Indonesia
Fine coffee and sugar in a glass, boiling water poured on, grounds left to settle. Simple, strong and everywhere in Java and Bali.
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.
The equipment this actually requires — not a shopping list, the shortest route to doing it properly.
Aluminium · 130 ml · not induction
Ninety years old, sold by the million, and misused by almost everyone who owns one. Brewed properly — low heat, pre-boiled water, off the hob at the first gurgle — it is one of the great cheap coffees.
Best for: One or two strong cups on a gas or electric hob, at almost no cost.
≈ $35 / £25 / 25 €
51 mm portafilter · 15 cm wide · pressurised baskets
Fifteen centimetres wide, heats in forty seconds, and makes a decent drink for under 200. It ships with pressurised 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.
≈ $200 / £170 / 180 €
