Last weekend, while on my way to meet a client in Muara Karang, My eyes catches a humble, yet enticing signboard in one of the shop houses located along the main streets of Muara Karang. Since I’m running out of time, I decided to skip this one, at least for now. However, after a super-brief client visit, I finally gave in to my curiosity and turned the car around, towards Muara Karang’s very own Wall Street. LOL!
Muara Karang itself is a popular culinary destination among old-school culinary enthusiasts. Dominated by Chinese-Hokkien-Medanese eateries, Muara Karang, along with Pluit and Pantai Indah Kapuk became a regular culinary pilgrimage site for Medanese people living in Jakarta. Delicasies such as “Char Kwey Teow” named after its Chinese owners such as Akang to various “Bakmi” houses decorate this area (Man, I’m hungry just by thinking about those glorious, springy, piping-hot flat rice noodles stir-fried over charcoal and filled with sliced Chinese sausage, fishballs and prawns! Are you hungry?:p) .
Anyways, once I arrived, I was greeted by a humble wooden coffee bar. It only occupies half of the shop house. At first, I thought that this coffee shop was still incomplete, but later on I found out that actually Wall Street is a joint effort with brokerage to provide coffee and a hangout spot for traders. I think that this is a good concept since traders do need a great cup of coffee and good hangout spot to keep them calm and inspired.
The coffee bar itself is basically divided into two parts: espresso and manual brewing. Over in the manual brewing side, one can find a series of manual-brewing tools such as the V60, Chemex and Syphon as well as single origin beans meant for the pourovers. The espresso area is equipped with a one-group Vibiemme espresso machine, which is enough to accommodate The Wall Street, in my opinion. The menu is placed on the far side of the bar. I think that the menu is pretty standard for a small, homey coffee shop. After all, I think that serving a great cup of cappuccino and extracting the best of single origin coffee through manual brewing is much more important than a fancy menu. ^^
The coffee served in Wall Street is nothing short of outstanding. The espresso blend used is made up of Toraja and Java Arabica beans. The proportion is around 70% Java and 30% Toraja if I’m not mistaken. It’s roasted to a perfect light-medium roast. The flavor profile of the espresso is quite balanced in my opinion.
The espresso has a balanced body and acidity. It has a lemony acidity with floral notes, slight earthiness and a rather sweet finish. What I like about this espresso is that the acidity in this espresso is restricted, meaning that as it gets cooler, the degree of acidity did not increase as fast. This makes Wall Street espresso drinkable to the last sip and it’s quite forgiving for beginners.
The cappuccino in Wall Street is also outstanding. The flavor is very balanced with a little hint of lemon acidity and added sweetness thanks to the steamed milk. I didn’t notice any bitter or burnt flavor that’s enough to annoy me. This is one of the signs that the barista preparing my drink really knows what he’s doing (unlike me, sometimes. ^^). However, I think that a thicker foam will give this drink a richer, more velvety taste.
In conclusion, the trip to Wall Street is time well spent. I met with great people (thanks Willy Lennon and Cecil for sharing! ), exchanged thoughts and more importantly discovered a hidden coffee gem in the heart of an area famous for traditional cuisines. It shows us that the specialty coffee industry does not only mean a large hangout spot equipped with WiFi, all-day breakfast menu and fancy espresso machines in elite places. It shows us the level of passion and dedication that many people demonstrated in order to share their joy of experiencing coffee to the rest of the world, which in this case means a crowd of people accustomed to more traditional ways of enjoying coffee. Salud! ^^
Jalan Muara Karang Raya No. 23
Jakarta Utara
mycoffeejournal 