Over Coffee #10: Indonesia and France ties, and Indo-Pacific updates

This week’s recap covers new developments in Indonesia’s “Papua strategy”, which has been predominantly militaristic in nature, and some good news on the development of Indonesia and France defence ties. There are also some updates on the Indo-Pacific.

I’m not actually trying any new brands of coffee this week. So far, I’ve been enjoying last week’s batch of wine-processed Gayo beans. Turns out I just needed to adjust the grind size and amount of water. Right now, I’m using a 16:1 ratio of water to coffee. While some might decry this as a travesty since it dilutes the coffee a bit too much, I find this is to be a tolerable ratio simply because the Gayo is just a tad too strong for my taste.

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Over Coffee #8: Indonesia and Singapore ties, and some Myanmar updates

This week’s buzz is mostly over meeting between Joko Widodo and Lee Hsien Loong, which has been expected to propel bilateral ties further. And that it did, with the retreat (which was postponed for two years due to the pandemic) producing three major agreements. Other stories include Indonesia’s rising Omicron cases, naval hardware progress, and its plans for increasing health resilience as G20 chair. Then, there are some updates on the situation in Myanmar.

So, one of the good things about being a teacher is I sometimes get gifts from students who have graduated. This time, it’s Papua Wamena beans from Arvac, which has a distinctly bold (on the verge of being overpowering sometimes) character. It’s not too sweet, has a rich body (even when filtered) and there’s definitely a long lingering aftertaste. Definitely recommended if you like your coffee with some heft.

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Over Coffee #7 – Indonesia’s new capital city, Philippines’ equipment, and ASEAN diplomacy

This week’s recap is about Indonesia’s new capital city, which is set to be christened “Nusantara”. Then, we move on to the Philippines acquiring new defense equipment along with the continued fallout of Hun Sen’s Myanmar visit.

Unfortunately, I haven’t acquired any new beans this week as I was busy relocating. Coffee recommendations will resume next week!

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Over Coffee #6 – Indonesia and Myanmar updates

This week’s recap mostly covers updates happening in Indonesia and Myanmar. Indonesia’s delayed ratification of RCEP sheds some light on its bureaucratic inefficiencies, while its fluctuating coal export policies raise concerns of Indonesia’s commitment in transitioning to green energy. Indonesia also announces its free booster rollout amidst rising Omicron cases.

Coffee first as usual. I bought another batch of beans from 20mL, this time some Kintamani beans. Being Balinese, I pretty much grew up on this variant of coffee. But, I never thought I’d discover a sweet, berry-flavour with some hints of cloves Kintamani beans. It goes well with the Toraja beans I bought last week.

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Over Coffee #5 – ASEAN coast guard cooperation, Indonesia’s Indo-Pacific strategy, and Myanmar updates

A Happy New Year to all of us!

It’s a rather slow week, which might be a good sign. However, regional politics waits for no one. This week, I highlight some incremental regional developments in Southeast Asia, which hopefully might blossom later in the year. There are also some updates on a regional approach to Myanmar.

Once again, coffee beans from 20mL take the spotlight, but instead of a blend, I decided to purchase some single-origin beans from Toraja. I’ve always had a soft spot for Toraja beans because I like the flavor profile. These beans are from Pulu-Pulu village, which I’ve never tried. Since they were single-origin, I decided to brew them using a V60. The result was a bright coffee with hints of spice and a mellow aftertaste. It was different than what I was accustomed to, but perhaps my previous Toraja beans were roasted too darkly.

Continue reading “Over Coffee #5 – ASEAN coast guard cooperation, Indonesia’s Indo-Pacific strategy, and Myanmar updates”

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