Krinjing Kopi Emper Coffee & Durian Village

Some people know that what they have is worth fighting for, and Pak Nasopi is doing his best to rekindle the next generation’s enthusiasm for their ancestral farmland, the beautiful and bountiful land covered in Javanese spices, gingers and cardamoms, hillside coffee, and of course – old durian trees.

Desa Krinjing Village, Salaman

Desa Krinjing is an unlikely location for an artisanal coffee shop.

There are only 46 people left in the entire village, most people having left for the city to work. It’s a small, quiet, aging community set in the misty hillside, around 580 meters above sea level.

But Pak Nasopi, the village headman, has big dreams to bring the younger generation back home from the city.

Kopi Emper Krinjing

In September 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, Pak Nasopi decided to open his emper as a community coffee shop.

Every village house in Indonesia has an emper, a covered outdoor seating area where the family eats and relaxes. The direct translation to English is a patio, but that’s not quite right because in American lingo, a patio would be attached to the back or front of a house.

But an emper is usually sheltered in between the houses, more like a courtyard in a compound.

Kopi Ireng Krinjing is set up under a large thatched roof. Around it grows vanilla vines and gingers. A small nursery is set up in the corner sprouting durians.

It’s an indoor-outdoor environment, protected from the sun and rain, and a great place to learn about the flavors that spice Javanese culture.

The Coffee

As we sat down at the small round tables in the kopi emper, we were surprised to see a teenaged man deftly make a V60 pour-over.

Remember, we are in a village of only 46 people.

But part of Nasopi’s dream is to create a future for the young people in his village, so the kopi emper also serves as Barista Training.

It’s like Pak Nasopi is looking at the future and the past at the same time: Krinjing has grown coffee as the main cash crop since the Dutch Colonial times, but it was only in 2018 that Pak Nasopi decided to start the Krinjing Kopi Brand and start selling online on Tokopedia.

But while their coffee is now available to buy online, it’s the village experience that is starting to bring local tourists to Krinjing Kopi Emper.

Telo Rambat

Along with the coffee, Krinjing Kopi Emper also serves a selection of local snacks. The morning that we visited, they were serving Telo Rambat, a type of starchy, white-fleshed sweet potato almost like a smoother cassava.

They had them in 3 forms — steamed, roasted over a fire, and pounded into keropok, or crackers.

But, being only 7AM – we had eyes only for the freshly dropped durian Pak Nasopi placed on the table.

Like most villages, Krinjing has a “Durian Forest” up the hill behind the village, a loosely managed farmland where they grow spices and herbs below the towering durian trees.

Pak Nasopi explained that many of the trees were planted by his grandfather or the grandfather before. The rest were planted by his father, who had been growing mahagony previously and switched fully to durian by the early 1990’s.

Kapulaga – Java Cardamom (A. compactum)

As we headed up the hill from Pak Nasopi’s house, we noticed a low-growing palm clustered along the walking trails and under the durian trees.

Kapulaga, or Amomum compactum, is in the ginger family. It is one of the income sources for Krinjing Village because it grows all year round and can be harvested every 40 days. At 50,000 IDR per kg ($3.50 USD), it’s a decent income stream for the villagers.

The edible part of the plant grows just along the soil line.

Pak Nasobi rustled around in the leaves until he found a long rhizome covered in Cardamom berries. One rhizome even had a small flower.

The rhizome itself can be pressed for oil, but the key is the cardamom berry.

The villagers like to munch these fresh for their a refreshingly cool menthol aftertaste. It was like a breath mint, but with crispy seeds that pop under your teeth.

Most commonly, the berries are dried and used in traditional teas and some soups.

We wanted to try some of the traditional teas they also serve at Kopi Emper Krinjing, but unfortunately we spent so long out in the durian farm we didn’t have time.

Because if you take the time to go out to the farm, you will see one of the most amazing feats of human skill and bravery.

The Durian

The durian trees are huge. To keep the fruits from breaking on impact, a climber is sent up early in the season to rope the durians to the tree, so that when they fall they dangle in space instead of crashing onto the Java Cardamoms below.

We sent up the drone to watch Pak Sugeng, the climber, as he tight-rope walked along a large branch and stood, 60 feet up in the air, handling a pair of scissors to snip the durians free from their tethers.

Can we emphasize that he is not holding onto anything but the durian?!

Then he attached the durians to a new rope and lowered them down to Pak Nasopi below.

It’s a two-man job; the climber in space, and the catcher below, who unties the durian from the rope and gives it a quick two-pulls to let the climber know he can pull it back up.

While we waited for the climber to gather another bundle to send down, Pak Nasopi sorted through the durians and checked them for flaws. This one, he said would be the best of the bunch.

Locals believe that squirrels and other animals instinctually select the sweetest and most nutritious durian, so this one was definitely about to get eaten by the crew of durian harvesters.

At the end of the harvest, a small suitable tree was found and broken to serve as a carrying pole.

All the durians are bundled onto the ends, and Pak Sugeng shouldered the durians to head back down the hill toward the village to feast again.

As a joke, they offered me the Durian Pole. I decided to take it!

The durians only weighed around 20kg, so it wasn’t too heavy even for me. No problem! I thought.

What I didn’t take into consideration was that the durians swing unsteadily. The path to village was uneven and slippery with mud. With the extra bouncing weight of the durians, I found my sandals sliding on the smooth surfaces and needed to be helped down the final descent to the village.

Conclusion

Pak Nasobi believes that Krinjing Village has something extraordinary to offer to visitors and also the world.

“Here is almost everything you need for life,” he says. “We have Durian, cubeb pepper, ginger, turmeric, cardamom..almost everything.”

But it’s the blending of the old and the new, the mindset that Pak Nasopi has, that really makes Krinjing Kopi Emper an amazing destination for Durian Tourists who want to learn about the flavors of Central Java.

How to get to Kopi Ireng Krinjing

Kopi Iring Krinjing is located around a one-hour’s drive from Borobudor. It’s best to get up early when you have the best chance of a clear view of Mt. Sumbing as you drive toward the farm.

The road to Kopi Iring Krinjing is narrow but paved the whole way. We had to no trouble accessing it in our rental Toyota Avanza.

You can find Nasopi on Instagram at: @kopikrinjing_085711955046 or on WhatsApp at +62085711955046