There is something that is somewhat Colonial chic in drinking a coffee in a French Style Cafe on Beach Road in Singapore. The Cafe, Kafei Dian, is one of the many Singapore cafes that embraces a Parisian style approach to a cafe, fused with all things that are typically traditional Singaporean. The coffee is served in heavy white porcelain cups, complete with a ceramic Chinese Soup spoon for adding sugar. The coffee is Robusta, so it is very rare… Continue

In the village the streets are quiet and empty. It is a little after midday and the children are at school, the adults going about their daily routine in the fields higher up the slope of the volcano. The only noise is the occasional cackle of hens and a mournful mooing coming from the dairy sheds in the centre of the town. Sunlight filters through the canopy of taller trees, speckling the coffee grown below in a pleasant, clear half-light. The coffee… Continue

My fascination with lever espresso machines stretches way back to the time I saw my first real commercial machine, in Auckland in 1987. The machine in question was being used in what we Kiwi's would call a “Milk Bar” type coffee shop, in downtown Auckland City. The machine was a venerable Italian 2 grouper, complete with the then obligatory dome. I cant remember the type of machine, but I do remember it was not a machine where the dome was part… Continue

Crisis in coffee... or crisis in Tea?



In 10 years working with coffee growers around Indonesia, I have spent very little time in the tea plantations that carpet the highlands of Java. I have always assumed that as most of these are run by the Government or businessmen, then they would be more developed (in terms of infrastructure) than the thousands of small hold coffee growing villages… Continue

Firstly I should explain that "Kris Mon" is not an aged Reggae Star from Jamaica, but rather is the Indonesian Idyom for "krisis Monetary" (or I guess 'recession' in English). I was here through Kris Mon I. That was the Asian economic crisis that crippled Southeast Asia from 1997 through until around 2001. It was bad. Many people lost their lives here in Indonesia, and there was a change in government with President Soeharto standing down after 32 years at the helm of this huge… Continue

My last trip through Venice, a couple of years ago, was also in the month of November. My memories of the once powerful city-state were of brilliant blue skies, and coldness reverberating like heavy sound off the stone walls that line the narrow lanes. Cold. It was Cold last time and cold this time as we spent the night wrapped up warm waiting for the train to Naples.

With three in the travelling party, two of us decided it was wise to reduce our… Continue

The Trieste show finished 5pm on Saturday afternoon. In the tradition of the Expo, the last afternoon revolved around the exhibitors visiting each others stands with bottles of bubble to open and enjoy. The crowds were thinning after 12, and there was time to get to know our neighbours. On one side of us was Sandalji, a standard splendid in Canary Yellow- well lit and setup. In front of us we had Bazzara Espresso (the flamboyant and charming… Continue

The flight through to Venice's Marco Polo Airport took us almost 18 hours, including the transfer in hyperdelic Dubai International. With the baby in tow it was not an easy trip. He is at the age where "Interactive" can be replaced by ACTIVE (in capitals). It was misty coming into Venice. The Emirates plane seemed to be floating endlessly down through a sea of grey, whispy cotton fluff. At the last second the mist lifted and we bumped down on the tarmac.



Although I have flown into… Continue

Bags of Indonesian coffee labelled "Obama 2008 Blend" (R) and "McCain Election 2008 Blend" (L) are displayed in a cafe in Jakarta November 5, 2008. The "Obama 2008 Blend" coffee was sold out during an expatriate gathering in Jakarta for the U.S. presidential election , one of the owners, Alun Evans, said on Wednesday.
REUTERS/Enny Nuraheni (INDONESIA)

We opened this morning and pulled our regular espresso blend to offer the "Obama" Bland and the "McCain" Blend. To date (2 hours into vote counting) we have Obama ahead 72% to McCains 28%. This is based on Espresso Based Drinks sold as well as 250gm coffee packs. It has been a CRAZY morning with a good % of South Jakarta's expat community coming through the cafe and crowding around CNN. Exciting stuff.!

(For anyone in the Indonesia area)



Later tonight the US makes its choice about who will become President. It

has been a long campaign, going back to the conventions of 2007 when the

potential candidates began canvasing their respective parties.



Tomorrow from 6am we will have coverage of the results as they come in at

the cafe in Kemang Villa. We will also be selling two special coffees-

which will be roasted tonight. These will only be available for the… Continue

Jakarta is a city of noise, a cacophony of noise. From the moment you arrive in the city, whether it is by airplane, train or bus, the new arrival steps into a warm, humid bath of sound. The noise is mostly man made, motorbikes, trucks, cars, horns, sirens, bells. It is a place not for those who like peace and quiet.







Rural Indonesia is quite the opposite- a mixture of man made and nature’s sounds gently rolled into a smooth,… Continue

I measure coffee culture in the crema of my very short ristretto. This is nigh near impossible to do in Indonesia, where an espresso can come in cups as big as cappuccino mugs. Often the cafes of Indonesia make the mistake of changing the time honoured drink preparations to suit the perceptions of the coffee drinkers of that country, instead of educating them to what is a short black, a piccolo or a doppio. There is a tale, which may or may not be true, about the opening of the first Starbucks… Continue

West Java, bringing in the beans!

In the blue, hazy hills of West Java, the coffee harvest coincides with harvesting of rice and cloves. Several weeks earlier the daily rainstorms, a constant during the wet season, abruptly eased- giving way to hot, dry sultry days that crackle with heat from mid morning onwards. The showers still arrive, but late in afternoon, as the heat becomes almost unbearable. As stillness descends on the villages… Continue