Coffee matters

For the last two years, many cafes in Indonesia have either adopted a minimalist, tropical Bali like style or even gone full industrial themes. The trend has changed throughout the year and now, after not being able to be in touch with it again, I finally found some cafe that piqued my interest as a cafe reviewer and also a coffee tester. Last year, cafes started to look the same and offer the same menu but this year, I found that there are cafes that are catching up to trends and actually introducing something new while at the same time, following the global latest trend. Truth be told, there is not much information about the trends but after a bit of research I found that the trends in 2023 supposedly includes a variety of seating options and also vintage finds. These aren’t something new at all and I have found many cafes in the past that wanted to do that but failed in execution. However, this time in my hometown I found one place that is doing that execution properly.

I always appreciate a coffee shop that has an eclectic personality to it. Not only are they great to visit, look at, and even on frame, they are also great conversation starters. Now that I am back to this again, it’s interesting to see that half of the cafes I reviewed in the past have gone out of business. You can check some of them over here Coffee Shops Review : Types of Coffee Shops. But new ones, like the one I visited today called Coffee Matters, is a cafe that’s recently opened in my hometown. It has a minimalistic style barn with an earthy element to its furniture and an open bar where you can see the barista preparing the coffee.

The Coffee

From late 2021 and throughout 2022, I noticed that mocktail coffee has become a trend at cafes. There are many ways to spice up the experience by adding fruits, soda and even a creation using cold brews.

Flavors like rum and baileys are also even more common than in the past over here. In the past, there were only a few cafes offering that but these days, you can find it almost anywhere, even in a small town like mine. However, like I mentioned, it’s the mocktail coffee creation that usually separates one coffee from another.

At Coffee Matters they offer different seating options that accommodate people with different interests. The main compound is for those who go to cafes to study or work. While the other is to accommodate people who prefer outdoor experience and who can smoke freely. For me, I like to stay near the open barista bar since I also like watching the process of making coffee. In the main compound, they also have sockets available at each table which makes it nicer especially if you bring a laptop and plan to stay there for quite some time.

They also don’t play music and keep the AC on at low temperature which makes the place just cold enough to work from. Afterall, I like the place where I can be productive even according to my mom, it was too cold inside.

In this place, they keep the non-coffee menu pretty straight forward. I appreciate that they don’t try to confuse patrons with too many options for food. There are only rice and spaghetti options.

I ended up trying chicken sambal matah that you can see above. As for the coffee, I decided to go with their Baileys latte. I did not expect that they would serve it in a whiskey glass but it was pretty interesting and they even decorated it with some coffee beans. They’re not even being stringy, they gave it three instead of one that I usually find at most cafes I’ve been to. If only they decorate it with edible beans, it would have been even better.

When I visited the place was empty but as the night gets darker, it becomes even lively. It seems like patrons prefer to visit the place around dinner time and enjoy staying outdoors more than indoor seating. This is also the place that I did not find from google but I saw this many times on my way visiting my dads. I thought the place was going to be lousy but It didn’t end up that way. In fact, I like the atmosphere and potentially my new favorite place in town compared to the homey place I used to work from.

For more interior and exterior pictures you can see below.

something I always appreciate at a coffee shop or cafe

I have to say their chair is pretty good for sitting a long time. I reckon that most cafes want to experiment with their chairs but for my specific needs, they work just fine.

I certainly did not test their WIFI speed since I never like using public wifi, I always bring my own, so I can never comment on speeds like that. Now going back to the point that I mentioned earlier, I really think this place does well when it comes to the seating options available as most cafes in my hometown don't properly separate the indoor and outdoor options. Sometimes they even don’t have chairs that have a direct view to the bar but this place does it properly where there is space between the table and the bar that makes it comfortable to stay around the bar. Not to mention, there are some vintage sections that also beautify the surrounding and add a character into the space, although it’s a bit random. What I find amazing is that the staff was cleaning the place with sanitizer and kept the place clean and neat. It seems like despite lax covid restrictions, they still uphold good hygiene. Anyhow, while the menu is also intriguing, the experience and atmosphere in the place was worth noting. Overall, I had a satisfying experience in this place.