Koen – Page 9 – Kuncoro Wastuwibowo

Bandung: IC3INA 2014

IC3INA (International Conference on Computer, Control, Informatics and its Applications) is an annual conference, organised byResearch Center for Informatics, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI). Since 2013, the IEEE Indonesia Section co-organised this conference as technical sponsor. This year, IC3INA was conducted in Bandung, October 21st-23rd.

I attended this conference as one of Scientific Committee member, and as the chair of the IEEE Indonesia Section. Last year (2013), they made me the moderator of all keynote speech session on opening day. But this year (2014), they only wanted me to present a 5 minutes speech as an IEEE representative.

IC3INA 2014 v01

Here’s what I read:

Assalaamu’alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakaatuh.

Distinguished Ladies & Gentlemen,

It’s always enchanting to be around the community of scientist, researchers, academicians, and technology professionals. Representing the IEEE, and especially the IEEE Indonesia Section, I would like to express our gratitude to be involved for this distinguished event, the IC3INA 2014 in Bandung, Indonesia, organised by LIPI.

We have known that the IEEE was established more than 125 years ago. This organisation is a home for scientists and engineers from the industrial world and academic domain to synergise their idea, and to collaborate their efforts to understand more about the nature and to engineer it toward a better life. In Indonesia, the Section was established only 26 years ago, and is now actively fostering the academic and professional engineering activities in Indonesia with its 10 chapters representing 15 different fields, and 7 student branches. It is a place for the engineering ecosystem to work in partnership and collaboration to enhance the dynamics and quality of our researches, our academic and professional works, for our mission to advance the technology for humanity.

The second decade of the 21st century has been witnessing new paradigms for the Information Technology. The Internet, which has previously revolutionized the communication and interaction among people, has started its next evolution to be the Internet-of-Things (IOT), with the ability to connect any digital entity or virtually anything to the network of information and knowledge. Information processing does not stop with just doing computation over data input, but would also enrich the information with aggregation of various supporting knowledge, with context-awareness. Big data technology allows the aggregation of large amounts of information from various sources intelligently to obtain results that are sometimes unpredictable.

But the challenge is to develop and to implement those new computing paradigms in real applications to enhance the value of human life. While we carry out researches on Big Data, we keep in mind that this is one of the key technologies to improve the quality of life. We expect better understanding to the universe and human, better education approach, personalised health care, smart city integrated with ubiquitous sensing networks, smart businesses that understand their customers in person, better approach for environment conservation, and others. The interesting thing about Big Data is the necessity on its implementation to maximize the role of the ecosystem, to involve all stakeholders in designing a disruptive lifestyle with this technology.

So let’s have some discussions, and warm networkings. All the best for you; all the best for the profession. Thank you.

Bandung, 21 October 2014

Kuncoro Wastuwibowo
Chair, IEEE Indonesia Section
IC3INA 2014 v02

Bali: APCC 2013

Alhamdulillah, we have finished APCC 2013. Just like TALE 2013 was somehow related to CYBERNETICSCOM 2012; then APCC 2013 was like a continuation of COMNETSAT 2012, when Prof. Byeong Gi Lee suggested the IEEE Comsoc Indonesia Chapter to host the APCC. This suggestion brought us to attend APCC 2012 in Jeju Island, where we won the bid to host the 2013 APCC. It was followed by a series of activities, including event organising and paper management. The IEEE Comsoc Indonesia Chapter appointed Dr. Wiseto Agung, an avid scientist an researcher from Telkom Indonesia, as the General Chair of the conference. Another strategic step taken is to arrange a partnership with ITTelkom (now the University of Telkom) as a co-organiser on both the technical issue and event organising. Originally, the number of submitted papers raised very-very slowly. A bit stressed, indeed. But a few days before the deadline, hundreds of paper came through the EDAS. From all over the world, those most educated human beings still chose to wait until the final second before submitting their papers. We collected a total of 309 papers. The Technical Program Committee was chaired by Dr Arifin Nugroho, with some vice chairs. The most active TPC vice chair was Dr. Rina Puji Astuti. Meanwhile I held the position of Chair at IEEE Indonesia Section, so I must share my resources (time etc) with many other IEEE activities. The Comsoc Chapter Chair (Satriyo Dharmanto) and the Past Chairs (Muhammad Ary Murti, Arief Hamdani) continued the struggle to succeed APCC 2013. With strict selection process, APCC 2013 passed only 163 papers (53 % of total incoming paper).

