Kopi Q Bandung

Two years ago – in the exact same month as now – Dian Wirawan (32) noticed that his tiny espresso machine’s boiler temperature had risen, despite it having the capacity of less than 0.5 liters. His baristas had to wait for a while before the machine could be ready to froth the milk, and the customers had to be asked to wait when the orders  happened to be coming at the same time. That used to be the daily atmosphere at Q Coffee, located on Pasirkaliki street, Bandung, when Dian was still roasting his own coffee with Gene Cafe. But now Q Coffee has grown rapidly, even though the owner sometimes misses the the feeling of using his tiny roasting machine.

Step by step, Bandung continues to generate roasters who focus on producing specialty coffee, and this hometown of mine seems to want to catch up with the ever-growing café scenes often found in Jakarta. Now, the coffee machine at Q Coffee has been retired and replaced with a well-known machine manufactured in Florence, Italy, as well as a German roasting machine with the capacity of ten pounds, which was successfully installed several months ago.

Dian is still adjusting to his new toy and is working on a recipe that that matches his customers’ taste. He admits that it’s challenging trying to operate the roasting machine, after having been working at Gene Café where he got acquainted with coffee. But Dian is optimistic that within a few months he will soon be familiar with the behavior of this roasting machine that cost hundreds of millions rupiah – in order to create several top recipes, or blends that are already popular amongst the customers.

Dian Wirawan (32). This bachelor is a graduate from one of Bandung’s universities, majoring in economics. Started early in the coffee business and is can’t be bothered to change lanes, he continues to spread his wings up to Makassar.

Why use an expensive brand? He was reluctant to answer and instead, replied with a smile, when we were talking at his newly-opened cafe located in Mekarwangi Complex, South of Bandung. Just imagine, a café that, if it were located in Bandung it would usually be in the busiest spot up in the North, but Coffee Q recklessly established itself in a relatively small housing complex that would rarely get any glimpse of the Bandung’s lifestyle junkie. But his lucky hunch was not far off the mark because Q Coffee has become one of the most frequented places in the area.

Dian’s progress is not limited to Bandung only; along with his business associates he has expanded to Makasar and debuted his latte as Makasar’s favorite beverage,

Started his business with a simple roaster in the same caliber as Gene Café, and now has managed to complete his gallery with an above 5 kilograms roasting machine.

Of course there are many other great plans to be ticked off Q Coffee’s list, but to the Indonesian coffee world, what has been done by Dian definitely builds optimism for a bright future for the industry, especially in Bandung.

For those of you who want to visit Q Coffee in Mekarwangi, just exit from the Mohamad Toha tollway, make a left and the complex is located about 500 meters away from the petrol station . Just go forward and less than than 1 km, Q Coffee can be seen on the left hand side.

And with that direction, I shall end this report right here – over and out!

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Di bulan yang sama sekitar dua tahun yang lalu Dian Wirawan (32) tengah memperhatikan mesin espresso kecilnya menaikan temeperatur boiler yang hanya berkapasitas kurang dari 0.5 liter. Baristanya harus menunggu beberapa saat sebelum mesin ini siap menjalankan tugasnya membuihkan susu dan pelanggan diminta untuk sabar menunggu apalagi saat pesanan datang bersamaan. Itu suasana keseharian di Kopi Q yang berlokasi di kawasan jalan Pasirkaliki Bandung saat Dian masih menggoreng kopi, juga dengan Gene Cafe. Tapi kini Kopi Q sudah jauh berkembang cukup pesat walau sang pemilik kadang kehilangan romantisme mesin roasting kecilnya.

Selangkah demi selangkah Bandung terus melahirkan roaster yang berkecimpung dalam dunia kopi spesial dan kota tempat saya dibesarkan ini sepertinya terus ngebut mengejar perkembangan kopi seperti di Jakarta. Kini mesin kopi legendarisnya sudah diistirahatkan serta diganti merek ternama dari kota Florence berikut sebuah mesin roasting buatan Jerman yang berkapasitas lima kilogram, baru saya selesai dipasang beberapa bulan lalu.

Dian masih harus menyesuaikan diri dengan mainan barunya dan tengah mengupayakan racikan yang pas di lidah pengunjung kedai kopinya. Ia mengakui betapa tak mudah mengoperasikan mesin roasting ini setelah sekian lama bergelut dengan Gene Cafe sejak awal perkenalannya dengan goreng menggoreng kopi. Tapi Dian optimis jika dalam waktu beberapa bulan kedepan ia akan segera akrab dengan prilaku mesin roasting yang harganya ratusan juta ini untuk melahirkan beberapa racikan atau blend andalan yang sekarang saja sudah mulai banyak dipesan.

Mengapa menggunakan merek mahal ? Ia enggan menjawab dan hanya tersenyum di lokasi cafe-nya yang baru saja buka di Komplek Mekarwangi, Bandung Selatan. Coba bayangkan, sebuah cafe yang jika di Bandung biasanya berada di tempat keramaian yang selalu terpusat di bagian Utara, tapi Kopi Q justru sedikit nekat membukanya di komplek perumahan relatif kecil yang tentu jarang dilirik pebisnis gaya hidup. Tapi “perjudiannya” tak meleset jauh dari perkiraan dan Kopi Q sudah menjadi salah satu tempat yang cukup banyak dikunjungi di kawasan ini.

Kiprah Dian tidak terbatas di kota Bandung, bersama rekan bisnisnya ia berani berekspansi hingga ke kota Makasar dan menjadikan ramuan “kopi susunya” sebagai menu terfavorit di kota ini.

Tentunya masih banyak rencana besar yang akan dilakukan oleh Kopi Q, tapi buat dunia kopi Indonesia, apa yang sudah dilakukan oleh Dian  tentu membawa optimisme akan arah positif industri ini khususnya di kota Bandung.

Bagi Anda yang ingin berkunjung ke Kopi Q di Mekarwangi tinggal keluar toll Mohamad Toha, belok kiri dan sekitar 500 meter tepat di depan stasiun pengisian bensin komplek ini berada. Tinggal lurus dan kurang dari 1 km lokasi Kopi sudah terlihat di sebelah kiri.

Demikian laporan dari Bandung . . . over to you.

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