Traditionally processed beans becoming increasingly popular among coffee lovers
MELAKA: The widely-available traditionally-processed coffee beans in the market, which are easy to grind and brew using a home coffee machine, give coffee lovers a wide choice to replicate café-quality drinks at home.
Hence, it is hardly surprising that many coffee lovers are willing to spend more to buy a home coffee machine so that they can enjoy their drinks according to their tastes.
For Liana Sahabudin, 34, apart from being more economical, she chooses coarse-textured coffee powder that is traditionally processed as it gives different satisfaction in enjoying the drink either cold or hot.
“Since having the machine at home, I find that traditionally-processed coffee in particular has a fresher smell, while the taste is a bit bitter, but very refreshing.
“Apart from the selection of coffee beans such as Arabica, Robusta or Liberika, which have differences in terms of quality and smell, the size of whether the coffee is ground fine or coarse and the way it is processed also affects the coffee produced,” she tells Bernama.
Liana chooses traditionally-processed coffee and brews it at home so that she can decide for herself the type and taste of coffee that she wants.
The existence of traditional coffee producers has also made it easier for her to obtain highquality ground coffee supplies from various countries.
For Azril Hakim Ghazali, 40, owning a coffee maker is not a symbol of luxury; rather, it is a fulfilment of the satisfaction of enjoying a cup of coffee.
Working as a draughtsman in a private company, Azril says his interest in brewing his coffee using a pop-up machine started during the Movement Control Order (MCO) of the Covid-19 pandemic when it was difficult for him to go out to enjoy his favourite drink.
“That time was really bad because I could not go to my favourite shop to buy coffee and all cafés were closed due to the MCO.
“Then I bought a coffee machine and learned about coffee beans, how to brew them and everything about the machine from YouTube, social media and friends who are equally fond of coffee.
“For the past two years, I have switched to traditionally -processed coffee after a friend, who lives in Indonesia, introduced it to me.”
Azril says his friends now prefer to come to his house because they can relax while drinking an unlimited supply of coffee.
“It is true coffee machines are expensive, and that it is not easy to get traditional coffee because not all places sell it or produce it.
“It’s a worthwhile investment to satisfy my love for coffee and because of me too, my friends now switch to traditionallyprocessed coffee because they like its stronger aroma and the more unique taste than the commercial coffee,” he said.
Meanwhile, Joanne Yap, 53, a second-generation producer at the Eastern Coffee Powder factory in Pulau Gadong, Tanjong Kling which still uses the traditional method of processing coffee beans, admits that it is not easy to produce high-quality coffee products and compete with high-tech companies.
“However, for the past 55 years, our company has always made sure to choose high-quality Arabica and Robusta coffee beans imported from Indonesia as the main core of the product, while important processes such as roasting, grinding and packaging the coffee are carried out to a set standard,” she said. — Bernama