APCC, Asia – Pacific Conference on Communications, is a very prestigious regional conference in Asia Pacific, which is the region with the highest growth in the world of ICT technology. APCC is supported by the IEEE Communications Society, the KICS in Korea, the IEICE Communications Society in Japan, and the CIC in China. The names of the APCC Steering Committee members are also thrilling: the great figures who pioneered the world of ICT. APCC was first held in 1993 in Taejon, Korea. This year, the 19th APCC was held at the Bali Dynasty Resort in Kuta Beach, 29 to 31 August 2013. I had been in Bali since August 26 to attend TALE 2013. The other APCC organisers, from the IEEE Comsoc Indonesia Chapter, University of Telkom, and University of Udayana, has started preparing the event on 28 August.

Thursday, 29 August, the APCC 2013 was opened. With a lot of technical sponsors, some representatives had to deliver short speeches at that opening ceremony. But each one took only about 5 minutes. Opening speeches were delivered by Dr. Wiseto Agung (GC APCC 2013), Satriyo Dharmanto (Chair , IEEE Indonesia Comsoc Chapter), Dr. Ali Muayyadi (Telkom University representative), Prof. Zhen Yang (Chair of APCC Steering Committee; Chair of the CIC), Dr. Yoshihiro Ishikawa (Chair, IEICE Communications Society), Prof. You- Ze Cho (Vice Chair , KICS), and yours truly (Chair, IEEE Indonesia Section). IEEE Indonesia Section itself represented the IEEE as the technical activity endorser.

My speech just simply mentioned that Asia Pacific has great significance in the development of ICT. Besides the fact that this area is the center of the most competitive ICT industry, the residents are also among the most adaptive in embracing digital lifestyle in the new culture. Our cultural richness has supported the development of communication technologies, with the ability to understand and support the highly contextual interaction and communications. But the social problems in the region is also alarming. We open access to information technology, but we encourage consumerism. We facilitate the preservation of nature, but we also increase pollution. We help creating new jobs, but we also accelerate urbanisation. The engineers need to design and develop technologies that will address the various issues of humanity and the life of human being. And it was in this social context, that we chose this theme for APCC 2013: Smart Communications to Enhance the Quality of Life .

Keynote speeches were delivered successively by Prof. Byeong Gi Lee (Past President, IEEE Communications Society; Past President, KICS), Prof. Adnan Al-Anbuky (Director of Sensor Network and Smart Environment (SENSE) Research Lab, School of Engineering Auckland University of Technology, Auckland New Zealand), Mr. Indra Utoyo (CISP, Telkom Indonesia; Chairman, MIKTI), and Mr. Ichiro Inoue (Network Systems Planning & Innovation Project, NTT).

The next activities were typical for any international technical conference. Special speech sessions, tutorial sessions, parallel presentation sessions, poster sessions, etc. In the tutorial session, I chose to avoid mainstream discussions of mobile network etc, and chose instead the sensor network as one of the elements for the Internet of Things (IoT). The tutors happened to be a pair of professors from Coventry University. This is a modern university (compared to classical universities) that gained a lot of appreciation and awards everywhere this year. Another regular event was the Gala Dinner, with its semi-formal atmosphere, but also with its permission for a laugh-out-loud sessions. Here the Paper Awards were also presented by the APCC Steering Committee .

The last day, I spent my time to visit the poster sessions. Out of curiosity, I seriously talked to all presenters about the posters presented. It was a way to learn new things while expanding networks. Conversations in the poster session could be deeper and more interesting than the presentation session where time is very limited.

I recognised that it was a hard work for the organisers. In the review session on Saturday afternoon, I said that even though the organisers in any events always feel that there are a lot of unforgivable shortcomings, but the APCC Steering Committee and the participants, had personally conveyed their appreciations and positive feedbacks. Good job! The IEEE, Unitel, Udayana University, and all. Great job! This year there will be many other events of the IEEE Indonesia Section. Hopefully all will provide supports as it was for the APCC . Thanks, all.

Bali: TALE 2013

TALE, the IEEE International Conference on Teaching, Assessment and Learning for Engineering, is one of three key conferences of the IEEE Education Society. This year, TALE was held at the Bali Dynasty Resort, a resort on the shores of Kuta Beach, Bali , 26-29 August 2013. Indonesia was recommended to host the TALE Conference by Prof. Michael Lightner (ex IEEE Education Society President), who had observed the way the IEEE Indonesia Section organised IEEE CYBERNETICSCOM 2012, where he was present as a keynote speaker. Despite the obtained recommendations, the Indonesian team should still needed to bid on TALE 2012 at Hong Kong.

