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Conversation with the mastermind behind ABCD Coffee
From organizing small-scale activities in Pasar Santa to producing successful graduates, ABCD has done wonders for coffee lovers. We had a chat with Ve Handojo to find out more about his educational venture.
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Ve Handojo, founder of ABCD (A Bunch of Caffeine Dealers) School of Coffee. (Good Indonesian Food/File)
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offee shops in Jakarta have become hangout spots during weekdays and weekends. However, only a handful of people have a firm grasp of what coffee is all about. The lack of knowledge regarding a beverage that has practically become a culture in itself became the catalyst that drove Ve Handojo and Hendri Kurniawan to start ABCD (A Bunch of Caffeine Dealers) School of Coffee.
From organizing small-scale activities in Pasar Santa to producing successful graduates, ABCD has done wonders for coffee lovers. We had a chat with Ve Handojo to find out more about his educational venture.
Can you tell us how it all began with ABCD Coffee?
ABCD Coffee was essentially founded due to my partner, Hendri Kurniawan, and my concerns about the youth of today who know next to nothing about coffee. The irony is that Indonesia is the fourth largest coffee producer in the world. With Hendri’s burning passion for coffee, we agreed to set up ABCD Coffee in 2014. We started out by running workshops via Instagram. As the number of interested parties began to swell, we had to move from Pasar Santa to Gondangdia. We also operate our own coffee shop called Ruang Seduh Kemang, where we offer visitors a chance to learn about coffee brewing or how to make their own latte art.
Who are your pupils at ABCD Coffee?
Our students are primarily interested in opening their own coffee shops or are set on continuing their studies abroad. By acquiring basic coffee knowledge, they can apply to be baristas and earn a little extra cash on the side whilst in a foreign land. Our students’ have a wide age range. We have had many people who enroll in ABCD without prior knowledge about coffee. Some who do not drink coffee at all, but they register to find out more about the beverage. So far, we have 181 classes with a total of about 500 participants.
(Read also: Coffee campus aims to maintain quality of Indonesian coffee)
What do you teach at ABCD Coffee?
The types of classes we teach cover basics, such as getting familiar with coffee, discerning the differences between robusta and arabica, why some people dislike coffee and whether or not coffee causes sleeplessness and stomach damages. For three days, our students will learn about the different tastes of coffee, how to brew manually, how to pour milk, how to make foam and etc. We also provide exclusive classes on weekends on various topics, such as theory classes or manual brewing classes, for visitors who would like to take part in just one class. For our master classes, we invite a guest lecturer, like a World Barista Champion, to lead the class.
How can we apply to take classes at ABCD Coffee?
Interested parties can get in touch with ABCD Coffee, fill out a form and pay Rp 5 million (US$375.4) for a class package.
Do you have a particular favorite coffee?
I try every type of coffee, so not really. However, I prefer those that are sweet-sour in taste over the bitter ones.
Is there a signature flavor to Indonesia’s coffee?
Indonesia is unable to produce a genuinely sweet coffee due to our climate, elevation and planting methods. Yet it is impossible to determine the taste of each coffee batch as there are other factors that affect its flavor, including the post-harvest process and the roasting, grinding and brewing methods that are utilized.
Lastly, would ABCD Coffee be interested in recommending its curriculum to universities?
We do have such a goal, but we would like to introduce it to kids in junior high and high school so they could get an early start on coffee education. (kes)
Explore more about Indonesian cuisine here.
