Kopi Tubruk
Kopi tubrukKO-pee TOO-brook
A glass of strong, sweet black coffee with the grounds still in it, settled to a thick layer at the bottom. It is the oldest and simplest way to make coffee in Indonesia, and all you need is a glass, a kettle and the patience to wait four minutes.
At a glance
- Coffee : water
- 1:12
- Active time
- 1 min
- Total time
- 5 min
- Makes
- 1 glass
- Serve
- Hot
- Kit
- Kettle and a glass
Ingredients
Note: Indonesian ground coffee from the supermarket is often sold ready for tubruk. A coarse filter grind from a burr grinder works well.
Method
-
Coffee and sugar in the glass
Put the coffee and sugar straight into a heatproof glass. Some people stir them together dry.
-
Boiling water, all at once
Pour the water over at a full boil, straight from the kettle. The grounds rise and a crust forms on top.
Boiling is right here. The coffee has to extract in four minutes with no pressure and no agitation.
-
Stir once and cover
Stir briefly to break the crust and wet everything, then cover the glass with a saucer.
-
Wait for the grounds to sink
Leave it for four or five minutes. The grounds sink to the bottom. Take off the saucer and drink from the top, slowly, leaving the last finger of the glass.
If grounds are still floating, tap the side of the glass once.
Wait 4 to 5 minutes
Why this works
Kopi tubruk is the simplest possible brew: grounds, boiling water, time. With no filter, extraction is controlled entirely by the grind, the temperature and how long it sits. The grind is coarser than for Turkish coffee on purpose. Coarse particles sink as they saturate and leave a fairly clear liquid above them, whereas a powder grind stays suspended and makes the coffee muddy unless it is heated slowly the Turkish way.
Boiling water is right for the same reason. With coarse grounds and no agitation, the coffee needs the hottest possible water to extract enough in four minutes. Indonesian robusta also handles high temperatures well: it is low in delicate acids and high in body, so boiling water brings out its weight rather than scorching anything fragile.
The saucer lid keeps the heat in, which keeps extraction going evenly, and it keeps the aroma in the glass. Tubruk is usually said to mean something like to collide or bump together, which describes the coffee meeting the water, though the meaning is debated.
Indonesia has grown coffee since the Dutch brought plants to Java at the end of the seventeenth century, and Java became so associated with it that the island's name became slang for coffee in English. Kopi tubruk is the everyday Indonesian cup, made at home and at every warung, and it is the base for the more dramatic kopi joss of Yogyakarta, which adds a burning ember of charcoal to the same glass.
Variations
- Kopi tubruk susu: a spoon of condensed milk stirred in with the sugar.
- Kopi jahe: a few slices of bruised ginger in the glass with the grounds.
- Kopi joss: the same glass with a glowing lump of charcoal dropped in. See kopi joss.
- Boiled tubruk: coffee, sugar and water boiled together in a pan, then poured into a glass to settle. A stronger, rougher version.
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Questions
What is kopi tubruk?
Indonesian unfiltered coffee: coarse ground coffee and sugar in a glass with boiling water poured over, left for the grounds to settle before drinking.
Do you drink the grounds in kopi tubruk?
No. Wait four or five minutes for them to sink, drink from the top, and leave the last of the glass.
What grind is used for kopi tubruk?
Medium-coarse, coarser than Turkish coffee. Coarse grounds sink cleanly. Powder-fine grounds stay suspended and make the drink muddy.
Is kopi tubruk the same as Turkish coffee?
Both are unfiltered, but the method differs. Turkish coffee uses powder-fine coffee heated slowly from cold to build a foam. Kopi tubruk uses coarser coffee with boiling water poured straight over.