Bengkulu Coffee vs. Sidikalang Coffee

One day, I was surprised that an email-pal, Shanty, asked me whether I wanted to taste coffee from Bengkulu or not. What? Well, I did not say no for coffee. Impossible! So we arranged sometime to meet each other in one of my favorite café in Sudirman area.

During our meeting, the shy Shanty handed over a big plastic bag of Bengkulu coffee. Shanty asked the coffee from her friend just for me. The family of her friend has a coffee plantation back in Bengkulu. (Wow, what a nice person you are, Shanty. Thanx). Shanty admitted that she does not like coffee bean that much as she prefers to drink instant coffee to kill her sleepy feeling.

When I explained that the quality of the coffee would go bad when we keep the coffee for the longer time, she was then sorry not to give the coffee right after she received the coffee from her friend. Then I said that was okay. Well, if it is a new kind coffee that I had never tasted, then I do not care as long as it is still in good condition. Yup, Bengkulu coffee is new to my mouth. Besides, although she had kept the coffee for two weeks, I think the condition of the coffee was still good as I still can smell its strong aroma even before I opened the plastic bag. It had a chocolate aroma. Chocolate? I was surprised too that I would experience a chocolate flavor from this coffee. Very interesting!

At home, as I opened the plastic bag, the color of the coffee was dark brown. As I smell the coffee bean, a strong chocolate flavor came to my nose. When I mixed the coffee with a hot water, I can smell a mix of chocolate aroma and Robusta coffee aroma. The smell is between smooth and deep. When I drunk the coffee, the taste was so smooth, but surprise that the chocolate aroma that I smell did not reflected in my mouth. My mouth said that the coffee is purely Robusta and had a deep taste but still smooth. Aha! This is why I like the process of coffee cupping. Sometimes you cannot judge the taste of a coffee from its aroma as the aroma might be different from the taste.

I compared the Bengkulu coffee with Sidikalang coffee that I received from Tiur. (Thanx, Tiur). The brand of the Sidikalang coffee is Sarang Tawon (Bees' Nest) and produced by Tunggal Jaya Prima in Medan. The taste of the two coffees was almost the same, but still the Sidikalang coffee is stronger in aroma, smell and taste, and of course without the chocolate aroma. For those who wanted a similar coffee like Sidikalang coffee but could not tolerate its strong character, I may suggest to try the Bengkulu coffee. Almost all aspects of Bengkulu coffee is the same like Sidikalang coffee, only it comes in a softer version.

Yep, nice to drink this Bengkulu coffee in a moment when you really want to enjoy smooth coffee, maybe in the afternoon with some friends and with a light topic to talk about. Hmmm….

Have a nice cup of coffee!!!