Kopi Tubruk

Kopi tubruk is Indonesia’s everyday coffee, and one of the simplest anywhere: ground coffee and sugar in a glass, topped with very hot water, stirred and left until the grounds sink. There’s no pot and no filter. Tubruk is Javanese for “collision”, and Tugu Hotels calls it “mud coffee”, because of the grounds at the bottom of the glass. It’s drunk across Indonesia, particularly on Java and Bali, where it’s known as kopi selem, “black coffee”. Here’s how to make it.

The short version

• About two teaspoons of ground coffee per glass, with sugar to taste.
• Very hot water, just off the boil (about 93–96°C), poured on top.
• Stir, then wait 2 to 5 minutes for the grounds to sink.
• Sip slowly and stop before the grounds.
• Not hot enough, and the grounds float.

How does kopi tubruk work?

It’s immersion brewing in the cup itself. The boiling water “cooks” the coffee as it steeps, and as the grounds become saturated, they sink to the bottom. You drink the clear coffee above them. It works best with water that’s really hot: The Jakarta Post notes that water from a dispenser often isn’t hot enough to cook the grounds, which then stay floating on the surface. A furious boil isn’t ideal either: Tugu Hotels warns that it can give an acidic cup, and both Nescafé Indonesia and a coffee competition judge quoted by Kompas suggest 92 to 96°C.

How much coffee and sugar?

The Jakarta Post describes two teaspoons of ground coffee per glass, with sugar to taste; Tugu Hotels uses two teaspoons of coffee and one of sugar. If you’d rather weigh it, Kompas gives 1:15, for example 10 g of coffee to 150 ml of water, and Nescafé Indonesia a stronger 15 g to a 140 ml cup. The sugar goes in before the water, so it dissolves as the coffee brews.

For kopi susu, add sweetened condensed milk. Many Indonesians drink kopi tubruk with sweet snacks such as pisang goreng, fried banana.

What grind size should I use?

Opinions differ. Wikipedia describes finely ground coffee, and Nescafé Indonesia notes that fine grounds settle more easily, while coarse grounds can stay on the surface. Some prefer a coarser grind: baristas quoted by Kompas recommend medium, like granulated sugar, warning that too fine turns bitter and too coarse sour. The Tugu Hotels blog notes that fans of fine grinds accept a little more silt in exchange for a stronger flavour. Start fine and adjust.

How do you make kopi tubruk, step by step?

1. Put about two teaspoons of coffee and sugar to taste in a heatproof glass.
2. Pour in very hot water, just off the boil, about 93–96°C.
3. Stir to dissolve the sugar.
4. Leave it 2 to 5 minutes while the grounds sink. Some people tap the glass on the table to help them settle, and Kompas suggests skimming off any grounds still floating.
5. Sip slowly, stopping before the grounds.

Brew mode on this page times the settling for you.

Where does kopi tubruk come from?

The Jakarta Post and Wikipedia say kopi tubruk is thought to have come from a similar recipe brought to Indonesia by traders from the Middle East, which is why it’s so close to Turkish coffee. The Jakarta Post adds that in villages it was traditionally seen as a male privilege, though more and more women now drink it too.

Kopi tubruk vs other unfiltered coffee

	Kopi tubruk	Turkish coffee	Cowboy coffee
Made in	The glass	A cezve	A pot
Grind	Usually fine	Powder	Coarse
Heat	Very hot water poured on	Heated slowly to a foam	Water just off the boil
Grounds	Sink in the glass	Settle in the cup	Left in the pot

General guidance only. Use a heatproof glass, take care with boiling water, and let it cool a little before drinking.

Kopi tubruk vs other methods

• Kopi joss: Yogyakarta’s coffee with a burning lump of charcoal.
• Kopi sock: Malaysian and Singaporean coffee strained through cloth.
• Turkish coffee: powder-fine coffee heated in a cezve.
• Vietnamese phin: Southeast Asian coffee through a metal drip filter.

Explore every boiled method in the boiled chapter.