The technical aspects of the conference were organised by the IEEE Education Society. The IEEE Indonesia Section needed only to organise the event. The operation was led by Dr. Ford Lumban Gaol as the General Chair. He is also the vice chair of the IEEE Indonesia Section. Some universities provided some supports, especially Bina Nusantara University in Jakarta. TALE was carried out in serial with the APCC.

I arrived in Bali on Monday afternoon, August 26. Ngurah Rai Airport was still in the process of intensive renovation. From the airport, we needed only 10 minuted to reach the Dynasty Resort. The first day of TALE was occupied by tutorials and workshop activities. I attended some workshop sessions, then I spent the afternoon biking along Kuta Beach, until the sunset. At night , there was a Welcome Party, with some introductions to the VIP and committees. Presented at the event were Prof. Manuel Castro (IEEE Education Society, President), Dr Alain Chesnais (ACM, Past President), Prof. Sorel Reisman (ex IEEE Computer Society President), etc. I spent a lot of time discussing with colleagues from Bangalore .

(TALE photo session after the Opening Ceremony 2013 : All in Batik)

The opening ceremony was held on August 27 morning. Opening speeches are presented by Dr. Ford Lumban Gaol as General Chair; Prof. Gerardus Polla (ex Rector of Binus University) who represented Binus as co-organiser; then IEEE Indonesia Section representation — yours truly. I started with the paradox that although almost all technological advances has been initiated or supported by the education, but the ICT has not been widely revolutionised the education field (compared to — for example — the field of communications , transportation, industry , etc.). ICT infrastructure for this purpose could be considered quite ready. But just to convert the education content and interaction into digital forms would be far from sufficient to achieve the expectations of creating a new way to educate more people, anyone, of any age, anywhere, in ways that remain humane and not by separating people with their natural environment. A new paradigm is required for a lifetime process of human education, with the support of pervasive ICT infrastructure. It was actually just the opening for the discussion :). Then the conference was opened by Prof. Gerard Polla with Balinese gong. Booom – booom – booom .

The keynote speeches were delivered by Prof. Manuel Castro of the IEEE Education Society, Prof. Ken Kawan Soetanto, and Prof. Satryo Soemantri Brodjonegoro from Binus Advisory Board. The education field is indeed interesting, encouraging, with a broad impact. Discussions on the keynote sessions were pretty hot, resembling various visions. We easily observed many pros and cons on every aspect of e-learning digital education, and others. But those battles of the titans had made this kind of a conference so much more interesting than just reading the paper stacks .

(Prof. Reisman discussed with Prof. Castro and M Chesnais)

The conference continued with parallel presentation sessions. The discussions about education were still as hot as the discussion at the keynote sessions. At night, we had a Gala Dinner session to display the culture of the region: from Balinese Dance to Asia Pacific songs and music.

(Koen with Prof. Castro and Prof. Ken Soetanto)

The last day, August 29th (the same day as the opening of the APCC), Bali was still consistent with its fresh but hot weather. We closed the conference with the awarding session by Alain Chesnais. I presented the closing remarks, and then closed the conference. This time there was no gong. So I closed this extremely important international conference with a bread knife tapped on a white cup . Tinq – tinq – tinq, and TALE 2013 was closed .

(Special photo with Alain Chesnais and Alain Chesnais)

Peringkat Profesi Peminum Kopi

IO9 [URL] menampilkan survei yang diselenggarakan pada tahun 2011 oleh Dunkin Donuts dan CareerBuilder. Survei dilakukan pada 4.700 pekerja Amerika, dan hasilnya adalah daftar profesi yang membutuhkan kopi lebih dari yang lain.

Kesimpulan survei adalah bahwa ilmuwan dan teknisi laboratorium merupakan peminum kopi terberat di negara itu. Tentu ini tak mengejutkan. Sains adalah pekerjaan 24 jam. Riset dilakukan pada jadwal yang berbeda dengan irama manusia normal. Apalagi jika perkerjaan ini ditambah dengan urusan menulis paper hasil riset, mempersiapkan conference, mereview paper sejawat, hingga mengajukan proposal pendanaan riset. Alhasil, para ilmuwan sering harus bekerja larut malam dan pada akhir pekan.

