For coffee lovers, travelling to Yogyakarta won’t be completed without trying this famous coffee called Kopi Joss, “Charcoal Coffee”. In recent years, charcoal coffee has found its way into the coffee shops. Many coffee shops are now selling Charcoal coffee latte which usually comes with milk. But before this whole thing, the original charcoal coffee can be found at Yogyakarta just next to the main railway station, Tugu.
There is a history behind how this coffee was invented. This coffee was first made in 1980 in a street food stall that sells snacks and small portions of rice. In this place, the train conductor asked the seller for a coffee. The coffee was then given charcoal coals by the seller so that it will be more well-done. Interestingly, everyone likes it and now, it has spread everywhere. So, it wasn’t invented due to additional health benefits or anything which is often what people do when trying to invent new coffee or trying to market coffee - This was made out of the blue.
The first place selling this coffee was called “ Angkringan Lik Man”. However these days many people are selling this same coffee just across the railway station. Would the taste be the same? I have no idea because I have only tried 2 out of about 10 places.
The place that I visited was a place that was recommended to me by my cousin. He went to the place earlier in July when we traveled together with mom. He said that the coffee in this place is good and that I would like it. I don’t normally trust people’s recommendations because they either suck or are good but for my cousin, he knows what I like, so I can trust his recommendation.
I enjoy watching the hot charcoal and the sizzling sound it made when it dunked into the coffee. It was interesting to see how the coffee turned smoky and then faded to black.
“ Imagine if they use starbuck beans” I added
“ hahaha, even with just random beans, it tasted quite alright, didn't it?”
The safety of drinking coffee itself is up to debate. Some people who like the coffee said that it has some health benefits but some argue that it contains carcinogens due the fact that the hot charcoal is dunked into the coffee. For many curious minds, this coffee is interesting and must try the same thing with coffee lovers.
This is when the hot burning charcoal is dipped into the coffee. There was a power outage when I tried taking pictures of it. So, it turned out quite dark.
This is the kettle that they use to make the coffee.
So, how does it taste?
The coffee was unusually sweet. It tasted like the seller added almost 2 teaspoons of sugar into the coffee. But the coffee itself has a strong smoky aroma with smoky aftertaste. My cousin said the coffee could possibly be from a brand called kopi satu satu which is a coffee ground product from east java, where our hometown is. My only curiosity this time is, how would it taste if I use starbuck grounds? I may have to request it sometime from the seller when I visit again. A Kopi Joss made with starbuck grounds but with burning charcoal dunked into it. As you can see from the picture below, the charcoal is also used to grill the satays that are also sold in the place.
Would you want to try this coffee?
All Images are taken with sony DSC H300 edited with lightroom mobile
 | Mac is a jack of all trades. A typical introvert in love with literature, books, technology and philosophy. She is also so into nootropics, productivity, minimalist lifestyle, cybersecurity, and languages. Other than that, she is passionate about cooking and traveling. In her free time, she enjoys learning various things. If you like her content, don't hesitate to upvote, leave a comment or a feedback. A re-blog is also appreciated. |
Really? Charcoal Coffee actually exists? I never heard of it. Wondering if it's sold in the tiny European country I live in. I'll explore for sure. Interesting this type of coffee was only invented in 1980, since before reading the post, just the title, I thought: "must be from the times when many peeps mined coal back in the days, like a century and longer ago". Am wondering, I could take my charcoal pencils and dip them into coffee as well {LOL}. Or as you showed, use the BBQ charcoal to add to the coffee.
ps A quick Internet search in my own language showed me pages full of articles debating how healthy, or not, charcoal is. It also tells me, I totally missed something since it seems to be somewhat popular to add charcoal to drinks and food, according to all these articles. Ok, for sure, I'll like to try something with charcoal and I'll research a bit further the health (or danger) side of things.
