour a hot water from pot than from dispenser. It will affecting the flavor alot. Well, it took a lot of knowledge just to make a good coffee. I found out that there is a school about coffee making. Cool!

I talked a lot with my friend. I didn’t realize that I drank my whole cup of (milk) coffee. Only the pulp remain.The coffee flavor that stayed in my tongue was very interesting. I wanted to taste some more.

I took a glimpse at my watch, but the speaker hadn’t arrive yet. I really had to go home because  I had my maid to look after my son and her working hour almost finish and she also had to go home. I couldn’t join the main session, but that’s okay. I hope next time  I will  get another chance to join.

I got home with a small bag of Toraja Arabica coffee. I noticed something cool with the packaging. There was a hole to get the gas out but didn’t let the air come in. Coffee bean produced gas so this hole was made. I brewed Toraja Coffee at home. The smell was different with Mandailing coffee, and also the taste. I guess I started to like black coffee because three days after my first cup of  Toraja coffee I got another one. [S]