How Coffee Evokes Tranquility

Ever since we moved to Lamongan, leaving Bogor for good, coffee has been our favorite pastime that induces instant placidity in the new place where social life has seemed so challenging for us to adapt to. We have grown a penchant for coffee back in Bogor where the traditional flavor of a prominent local coffee named Liong Bulan (literally means dragon moon) overpowered other brands.

While we had the chance to celebrate the public taste, our tang for coffee was finally satisfied by another local brand under the name of Cap Teko. Displaying the picture of a teapot, this coffee produced by Agus offers unique sensation of pure coffee we didn’t seem to find in Liong Bulan. The old-fashioned package only added to its natural attractiveness that we enjoy the coffee even better.

Call to memory

Cap Teko coffee was among stuff we took along as we shifted to a new house in another province. Whenever we miss Bogor, the city we have lived for eleven years, we would steep a cup of coffee to have the longing linger. It is but a quick way to taste the memory back then as compared to prohibitive costs physical traveling will entail. It is in this sense that sipping coffee evokes serenity.

It is also the case with other brands of coffee we drink in our town. My last trip to Pekalongan led me to discover the exotics of owa jawa coffee grown wild by local farmers in Petungkriyono forest—one of Central Java tourism objects that offers enchanting view and unique home to wonderful waterfalls.

I have always provided at least four brands of coffee at home since then, including Mang Japra, AAA, Ratu Luwak, Berontoseno, and Ayam Merak. During a creative work of designing book cover or editing manuscripts, or when engaged in quality time with kids and family, I can assure coffee will always be there to augment any excellent menu. Every sip means a clear notion of how a perfect life may look like.

It is not always easy though to describe how coffee creates particular feeling of ease. It is not about bitter or sweet mixture in a cup in front of us; it is probably more complicated than we can define what happiness means or manifests. What does coffee mean to you, BBC Mania?