Peringkat lengkap profesi peminum kopi menurut survei ini:

Ilmuwan dan teknisi lab
Profesional marketing dan PR
Pengelola bidang pendidikan
Penulis dan editor
Pengelola bidang kesehatan
Dokter
Penyedia makanan
Profesor
Pekerja sosial
Profesional bidang keuangan
Personal caretaker
Koordinator pengelolaan sumber daya manusia
Perawat
Profesional bidang pemerintahan
Pekerja trading terlatih

Mahasiswa dan pelajar, dikau-dikau belum digolongkan sebagai profesional, jadi belum masuk ke survei ini.

Das Rheingold

Returning in the afternoon, I stretched myself, dead tired, on a hard couch, awaiting the long-desired hour of sleep.

It did not come; but I fell into a kind of somnolent state, in which I suddenly felt as though I were sinking in swiftly flowing water. The rushing sound formed itself in my brain into a musical sound, the chord of E flat major, which continually re-echoed in broken forms; these broken chords seemed to be melodic passages of increasing motion, yet the pure triad of E flat major never changed, but seemed by its continuance to impart infinite significance to the element in which I was sinking.

I awoke in sudden terror from my doze, feeling as though the waves were rushing high above my head. I at once recognised that the orchestral overture to the Rheingold, which must long have lain latent within me, though it had been unable to find definite form, had at last been revealed to me.

I then quickly realised my own nature: the stream of life was not to flow to me from without, but from within.

– Richard Wagner: 22 May 1813 – 13 February 1883

Chiang Mai: Region 10 Annual Meeting

IEEE Region 10 Meeting this year was held in Chiang Mai. This is an annual event, and formerly held in the city of Lapu Lapu, Yogyakarta, and Kolkatta. Besides all the Section Chairs in Asia Pacific, and the Officers of IEEE Region 10, also attended some VP of IEEE HQ. I recognised some familiar faces was, especially from the previous meetings in Lapu Lapu and Yogya. But none of the IEEE Presidents was present. But it’s OK. I’ve already meet Prof Peter Staecker, the Prisident, the previous weekend in Tanjung Benoa.

This year, the IEEE Indonesia Section received a special invitation to obtain the 25 Years Banner. When the invitation was received, M Ary Murti, who was serving as the Section Chair decided to invite all the previous section chairs to present in Chiang Mai. And all the former chairs agreed to attend. Later, the leadership was handed over from Ary to me (via election, certainly). So this time, I was the primary delegation of Indonesia, and the former chairs be the secondary delegations.

The flights we used were Garuda Indonesia for Jakarta – Bangkok, and Thai Airways to Bangkok – Chiang Mai, on March 1. We landed in Chiang Mai at night, and went straightly to Le Méridien. The meeting would began on Saturday morning, March 2, 2013.

IEEE formal meetings use the protocol called “Robert’s Roles of Order” that is used in some parliaments. This is an interesting protocol, which facilitates shared decision-making more effectively. On the first day, Region 10 evaluated the Budget 2012, proposed the Strategic Planning, and displayed the work plans of the units, as well as support from HQ and Region 10 to Sections. We also learnt best practices from the various Section and other task units. The activities of Women in Engineering (WiE), students, and GOLD (Graduated on Last Decade) were highlighted. Some incentives were also offered to enable the specific activities in the Section.

Later that evening, a gala dinner was held. At this dinner, presented a variety of awards, to the most active section, most active small section, best volunteer, and others. The banner of “25 Years Anniversary” was also handed over to Indonesia Section at this event. Ralph M Ford (VP MGA) handed the banner to me as Indonesia Section Chair, and we handed it to all of the previous chairs of the Indonesia Section. I asked Dr Wahidin Wahab to give a brief remark. Mr. Wahab presented a bit about the history of Indonesia Section and some gratitudes to those who helped the development of Indonesia Section.

The second day was started with a petition to award Prof Marzuki, a leader in Region 10 who passed away last year due to a long illness. In the midst of the pain, he did not stop doing organisational dan professional tasks, including supporting many activities for the Indonesia Section. Indonesia Section specifically stated a grief at the previous night. Then reviewed the Budget Plan for 2013, the report of Tencon 2012, and plan of Tencon 2013, and R10 Congress 2013 (Hyderabad).

