
Malaysian coffee has a strong, slightly bitter but highly aromatic flavour, which comes from liberica and robusta beans varieties and the way the beans are roasted. In Malaysia, they roast twice – first, the beans are roasted the traditional way before being roasted with sugar and butter.
Malaysians love their coffee. Kopitiam, the coffee shops, often run by descendants of Chinese immigrants, is where the locals like spending their time. They are often found sitting for hours around marble tables drinking coffee and reading newspapers or chatting with friends, with ceiling fans whirring above their heads.
It is quite surprising that coffee became so popular in Malaysia, the country colonised by the English, the world-known tea drinkers. But Malaysian coffee, pronounced “kopi” in Bahasa Malaysia, is a world apart from cappuccino, espresso or flat white – it is strong, thick and bitter.
The distinctive taste of Malaysian coffee comes from the beans and the way they are roasted. In Malaysia, they mainly use liberica beans variety as well as robusta, which produce strong and earthy coffee. Made by pouring boiling water through the coffee grounds held in the sock, a traditional cloth filter, it is drunk hot or iced, black, with copious amounts of sugar (traditional kopi-O) or with condensed milk (simply kopi).
Curious to see the way they roast coffee, I tried to locate a traditional coffee roaster but many closed their business, turned into a museum or moved far away from Georgetown. When I was about to give up, I received the address of Kun Kee factory.
Located among historic shophouses in Georgetown, Kun Kee is one of the oldest traditional coffee roasters in Penang. Their famous brand made from robusta coffee beans, Salute Kopi O, with its iconic logo of the saluting navy officer, is found everywhere in Malaysia. Since the start of their business in the 1950s, they have grown from a small family owned coffee roaster into a large coffee producer in Malaysia supplying their coffee all over the country and even overseas.
Today, the company is run by the second-generation coffee producer, who has inherited the trade from his father, who left China for Penang before the Japanese occupation of Hainan. Through this hardworking and perseverance, he was promoted from a simple employer to the coffee business owner.
With the pre-arrangement made a day earlier, I arrived to the Kun Kee coffee roaster premises when the first jute coffee bags were being loaded in the truck ready to be delivered to clients.
In the meantime, the coffee roasting was about to start. In Malaysia, the coffee roasting is done twice giving the coffee low acidity and earthy taste. In the first place, the beans are roasted the traditional way until they become dark brown.
After the first roasting, the beans are roasted again, this time with sugar and butter, however, for cheaper, lower quality coffee, butter is replaced with margarine. Apparently, butter and sugar were traditionally used to disguise the taste of cheap liberica beans. This Malay traditional coffee roasting method gives the coffee its special aroma and taste, a distinctively burnt and slightly bitter flavour, highly aromatic and heavy in body.
The premises are quite dark and smoky. The coffee beans are being roasted making smoke billow up and creating an intense, thick aroma.
The mixture of coffee beans, sugar and butter is roasted and constantly stirred until it becomes a dark sludge. It is then poured into a large metal tray, where it is cooled by fans and blowers. Now, the sludge becomes a solid mixture, which looks like tar. It is then broken into large pieces with flat shovels, run through a machine to break it into smaller pieces before being passed through the grinding machine to become the coffee powder.
For the next few mornings, drinking my usual cup of kopi-O, every sip of coffee reminded me of the smoky room, intense aroma and a dedication of just a handful of men, who, day by day, patiently roast their famous coffee.
Practical Information
Location: Coffee roaster Kun Kee can be found at 20, Jalan Cheong Fatt Tze in Georgetown in Penang state of Malaysia.
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Written by ANYWAYINAWAY
Olga and Errol are the Swiss-Russian couple behind ANYWAYINAWAY. Passionate about unique culture and traditions, they decided to take career breaks and explore the world with the intention to expand awareness and provide new perspectives to the understanding of ethnic minority people, customs, traditions and culture. They also show the beauty of our planet and try to find something interesting in the ordinary.
Nick Larson
Posted at 09:25h, 23 DecemberI quite like the Malay coffee, since I like it somewhat strong, and it feels like it fits the Penang weather too (I was there in June). I do think though that the sugar that is added on the second roast kills some of the aroma, it trades too much of the coffee flavors for an heavy taste. Now it sort of makes sense for some coffee beans that are poorly aromatic in the first place, but I’d cut the sugar by 2 third. Reminds me of the Spanish torrefacto too.
Errol Olga
Posted at 17:35h, 29 FebruaryIndeed, the Malay coffee is very special. I am not sure if I miss it now but while in Malaysia I didn’t spend a single day without having a few cups. Too much sugar or not, I think the Malay love their coffee this way.
Dean sandri
Posted at 03:09h, 03 DecemberWe just stopped there. They don’t allow visitors or offer tours. However you can buy their roasted beans or ground coffee there.
Errol Olga
Posted at 17:30h, 29 FebruaryYes, they don’t offer tours. They kindly allowed me to photograph the coffee roasting.
Ann Wong
Posted at 04:52h, 01 DecemberHello, are they allowed any visits by anyone? What is the operations hours?
Olga
Posted at 21:21h, 20 DecemberHi, I don’t know. I explained the reason why I want to photograph the coffee roasting and they kindly gave me an access. You can try too, and ask what is the best time to come. There is also a shop attached to the factory, where you can buy a variety of coffee. Good luck!