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coffee shop in Pancoran, South Jakarta, is serving drinks with the aim of touching customers’ hearts.

People who want to order beverages can either point out what they want or talk slowly to the owners and employees who all lip-read.

That is because Koptul Duren Tiga coffee shop, which is situated among four-story shophouses, is run by people who are hearing impaired. Koptul stands for kopi tuli (deaf coffee).

The coffee shop’s menu, emblazoned on a sign glued to the ceiling, are accompanied by images of hand signals on the side of each drink.

Its plastic takeaway bottles also illustrate basic hand signals for those who would like to communicate with the employees.

One of the owners is Adhika Prakoso, 28, who met his current business partners Trierwinsyah “Erwin” Putra, 29, and Putri Sampaghita Trisnawinny Santoso, 27, when they were in kindergarten.

Adhika said the main reason why they opened the coffee shop was because they had found it hard to find employment.

“I applied for jobs at around 200 companies and Putri applied at around 500.

“So when Erwin and I graduated from university we decided that we wanted to be financially independent, which led us to start a brand called KOPTUL.”

He added that all of them had to start from zero.

“We researched everything about coffee from BSD [Bumi Serpong Damai in South Tangerang] to Bandung from November to April [in 2016]. We researched the world of coffee and coffee beans as well as plantations,” said Adhika.

They eventually opened their first coffee shop in Depok in February and the second one in Duren Tiga in October with the help of one of their friends.

“[The coffee shop] in Depok has no Wi-Fi connection and that allows customers and hearing-impaired people to communicate with each other, while Koptul Duren Tiga is used as a learning center,” said Adhika.

Adilla Allia Putri, 21, a regular customer who is hearing-impaired, is delighted by this concept. “I love to just hang out [in the Depok branch] and communicate with deaf friends and those who are not deaf [...] I have to be able to mingle with everyone.”

Meanwhile, Koptul Duren Tiga holds part-time classes, including ones that aim to inform the deaf about their rights.

With the help of the Indonesian Sign Language Center (Pusbisindo), the owners of Koptul intends to hold regular classes next year.

“We currently have five employees. Insya Allah [God willing], we will continue to empower our deaf friends so that they can be financially independent,” said Adhika. (mai)