I talked briefly to the Region 10 Director, the always joyous Prof. Toshio Fukuda; invited him to be the Keynote Speaker of the IEEE Cyberneticscom in Yogyakarta later this year. He confirmed.

Then presented the information and policy on the administration of Section and units under it. There were some new things, and some important repetitions. The meetings were closed after midday. After that, a brief tour around Chiang Mai.

Penurunan Depresi Para Wanita

Riset mengenai kaitan antara kopi dan kesehatan selalu kontroversial, dan harus disimak secara lebih hati-hati, sambil terus mencermati riset-riset lain, sambil berharap seluruh riset itu bersifat konklusif dan bukan anekdotal. Yang di bawah ini salah satunya.

Sebuah artikel di Lifehacker [URL] menyampaikan riset yang menyimpulkan bahwa kopi memiliki efek kuat kesehatan mental: dua atau lebih cangkir per hari dikaitkan dengan penurunan risiko depresi. Jurnal “The Nurses ‘Health Study” mengevaluasi lebih dari 50.000 wanita di Amerika Serikat melalui kuesioner dari tahun 1980 hingga 2004, dan mengidentifikasi kasus depresi dalam periode 10-tahun. Perempuan yang minum dua atau tiga cangkir kopi sehari cenderung memiliki risiko depresi 15% lebih lebih kecil, dibandingkan dengan mereka yang minum satu atau lebih cangkir kopi seminggu, dan mereka yang minum empat atau lebih cangkir sehari memiliki penurunan risiko hingga 20%.

Namun patut diperhatikan bahwa riset ini hanya menunjukkan adanya keterkaitan, dan bukan memastikan adanya sebab-akibat. Artinya, belum ada yang benar-benar menyarankan para wanita untuk mulai minum kopi demi mengurangi depresi.

Kopi di Obsat

Banyak hal2 menarik yang sedang tak sempat dilakukan. Blogging, misalnya; atau mengambil gambar atau mereview buku untuk blog; atau meluangkan waktu berbincang dengan sesama blogger :). Namun, sambil tetap diapit oleh hari2 dengan kesibukan yang menarik, aku meluangkan sebuah Rabu malam untuk kembali hadir di Langsat. Langsat sudah agak berubah. Sebuah rumah di jalan yang sama disewa khusus untuk tempat kopdar (yang disini dinamai OBSAT: Obrolan Langsat), sementara rumah yang lama dikhususkan untuk kantor :). Namun aktivisnya tak banyak berbeda :). Dan aku hadir malam itu, selain agar tampak seolah sopan pada senior, juga karena temanya: kopi :).

Peserta hadir sekitar 20-30 orang. Speakernya Toni Wahid (Cikopi), Adi WT (Secangkir Kopi), Mirza Lukman (Starbucks), Hendri Kurniawan (Espresso 1st). Mungkin masih ada lagi :). Model perbincangan di OBSAT agak unik. Para speaker ada di depan bersama-sama, dan sharing bergantian dengan cara yang agak acak. Judulnya memang obrolan sih, haha. Tapi tetap pakai presentasi Powerpoint :). Dan jadi cukup sulit merunut balik catatan aku untuk mengingat siapa bercerita apa :). Kadang2 satu cerita diceritakan beramai2 juga sih. Kan obrolan.

Berikut beberapa catatan yang sama acaknya:

