TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Merapi coffee shop draws tourists to Sleman
Change Size
Natural landscape in Yogyakarta with Mount Merapi looming in the background (Shutterstock/File)
T
he Sleman Tourism Agency sees lots of potential in Kedai Kopi Merapi (Merapi Coffee Shop) in Petung hamlet, Kepuharjo village, Cangkringan, to lure tourists to the area.
"Tourists who visit the slopes of Mount Merapi, whether in the Kaliurang or Lava Tour Cangkringan areas, usually flock to this place to enjoy its signature coffee after marveling at the surroundings during an off-road trip in a jeep," the agency's head, Sudarningsih, told news agency Antara on Friday.
Merapi coffee is said to be quite popular among the locals of Yogyakarta as well as outside the city and even abroad.
"Sleman Regent Sri Purnomo is currently promoting Merapi coffee in Finland, as the country is interested in its taste as well as uniqueness," he added.
Kedai Kopi Merapi manager Sumijo said the coffee shop had welcomed all kinds of people, including government officials, businesspeople and celebrities.
In a good month, the number of visitors of the coffee shop exceed 10,000, the weekends and public holidays being particularly busy.
Read also: Gamplong hamlet in Sleman a popular destination for handicraft products
"Our monthly revenue can reach Rp 180 million [US$13,000] from selling coffee drinks, coffee powder and all kinds of Merapi food and souvenirs," said Sumijo.
He said the coffee shop was initially a coffee plantation business, which was popular among the locals of Petung hamlet prior to the huge Merapi eruption in 2010.
"Petung hamlet was initially prepared as a coffee tourist village given the coffee plantations in this area. We later took the initiative to establish a coffee shop."
The 2010 eruption destroyed both the coffee shop and plantations.
"We opened the coffee shop again in 2012. As time went by, Merapi coffee became more and more popular among the public."
Not short of ideas to attract more visitors, the coffee shop has come up with a new concept it calls wisata edukasi kopi (coffee educational tourism), "where we invite tourists to watch the coffee-making process, starting from the cultivation and processing to the technique of brewing it. Visitors can also join coffee-themed camping or trekking events," said Sumijo. (kes)
