Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Coffee again...

Yes! I am talking about coffee again. I did a piece on coffee sometime ago and today while sipping a cuppa, I thought that I should write more about this amazing drink. The other day when I was with some friends at Starbucks and then later at the Bistro Alexis, we all had coffee, black steamy coffee. We all seem to enjoy drinking this black drink that comes from a red berry [the outer layer of the coffee berry]. Well even when I am at another cafe that we frequent, my spouse and me would also have coffee. At Strudel the coffee is served in a cup and it taste great, a distinctly different taste from that of the Sturbucks. Well that is coffee. I love coffee.

I believe I got the first taste of coffee when I was growing up in a Kampong [village] where the morning drink is surely coffee. In fact we had a few coffee bushes near our house. When the berries are ripe, it turn dark red. We as kids would pick the ripen one and eat the outer part of the berry. It taste a bit sweet. Not that sweet but just nice to suck and enjoy it.

Coffee berries are collected when it is ripe and then the skin are peeled. The nuts are then dried under the sun, which sometime takes days to really get dried. These coffee nuts are roasted in large wok. In the villages it is actually not roasted as in an oven but it is fried in a wok. Then it is grounded, thus the coffee we get to drink when hot water is used to make that black liquid that we so enjoyed. Have a nice day.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

selamat tengah hari pak idrus :)

apa khabar? first time here .. nice blog :)

ok lar .. will drop by more often

Fauziah Ismail said...

Salam Pak Idrus
From Kopi Keluang (the Kluang Railway Station to Kopi 434 (Muar) and Ipoh White Coffee to Banana Java Chip Frapuccino ... delectable indeed.
Once in a while when in denial, I head to either Starbucks, Coffee Beans or Austen Chase for the RM10+ coffees.
It's one of life's afforable luxury.

Anonymous said...

Salam, pak Idrus. I like coffee too. I run. Caffeine is an energy boost. That's why.

Have a nice day.

Anonymous said...

Salam Pak Idrus,

Ah, my favourite drink in the whole wide world. My first cuppa in the morning would jolt me up.

And you are right about strudel coffee. There s something different about their coffee isnt it? Tastes like no other.

Pak Idrus pergi alexis mana? great eastern mall is it?

Hi&Lo said...

Pak Idrus,

I can smell your coffee from the other side of the South China Sea. ^_^

Theta said...

Great coffee entry! I must try the Strudels'....
You should try San Francisco coffee too. They're great!
While you're at it, do taste Etoile Bistro at Equatorial Hotel in KL. It has a repertoire of great concoctions. A place I hanged out before long-established coffee chains become the rage.

Pak Idrus said...

Friends thanks for the visits and the comments. Your thoughts on the wonder of coffee are well appreciated. It made my day.

Misha - hope to see you again in cyberspace.

Fauziah - Coffee - kopi - macam macam ada, appreciating the taste of good coffee is fine living.

Haza, Well we all love coffee and like you never miss a cuppa everyday and enjoying it every time.

Elviza, Like you I love coffee. Coffee is part of fine living. Without it the dinning is not complete. BTW the Alexis is at the Great Eastern Mall, the place we folks here lepak.

Hi@lo, I suppose that it taste the same as well on the other side of the South China Sea. Coffee do connect people in distance land.

Theta, Yes San Francisco too. I shall try Etoili Bistro when I am there, The Lobby Bar at the Equatorial was once our watering hole. Those were the days.

Friends, Have a nice day and take care.

Unknown said...

Hi Pak Idrus,

What a lovely entry. What will we do without coffee! No waaay!

I love San Francisco like Theta. I love the taste of Turkish coffee too.

When I was doing my A-levels I drank mugs of 'em..he he. Not now, just a moderate amount. Still I love coffee.

You know s'thg, I have never tasted the ripe coffee berries. Hmm...would love to try sometime.

Pak Idrus said...

Ruby thanks for the visit and that colorful comments. One thing that I know coffee is a mean to an end, to get to know people in strange land. It start a conversation and a real help when you travel. Like you I love coffee and never without it in any single day.

As for the ripe berries, when our kids were growing up we took them to Banting to see the coffee bushes and of course have a taste of the red berries. Why not just take a drive to Banting and get the Pakcik or Makcik to show you around. I believe they would love to do just that to those urbanite.

Have a nice day.

mutalib saifuddin said...

Dear pak idrus,

mmm.coffees are nice. Like it. (But i can't drink too much, due to gastric).

In Indonesia, coffees are much more 'thicker' than any other countries. It was somewhere '96 when my father drank the coffee there (coffee was his favourite), he had a severe gastric. After that, no more coffees in our kitchen.

are there any uniques about their coffees, pak idrus? have you tasted it?

take care.

Pak Idrus said...

mutalib, thanks for the visit and the comment. Coffee do not cause gastric, empty stomach do. I never like Indonesian coffee. Coffee is to be enjoyed and It is not just as a drink. It is a culture. It is part of fine living. Take care.

intuchinq said...

heya, just dropped in. first time blogging, and first time visiting blogs that aren't my friends'. just wanted to say good job on the blog! keep it up!

Pak Idrus said...

intuching, thanks for the visit and the kind words. I visit your blog and found it, indeed a good start. Keep blogging. Have a nice day and take care.