Diners enjoy relaxing atmosphere inside the Blacklisted cafe.

A true coffee lover may refuse to add anything else to his or her cup of coffee, preferring the original flavor. And that is exactly what Blacklisted cafe offers.

The newly opened coffeehouse and restaurant emphasizes on freshly roasted and blended beans according to secret formula of a coffee expert, World Barista Championship judge Saxon Wright of Australia.

The cafe, located in Mall Puri Indah shopping mall in West Jakarta, provides various coffees for the addicts as well as adventurous culinary enthusiasts — from classic Espresso to hip-and-trendy Honey Crumble Affogato.

What Blacklisted tries to introduce is sugarless coffees that are enriched with fruit flavors, such as blackberries and blueberries.

cappuccinoCappuccino is certainly one of the classics. And the first sip of Blacklisted’s cup of cappuccino says it all — earthy and creamy.

“We use 100 percent Arabica, but from different regions — what’s unique here is that we blend those mixed beans, the good ones depending on weather and season. Now, we have a blend from Costa Rica, Honduras, Ethiopia and a bit of Indonesia,” Blacklisted director Dendy Sjahada said during the cafe’s opening.

He shares that his team and him had tested various coffees and blends, but the blend of beans from the aforementioned countries was the most suitable for today’s coffee in Indonesia.

“Ethiopian has a very earthy but also surprising flavor. Every batch and season, the taste could be different.”

Picking good quality coffee beans before roasting and grinding them are the most basic important thing to make a good coffee, says Dendy, who invited the world-class barista to handle the golden ingredient himself.

“In the Indonesian market, coffee tends to be roasted a bit dark, meaning when you get it over-roasted the oil comes out and it will bring the bitterness.

“What we do is bring out original taste of the bean. We have them less roasted; it will bring out the beautiful berry and creamy tastes. It’s not very stressful for the stomach, you won’t get a lot of caffeine either because of the way we extract them,” he adds.

Wright said that coffee beans with good quality have their natural sweetness and unique tastes that allow him to produce great coffees.

“What makes a good coffee? It starts with good beans. We choose very special high altitude beans, they develop better at high altitude, the way we roast it’s very specific method of roasting to bring natural sugar and sweetness in the coffee beans,” Wright says.

The sugarless method is Blacklisted’s signature coffee that differentiates the caféefrom other coffeehouses.

Saxon Wright with the roaster machine.“Traditionally, for a cup of cappuccino, you will use one-third foamed milk, one-third coffee and one-third water. We don’t do quite like that, we do a little bit less foam, make the foam more textured and really smooth so it’s not going to be as airy as traditionally made cappuccino,” reveals Wright.

“It’s OK if after the first sip you want to add some sugar, but I’d love you to try without it because sugar often disguises the real taste of coffee.”

Wright says that some coffee flavors have fruit characters as in blackberries and blueberries, which are normally associated with frappes or food.

“But strawberry has unique flavor as a berry, and I find it tasty to have that flavor in my coffee. Blueberries often found in Ethiopia coffee beans, but strawberry is rare,” says the coffee expert with more than 17 years of experience, adding that he also adores Brazil’s caramel-flavored coffee.

Coffee is not the one thing on offer. Blacklisted is prepared to pamper you with some heavy meals, all-day breakfast menu as well as French-styled pastries and cakes.

For those who don’t feel full enough if you don’t a plate of rice in your day, try a pleasant oxtail fried rice topped with an egg ,sunny-side up.

If you dare, Chicken rica-rica of grilled chicken topped with spicy rica-rica sauce plus a handful of warm rice is a hot and sexy choice.

When you need a soothing food, a cup of Mushroom Soup, a creamy with fresh Shitake and champignon mushrooms is nice enough.

In the desserts section, Blacklisted’s own pastry chef K.E. Ong will coddle you with slices of among other fine cakes like Opera and Tiramisu as well as his signature French’s croissant.

Blacklisted
Outlet: Mall Puri Indah, Ground Floor Unit 71, Jl. Puri Agung, Puri Indah, West Jakarta.
Prices: Rp 18,000 – Rp 62,000
Open daily from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Telephone: 021-5823332

— Photos Courtesy of Blacklisted Café