Wonosobo's Purwaceng coffee selling well
Wonosobo's Purwaceng coffee selling well
By Bambang M.
WONOSOBO, Central Java (JP): It looks just like any other
coffee: Black powder in small packs. But you will experience a
difference as soon as you mix it with hot water, stir and drink
it. It has a ginger flavor.
It is a specialty that visitors to this chilly town should not
miss. It is Purwaceng coffee and you will not find it anywhere
else in the world.
"This coffee is very special. It warms the body, improves
blood circulation, refreshes the body and nerves and boosts sex
drive," says Purwaceng coffee maker Ibu Salim.
She said that Purwaceng coffee has 17 ingredients, making it
"very special". She refused, however, to mention them on the
grounds that the secret recipe would become public. But she
revealed that the main ingredient was purwaceng.
Purwaceng is a kind of ginseng that only grows in Dieng
Plateau, some 20 kilometers north of here. Local people usually
use it to make traditional drinks to keep them warm. At night,
the temperature in Dieng can reach as low as 2 degrees Celsius --
one of the reasons why such a drink as this has become a basic
need.
She said the other ingredients were mostly imported from
different countries. Yahfaron, for example, is a type of grass
that comes from India. Others come from the Middle East.
"Most of the ingredients come from India and Arab countries.
Sometimes, you can find them in Chinese medicine shops, but they
are very expensive," said Salim, a mother of three.
Salim, whose husband is of Arabic descent, says it is not
difficult to get all the ingredients because she maintains close
relations with her relatives of Arabic origin. Fortunately, many
of the family members are married to people of Indian descent.
"It's from them that I get all the ingredients I need to make
Purwaceng coffee," she said.
Salim lives on Jl. Sidomulya in an area where foreign tourists
usually stay in Wonosobo. She has been making Purwaceng coffee
since the early 1980s. Starting off in business as a cement
supplier, the business she ran with her husband was not
profitable and they turned to coffee.
She learned how to make the coffee from her husband's
relatives, who came from Saudi Arabia in 1979. According to
Salim, in Saudi Arabia, coffee is usually served at weddings.
She said the process of making Purwaceng coffee was simple.
Firstly, all the ingredients are washed, dried in the sun and
then fried, without oil. The next step is grinding all the
ingredients and blending them into proper proportions.
Salim doesn't make Purwaceng coffee every day, but once every
three months. She will make 150 kilograms of it. Then, she packs
them into small plastic bags and sells them for Rp 1,250 a pack.
"If the packs do not break, the coffee remains drinkable for
years," said Salim.
Now, after 20 years, many people look for her "magical"
coffee. Every month, she can sell up to 10,000 packs of Purwaceng
coffee. "Thank God, with this business I can support my family,"
Salim said.
Purwaceng coffee lovers are not only Indonesians. Many foreign
tourists who visit Wonosobo like it. In Dieng, Purwaceng coffee
is served in restaurants. "I think they like my coffee because it
can keep them warm," said Salim.
She added that Japanese and Korean tourists particularly liked
it. She recalled an order to send 2,000 packs of her coffee to
Japan in 1986.
Although demand keeps rising, she cannot produce more, due to
capital and technical constraints.
"My product is not registered at the health ministry," said
Salim, who also has an art gallery at her house.