Beberapa teknik membuat kopi di rumah
- Coffee Syfon. Ini favorit Toni W. Ia menggunakan perangkat bermerk Hario dari Jepang. Berbentuk dua tabung cembung yang diikat di bagian tengah. Bubuk kopi diletakkan di atas, dan air di bawah. Air dipanaskan dengan pembakar kecil. Air yang panas menekan ke atas. Panas dan tekanan mengekstraksi kopi.
- Moka Pot. Ini favorit aku sih sebenernya, dan pernah dibahas di blog ini. Tapi sejak pindah ke Jakarta, aku agak malah mengakses kompor dan burner, jadi moka pot ini tak sering lagi digunakan.
- French Press. Ini favorit Starbucks (untuk brewing), dan tak heran kita sering ditawari benda ini di Starbucks. Pernah dibahas di blog ini juga, benda semacam ini menemaniku setiap pagi untuk menyiapkan kopi pagi.
- Vietnam drip. Baca di sini kalau berminat :).
- Kopi tubruk.
- Espresso machine. Tapi yang ini tentu amat serius. Dan mahal, haha.
Espresso
- Di Italia, kopi adalah espresso. Di café, kopi ini dibuat dan langsung diminum sambil berdiri. Kalau duduk harus bayar lagi :).
- Orang Amerika tak tahan pahitnya espresso. Jadi mereka mengencerkannya dengan air. Dan namanya jadi Americano.
- Kopi espresso terbaik di seluruh dunia umumnya mengandung kopi robusta Indonesia, untuk memberi nuansa rasa pahit yang khas.
- Banyak yang mengira epsresso memiliki kadar kafein paling tinggi. Padahal kafein dilepas terus menerus selama penjerangan. Jadi kemungkinan justru kopi tubruklah yang memiliki kadar kafein tertinggi.
Kopi di Beberapa Negara
- Di Vietnam, kopi dibuat dengan Vietnam drip. Lalu dicampur dengan susu kental manis :).
- Di India, terutama bagian Utara, orang jarang minum kopi. Juga café agak sulit dicari. Umumnya orang lebih suka masala chai (????? ???) daripada kopi.
- Di Italia, orang tak meminum cappucino di sekitar waktu makan.
Kopi Indonesia
- Beberapa narasumber sepakat: Kopi Gayo adalah kopi terbaik
- Yang juga patut dicoba adalah kopi-kopi Papua: Wamena, Nabire
- Untuk kopi robusta, konon yang paling schedap berasal dari Temanggung
- Namun sebenarnya tidak ada standar rasa kopi terbaik. Rasa kopi itu sungguh subyektif
- Seluruh narasumber sepakat: kopi luwak rasanya tidak istimewa. Ia terkenal karena promosi, menggunakan seleb, masuk ke Oprah, dan berkesan unik (faeces gitu loh). Banyak rasanya biasa. Banyak sekali kopi yang lebih enak
- Di Banyuwangi ada Kopi Nangka dari kopi terfermentasi yang konon rasanya minta ampun.
Pengolahan kopi
- Biji kopi dapat disimpan hingga beberapa tahun, dan dikategorikan rasanya berdasar umur. Ini cuma soal rasa, bukan kualitas.
- Roaster menentukan mutu kopi yang terolah. Juga roaster lah yang paling memahami hasil kerja petani kopi.
- Barrista / brewer bertugas mengejawantahkan (sic) hasil kerja roaster. Roaster sebaiknya ex barrista/brewer.
- Setelah kopi disangrai/dipanggang, dia akan mengeluarkan CO2 beberapa hari. Jangan dulu diolah. Untuk kopi blended, sebaiknya ditunggu sekitar 7 hari.
- Setelah digiling, kopi harus segera diminum. Best: digiling dan langsung diminum. Ini karena minyak esensial kopi mudah menguap.

Sambil berbincang, kami juga disuguhi kopi oleh Bel Canto. Surprise: kopi ini dibuat di Malang! Aku pikir tadinya Malang cuman punya Sido Mulia, haha. Bel Canto ini menyediakan kopi-kopi arabika Indonesia berkualitas tinggi: Java, Gayo, Wamena, dll. Bel Canto berbaik hati untuk memberiku sebungkus kopi Gayo untuk dicoba di rumah. Pas kopi Gayo di rumah baru habis. Thank you :).

Pulang … mendadak hujan amat deras mengguyur Jakarta :D

Oh ya, foto di atas diambil dari CIKOPI.COM. Aku lagi nggak bisa bikin foto-foto yang bagus :).

Caswell’s Java

Tapi memang seharusnya ada Undang-Undang atau Peraturan Pemerintah lainnya yang bisa menahan sekian persen produk Indonesia terbaik agar tetap dapat dipasarkan di Indonesia. Teh dan kopi misalnya :). Dengan lelang dan kontrak jangka panjang, teh dan kopi terbaik hampir seluruhnya diekspor. Dan untuk memperolehnya kembali, kita harus melakukan reimport, dalam jumlah yang tentu jauh lebih kecil. Harganya jadi menarik, karena sudah terbebani sekian kali tarif dan bea ekspor dan impor di setidaknya dua negara :). Biarpun tidak secara khusus, Starbucks melakukan reimpor kopi-kopi Indonesia, agar pengunjung asing dapat memperoleh suasana Indonesia dengan kopi Indonesia di Starbucks Indonesia. Importir lain yang cukup menarik adalah Caswell’s.

