# Kopi Joss Source: https://dailyextraction.com/methods/kopi-joss/ Last updated: 2026-10-19 > Kopi joss is Yogyakarta's charcoal coffee. Ground coffee and sugar go in a glass, boiling water is poured over, and a red-hot lump of charcoal from the stove is dropped in, where it sizzles. It's credited to a street stall owner known as Lik Man (also Lek Man, Pak Man), said to have started in the 1960s. ## At a glance - Category: Boiled & Traditional (Immersion) - Difficulty: Advanced - Origin: Indonesia - Also known as: kopi jos, charcoal coffee, Yogyakarta charcoal coffee ## Steps 1. **Coffee and sugar in the glass**: Put ground coffee and sugar in a heatproof glass. 2. **Pour boiling water**: Pour boiling water over the coffee and sugar, and stir. 3. **Add the charcoal**: The vendor drops a red-hot lump of charcoal from the stove into the glass, where it sizzles. 4. **Let it settle**: Leave it a few minutes while the grounds settle, then sip around the charcoal. **Kopi joss** is the coffee of the night-time street stalls of **Yogyakarta**, on Java: sweet coffee served with a **red-hot lump of charcoal** dropped straight into the glass. The coal **sizzles** as it hits, and that sound is said to give the drink its name. It's credited to a stall owner known as **Lik Man**, and today it's one of the city's best-known street treats. Here's how it's made and where it came from. ## The short version - **Sweet Javanese coffee** with a **burning lump of charcoal** in the glass. - **Named for the sizzle** as the coal hits the coffee. - **Credited to Lik Man**, a Yogyakarta stall owner, around the 1960s. - **Health claims are unproven.** - **Best tried from a vendor**, not made at home. ## How is kopi joss made? 1. **Ground coffee and sugar** go into a heatproof glass, as for [kopi tubruk](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/kopi-tubruk/). 2. **Boiling water** is poured over them and stirred. 3. The vendor takes a **red-hot piece of charcoal** from the stove that heats the water and **drops it into the glass**, where it sizzles. 4. It's left to settle, and you sip it around the charcoal. Sources differ on how much sugar goes in: Brewminate describes **four spoons**, SilverKris "a couple of spoonfuls". At the original stall, SilverKris watched Lik Man's son, Kobar, add **a second ember** to the glass. Once the charcoal has cooled, you can fish it out and drink. Wikipedia puts the price at around **5,000 rupiah** a glass. ## Who invented kopi joss? Kopi joss is usually credited to a Yogyakarta stall owner known as **Lik Man** (also Lek Man, Pak Man), who is said to have started around the **1960s**. His *angkringan*, a street-food cart, stood near **Tugu Station**. The stories differ: - One says he wanted a way to **reheat** coffee quickly, and perhaps to ease a stomach ache. - Another says he noticed the coal he used to boil water and **decided to dunk a piece** in a cup. - **Wikipedia** says his customers, many of them **railway workers** from East Java, asked for *kopi kothok*, coffee boiled with sugar and water, which he couldn't make, so he dropped a burning coal into the coffee instead. His son Kobar told SilverKris much the same: making it would have needed another stove, so "he put burnt charcoal in the coffee so it would be as hot as kopi klotok". Treat the details as **local legend**: all the versions agree on the stall, the man and the charcoal. ## Is kopi joss good for you? Vendors say it **helps the stomach**, and some articles repeat claims that the charcoal cuts the coffee's acidity and caffeine. I haven't found good evidence for any of this, so I'd treat it as **local lore** and enjoy kopi joss as a piece of Yogyakarta street culture rather than a remedy. ## Where can you try it? In **Yogyakarta**. The original, **Kopi Jos Lik Man**, is on **Jalan Wongsodirjan**, in Gedong Tengen, and SilverKris lists it as open daily from **2pm to 3am**. It's now run by Lik Man's son, Kobar. Other vendors have widely copied the drink, and Brewminate describes it as mainly a novelty for tourists now. ## Kopi joss vs kopi tubruk | | Kopi joss | [Kopi tubruk](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/kopi-tubruk/) | | --- | --- | --- | | Base | Sweet ground coffee and boiling water | Ground coffee, sugar and boiling water | | Extra | A red-hot lump of charcoal | None | | Where | Yogyakarta street stalls | Across Indonesia | | At home? | Not recommended | Easy | *General guidance only. Burning charcoal is extremely hot and gives off fumes: don't try to make kopi joss at home, don't eat the charcoal, and let the glass cool before handling it.* ## Kopi joss vs other methods - **[Kopi tubruk](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/kopi-tubruk/):** Indonesia's everyday grounds coffee. - **[Kopi sock](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/kopi-sock/):** Malaysian and Singaporean cloth-filtered coffee. - **[Vietnamese phin](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/vietnamese-phin/):** sweet coffee through a metal drip filter. - **[Turkish coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/turkish-coffee/):** another unfiltered coffee, made in a cezve. Explore every boiled method in the [boiled chapter](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/boiled/). ## Words used in this guide - [Acidity](https://dailyextraction.com/glossary/acidity/): Acidity in coffee is the bright, lively, juicy quality you taste on the tongue, like the tang of fruit. ## FAQs ### What is kopi joss? Sweet coffee from Yogyakarta, Indonesia, with a red-hot piece of charcoal dropped into the glass. The name is said to come from the sizzling sound the coal makes as it hits the coffee. ### Who invented kopi joss? It's credited to a Yogyakarta street stall owner known as Lik Man (also Lek Man, Pak Man), usually dated to around the 1960s. Accounts differ on why he started dropping charcoal in the coffee. ### Is kopi joss good for you? Vendors say it helps the stomach and that the charcoal makes it milder, but I haven't found good evidence for those claims, so I'd treat them as local lore. ### Where can you try kopi joss? In Yogyakarta. The original stall, Kopi Jos Lik Man, is on Jalan Wongsodirjan, near Tugu Station. SilverKris lists it as open daily from 2pm to 3am. Other vendors have widely copied it. ### Should I make kopi joss at home? I wouldn't. It needs a charcoal fire and burning coal handled with tongs, and is best tried from a vendor who does it every day. ## Sources - [Kopi joss](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopi_joss) - [How Indonesia’s charcoal-infused coffee takes your brew to the next level](https://www.foodrepublic.com/1744412/indonesias-charcoal-infused-coffee-takes-brew-to-next-level) - [Kopi joss: sweet coffee served with a lump of burning coal](https://brewminate.com/kopi-joss-sweet-coffee-served-with-a-lump-of-burning-coal/) - [Yogyakarta: the way to this city’s heart is through its food](https://www.silverkris.com/yogyakarta-the-way-to-this-citys-heart-is-through-its-food/)