Jakarta’s next wave: a follow-up guide to specialty coffee in the city

Last week I published a guide to some of the best specialty coffee shops in Jakarta, a list curated for those visiting the city for World of Coffee 2025. The response was encouraging, and I stand by the list. From Giyanti to 1/15, Common Grounds to Kopikalyan, these are the institutions that built Jakarta’s coffee culture and helped define specialty in Indonesia.

You can read that article here.

But shortly after it went live, I received a thoughtful message from a local specialty coffee observer Niko Prayogo, known on Instagram as @mycoffeejournal. Niko pointed out a few helpful corrections (the original article has since been updated) and suggested several more places a first-time visitor should try, especially if they want to understand what’s happening now in Jakarta’s specialty coffee scene.

This follow-up is built on those recommendations.

If the first article was about Jakarta’s established greats, this one is a list of the newer, smaller, and often more experimental roasteries and tasting rooms that are shaping the city’s future and showing the world what Indonesian coffee can become.

Why Jakarta? Why Now?

There’s no better time to be in Jakarta than right now.

For the first time in its history, World of Coffee is being held in a producing country. That’s not just symbolic. It’s a meaningful shift in how the global coffee community views origin (at least one can hope it is), not just as the source of beans, but as the source of talent, innovation, and leadership.

Indonesia is the fourth-largest coffee producer in the world, with rich diversity across its growing regions, Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, Bali, and Flores among them. Each region offers distinct cup profiles, post-harvest experimentation, and a growing focus on traceability and quality.

But more than that, Indonesia has also been quietly becoming a global force in competition coffee.

In 2024, Mikel Jasin won the World Barista Championship. Ryan Wibawa placed third in the World Brewers Cup. Competitors like Shayla Philippa, Mandie Soengkono, Taufan Mokoginta, and Wisnu Aji have also made significant placements in recent years. These are not one-offs. They’re signs of an ecosystem that’s coming into its own.

So if you’re visiting Jakarta for World of Coffee 2025, don’t just spend your time inside the Jakarta Convention Center. Step out and explore the city’s living, brewing, evolving coffee culture.

Here are five places Niko recommends and that I now do, too.

Roots and Acre

Distance from JCC: ~30 minutes by car

Roots and Acre was founded by Bernard Juan, a roaster and green buyer who’s been traveling across Java and Aceh to meet with smallholder farmers. The goal? To learn, source, and share coffees that reflect the depth and diversity of the archipelago.

Rather than running a traditional café, Bernard hosts periodic tasting sessions, focused, thoughtful experiences where each coffee comes with full context: where it’s from, how it was processed, and what makes it distinct.

What to try: Keep an eye on @rootsandacre on Instagram and book a session if one is scheduled while you’re in town.

Onward Coffee Company

Distance from JCC: ~35 minutes by car

Founded by former competitor Otniel Christopher, Onward is a small roastery with a big influence. Otniel now spends his time coaching and roasting for other Indonesian champions, supplying competition coffee with the clarity, balance, and complexity needed to stand out on the world stage.

Onward’s roasts are technically sharp and often reflect experimental approaches in fermentation or varietal selection. If you’re someone who appreciates high-extraction, competition-level brews, this is your spot.

What to try: Ask about the latest coffee used in national or global competitions. The tasting experience is deliberate and curated.

Andrew’s Roastworks

Distance from JCC: ~25 minutes by car

Andrew’s Roastworks is led by Andrew Tandra, a roaster and competitor with an uncompromising approach to quality. The space functions less like a café and more like a brew lab: clean design, rotating microlots, and high-level conversations about roast profiles and brew parameters.

Andrew is also a coach, which makes this spot a kind of training ground for baristas and brewers looking to level up.

What to try: Go for a hand-brewed filter and ask what’s new off the roaster. The baristas are open, geeky, and happy to share.

Omakafé

Distance from JCC: ~20 minutes by car

The personal project of 2024 World Barista Champion Mikel Jasin, Omakafé is part café, part lab, part staging ground. Mikel uses the space to experiment with brewing techniques, new gear, and fermentation profiles. You’re just as likely to see a refractometer as a milk pitcher.

There’s no set menu. Instead, expect a rotating lineup of what Mikel and his team are currently exploring. The vibe is ultra-focused, and the brews reflect the same.

What to try: Ask for the omakase tasting experience, a flight of current brews with explanations of each. It’s a front-row seat to world-class brewing.

This is The Room

Distance from JCC: ~20 minutes by car

This is where Ryan Wibawa, third place at the 2024 World Brewers Cup, invites guests to slow down and taste with intention. This Is The Room is minimalist, silent, and beautifully restrained. No distractions, no playlists, just Ryan, the coffee, and you.

Each tasting session here is calibrated with care. You’re not just getting a good cup, you’re being invited to think about how and why it was made.

What to try: Ryan’s curated brews change often. Let him lead the experience. Bring your palate and your questions.

This list isn’t definitive

Indonesia has always grown incredible coffee. But now it’s roasting it, brewing it, and competing with it on the global stage.

World of Coffee 2025 in Jakarta is historic. For the first time, the industry’s most important event is being held at origin. But if you want to understand what that means beyond the headlines, you need to go drink what Indonesia is producing today.

Thanks to locals like Niko Prayogo (@mycoffeejournal), visitors like you and me can navigate this vibrant, ever-evolving scene with a little more clarity and a lot more flavor.

This list isn’t definitive. No list ever is. But it’s a damn good place to start.