When you’re a coffee junkie, you regret any missed opportunity to try new java joints while traveling. So when my husband and I got afflicted with some kind of mysterious virus toward the tail end of our Indonesian getaway, I was quite distraught. With a barely there appetite, the thought of downing  a rich cup of Indonesian coffee brought about even more ill feelings than the evil chills and incorrigible cold sweat I was already battling. And though I had absolutely no control over this sickness, I still scolded myself for wasting three days bedridden instead of gallivanting about Jogjakarta sampling more fascinating coffee establishments.

I made the blink-once-and-you’re-there jaunt from Jogjakarta to Jakarta to spend a day with my extended family before jetting off the next morning for the States. Heavy raindrops pelted the windows of Batik Air as the plane gently kissed the runway of Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport. No surprise as early January still falls within Indonesia’s rainy season. As I sauntered to baggage claim to fetch my bulging suitcases, I caught my aunt and cousin Dian waving vigorously to me behind the glass wall with the relentless rain pouring down rapidly in the background.

I know they carved out time from their busy work day to pick me up, contending with both the wicked rain and the clogged traffic of Jakarta. But I just had to ask of them one extra favor. With doe eyes and a sheepish tone of voice, I requested that we spend a little chunk of this early afternoon at a coffee shop. My appetite emerged slightly from the doldrums of my virus and I was starting to crave my “best friend” again. They gleefully agreed, completing understanding my fetish for coffee, especially after I explained my plight of having missed out on trying more coffee shops during the throes of my illness.

We stuck to a venue near my aunt’s home, to avoid getting caught in any thick pockets of traffic elsewhere in this crowded metropolis. With her stellar stick shift skills, Dian glided into a tiny plaza where the svelte Kopimana27 became ours for the taking. I like how she scurried to the trunk to exchange her sandals for a pair of heels. I’d follow suit if I had the extra luggage space to pack some pumps. The coffee shop very much mimics the likes of any Western cafe, with a minimalist but stylish interior sure to melt the hearts of hipsters from Jakarta to Manhattan. I was captivated by the duo of baristas who were as chic and bohemian as any coffee tender in the East Village. I thought to myself, how lucky they were to concoct exotic coffee drinks all day in their kimono and industrial apron, and imagined that they were budding artists at night, penning witty screenplays and painting abstract landscapes.

Kopimana27 featured special grounds plucked from coffee-rich producing regions of Indonesia. I tried the sweet and light-bodied Gayo black honey, grown in the hillsides of the Aceh region in North Sumatra. The kimono-clad barista brewed this baby in a Chemex style contraption. She then presented the coffe to me in a mini carafe with a dainty glass snugly wedged at the top. Dian enjoyed her decadent cappuccino with earthy blue Batak Arabica coffee native to the Lake Toba area. My aunt took a spin with the deep and fruity Toraja coffee, from the mountainous Sulawesi area of the same moniker. We paired our coffee with a cake doughnut for an extra pick-me-up.

We hammed it up this afternoon, extending the same attention to our selfies as we extended to photos of the coffee and the shop. Dian mentioned she caught the guy sitting at the table next to us slyly looking over and smiling, as if he assumed he was the main subject of our snap shooting. I’m happy to have indulged in one last sip of Indonesian coffee with my loved ones at a ultra-cool cafe. My aunt and cousin have dared me to come back and spend a month working from Indonesia. I’m a remote employee and the notion is quite tempting. I’d have to work during the nocturnal hours to accommodate East Coast time. Well, with heaps and heaps of coffee options at my fingertips, I’ll certainly have no shortage of caffeine to keep me awake and alert.