Yes, it exists! as I mentioned in some of the replies here, there's a specialized charcoal that is used for that. From what I searched in Indonesian marketplace, they are using sour wood mostly and ceylon oak. So, it's not like you can chop any wood and use it. Even here there's ongoing debate about it but since its own tourist attraction, I guess the food safety agency just kind of OK it and plus it's often sold on the road side too. You'll have to research it more and it'll be interesting if you could have it there :D
I was about to drop some of my charcoal pencils in a cup of warm water. Maybe better not to try that first 😂
hahahaha yeah, don't do that. But yeah, you also need them to be like burning charcoal and then when you dunked into the coffee, it made sizzling sound.
☕
I really like coffee, and every time there is no time without coffee, but want to try your coffee
Yep
This is an interesting take on coffee. It sounds like it could use less sugar to savor the charcoley goodness.
hahaha yeah but maybe it sort of the norm and catered to tourist who may not like strong bitter coffee. Would you want to try that? it's pretty cool when it's sizzling!
I think it's an interesting idea. I'm always up for coffee experimentation :)
This is interesting. This is the 2nd time that I discovered something different today. I saw Avocado Coffee now this Charcoal Coffee. I would be interested to try these.
Nice history by the way.
Avocado coffee is so yesterday. I wonder what new coffee trend will be in 2022. I hope something good comes up :D
Really??? I just knew about it this week
haha yeah, I wrote about it 7 months ago. It was even for a weight-loss friendly coffee.
https://hive.blog/hive-152524/@macchiata/avocado-coffee-tropicana-slim-product-review
Interesting. I'll read that. Thanks for sharing!
The latte art in the packaging is only possible if you have an actual espresso machine or a steamer. heheheheh. I haven't see this product in the PH
Hi Mac! I only just heard about Charcoal Coffee recently from another community member from Indonesia. I'm curious to know what the taste is like, but I guess I'd have to visit Indonesia one day to discover it.
I think if I was going to go for this experience, I'd try sugarless to not taint the flavour at all.
Thanks for sharing :)
I don't think you could get it elsewhere other than in Indonesia. They also use specialized trees for the charcoal so, it's no like we can just dunk any charcoal into the coffee 😄 I'd love trying that with starbuck beans too maybe it would be even better than the coffee ground they are using haha
Now you've made a very valuable point😆
I think it's very important for everyone to know this🤣
Yes, I think a charcoal coffee from Starucks beans would be absolutely awesome:)
I have never tried this coffee. I'm afraid to try this coffee
You should try it even if it's just a sip. It's quite cheap too, like 6k so even if you don't drink all of it, it's not really wasted.
Joss coffee is one of the many types of coffee drinks in Indonesia. However, maybe Kopi Joss is most famous because it comes from Yogyakarta, the center of Javanese culture.
I've had a different story or history about this coffee, many angkringan stalls in the past couldn't buy coffee because the price was too expensive. To outsmart it, before grinding the coffee, add corn and rice (of course it has been roasted until it is black like charcoal) to increase the coffee's period. Then, they add charcoal to make the coffee more mature. I don't know if this story is true or not, because it was told by a coffee farmer in Temanggung when he was drunk.
I've not heard of Kopi Joss in other place than Yogyakarta. There could be plenty story about its origin especially around central java and yogyakarta but the last story that you said match up the story that's circulating around the area, where they add charcoal into the coffee to make it well-done but in this case, it increases more heat into the cup. Regardless of the story, it's still an interesting coffee to try which I think doesn't exist anywhere than in Indonesia.
At first glance, I didn't expect this dark coffee to be sweet.
I may need to try making cold brew coffee and then heating it with a hot coal. Perhaps I could instead put some rocks on the stove and use them. Winter boredom requires caffeinated experimentation!
hahahaha putting rocks on coffee? that would be quite an experimentation. If you wanna try that charcoal coffee, you can use sour wood as it is one of the most common wood used for that charcoal coffee.
I have pine and fir.
Using hot rocks from near a campfire to boil water is a technique used occasionally. A small rock from the fireplace heating a cup of coffee isn't completely outrageous. Only mostly.