Jakarta civil servant turns office into ‘coffee shop’

A room on the 19th floor at City Hall in Central Jakarta has been turned into a café where officials can enjoy home-brewed coffee.

No piles of papers or stationary, but all kinds of coffee makers and a variety of coffee beans can be found in the office of Jakarta Mental and Spiritual Education Bureau head Hendra Hidayat.

“I have an espresso machine, Vietnam drip, French press, aeropress, chiffon, coffee grinder, milk frother and both a regular and capsule coffee maker,” Hendra told kompas.com on Wednesday. The surface of his work table — and another table nearby — is covered in coffee machines.

As a coffee enthusiast, Hendra went on to name his coffee bean collection that originated from many regions throughout the country: Gayo in Aceh, Bali, Lampung and Wamena in Papua to name a few.

Hendra proudly said his “private coffee shop” had gained popularity among his fellow civil servants. His friends often visit his office after attending meetings to have cups of coffee and to relax.

He mentioned several famous names like former Jakarta governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat and the Home Ministry’s regional autonomy director general, Sumarsono, who once was an acting Jakarta governor during the city’s gubernatorial election last year.

“Most of them were surprised. Even Djarot asked, ‘Wow, you’ve got a lot of tools here’, to which I replied with simple, ‘Yes, sir’,” Hendra said.

“While having coffee here, [my friends and I] never talk about work. They come in, I make them coffee, we chat and joke around, and then we go home,” he added, noting that Deputy Governor Sandiaga Uno had also enjoyed his coffee after lunch a couple days ago.

According to Ottencoffee.co.id, a popular e-commerce platform that sells everything any coffee enthusiast needs, the tools and equipment in Hendra’s office cost millions of rupiah.

A French press costs about Rp 350,000 (US$24.90) to Rp 810,000. A regular coffee maker, meanwhile, costs approximately Rp 1 million. One of the most expensive equipment that Hendra has is his espresso machine, which ranges from Rp 5 million to hundreds of millions of rupiah.

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