Cabang Caswell’s Café pertama di Indonesia dibuka di Kemang tahun 2000. Di sini, didapati bahwa banyak pengunjung yang menginginkan kopi Indonesia, yang tentu dipilih dari kualitas terbaik. Henry Harmon, pemilik Caswell’s, memutuskan memenuhi permintaan itu. Ia mengikuti pelatihan2 untuk menyiapkan kopi berkualitas tinggu, lalu mengimpor pemanggang kopi Diedrich Roaster dari US. Barulah ia melakukan reimpor kopi-kopi Java dari Seattle.

Aku sendiri bukan penganut gaya hidup Kemang :). Jadi malah belum berminat datang ke café itu. Sua pertama dengan kopi Caswell’s justru terjadi di Urban Kitchen Pacific Place, tempat Caswell’s sempat menempatkan café kecil. Di sana dijual juga biji2 kopi yang ditempatkan di stoples kaca. Ada Java Mocha, ada Java Jampit, dll. Pada Abang Barista, aku tanya bedanya, dan sambil senyum malu, di mengakui bahwa dia nggak tahu bedanya. Aku harus coba dua2nya. Haha. Mungkin aku yang harus cerita ke Abang Barista bahwa Jampit adalah nama salah satu perkebunan di Gunung Ijen yang menghasilkan Java Arabica. Jadi nama itu mengimplikasikan kopi arabica yang 100% berasal dari Jampit. Homogen. Sedangkan Java Mocha, mungkin hasil blend.

Di sebelah East Mall Grand Indonesia ada Ranch Market baru. Di sana aku bersua Caswell’s lagi. Kali ini sudah dalam kemasan kedap udara yang rapi, berwarna hitam, dengan label stiker yang berisi jenis kopi, lengkap dengan penjelasannya. Java Mocha ternyata adalah blend dari Java dengan sedikit tambahan dari Abyssinia (tempat kopi mocha yang asli berasal). Aku ambil dua bungkus kemasan seperempat kilo, satu Java Jampit dan satu Java Mocha.

Si Java Mocha menemaniku sahur dari hari pertama Ramadhan tahun ini. Digiling 13,7 detik dengan grinder kecilku, terus disedu dalam cafetière selama 5 menit. Perfect taste. Memang soal rasa itu subyektif, jadi aku juga nggak banyak bahas di blog ini :). Tapi ini terasa pas sekali untuk menutup sahur, sekaligus mencatu darah dengan kafein sepanjang hari-hari Ramadhan.

Carpuccino: Mobil Berbahan Bakar Ampas Kopi

IET, Institution of Engineering and Technology, adalah asosiasi insinyur internasional yang berpusat di Inggris. Minggu ini di web IET mendadak ada berita menarik tentang mobil berbahan bakar kopi. Mobil ini adalah VW Scirocco tahun 1988 yang dibeli di eBay seharga £400, kemudian dimodifikasi sehingga ia tak memerlukan bahan bakar lain, selain ampas kopi. Ampas kopi! Penciptanya adalah Jem Stansfield, seorang presenter dari BBC. Ia merakit pembakar yang memanggang ampas kopi sehingga menghasilkan uap yang mudah terbakar, lalu memproses uap itu menjadi energi.

Mobil ini mampu menempuh perjalanan dari London ke Manchester, dengan bahan bakar ampas kopi dari 11.000 takar espresso.Mobil dibawa dari BBC TV Centre di London, melalui Birmingham, Coventry (tentu saja!), dan Crewe, dan berakhir di Bing Bang Science Fair di Manchester. Perjalanan memakan waktu 17 jam, karena sempat ada hambatan.

Mobil ini tentu masih jauh dari sempurna. Harus berhenti setiap 60-70 mil untuk memastikan penyaring bersih. Juga suhu harus terus menerus diamati, dan perlu didinginkan saat suhu terlalu tinggi. Tapi kecepatan bisa mencapai sekitar 100 km/jam (55 – 70 mph di artikel aslinya). Tak buruk untuk energi dari limbah!

Penelitian memang mengungkapkan bahwa bubuk kopi memiliki kandungan energi yang lebih tinggi dan menghasilkan lebih sedikit abu ketika dibakar, dibandingkan dengan limbah kertas, daun atau kayu. Dengan dana yang terbatas dari BBC – yang berjumlah hanya £ 700 – Stansfield dkk membangun mobil yang dinamai Carpuccino itu di rumahnya di Brighton.