Indonesia
Kopi tubruk is Indonesia's everyday coffee: fine coffee and sugar in a glass, boiling water poured on, left to settle and drunk unfiltered. How to make it.
Kopi tubruk is Indonesia’s everyday coffee: finely ground coffee and sugar in a glass, boiling water poured over, stirred and left to settle.
Nothing is filtered. The grounds sink and you drink from the top.
Indonesian coffee is heavy-bodied and low in acidity — wet-hulled Sumatran especially — which suits a method that produces a thick, unfiltered brew. A delicate washed Ethiopian would be lost.
The sugar is usually added generously and stirred in at the start, dissolving in the hot water.
Two heaped teaspoons of finely ground coffee — finer than filter, not quite Turkish — and sugar to taste in a heatproof glass.
Pour boiling water directly on, stir once, and wait three to four minutes for the grounds to settle.
Drink from the top and stop before the sludge.
Kopi tubruk is Java and Bali. Turkish coffee simmers the grounds rather than steeping them. Cowboy coffee in the American west is the same idea with a coarser grind.
Nearly every coffee-growing culture has some version, because it needs no equipment at all.
Indonesia’s other famous coffee is the civet one, and it is worth saying plainly: it is a novelty with serious animal welfare problems and no quality justification.
Indonesian grocery stores sell pre-ground tubruk coffee, often a dark robusta, sometimes with corn or rice mixed in at the cheap end. A dark-roast Sumatra or Java arabica ground fine gives a cleaner, sweeter glass. Pour the water just off the boil and, if the grounds will not sink, tap the side of the glass or add a splash of cold water.
The equipment this actually requires — not a shopping list, the shortest route to doing it properly.
Aluminum · 130 ml · not induction
Over ninety years old, sold by the million, and misused by almost everyone who owns one. Brewed properly — low heat, pre-boiled water, off the heat at the first gurgle — it is one of the great cheap coffees.
Best for: One or two strong cups on a gas or electric cooktop, at almost no cost.
51 mm (2.01 in) portafilter · 15 cm (5.9 in) wide · pressurized baskets
About six inches wide, heats in forty seconds, and makes a decent drink at an entry price. It ships with pressurized baskets that fake crema from any grind — which is exactly why it works for beginners and why it stalls after a year.
Best for: A tiny kitchen, a first espresso machine, or a second machine for an office.
