Sabah Local Coffee

Sabah is famous for Tenom coffee. There is only one coffee factory in Tenom. My aunty was married to Tenom. Most of the Tenom people earn their living by planting fruits, not much coffee. As I was told, the coffee trees are gone with oil palm trees as the price of oil palm is good, and less care is required for oil palm trees. In fact, most coffee bean used are from our neighbouring country - Indonesia. Since Indonesia is just next to us, there are traders who bring over coffee beans to sell. Mostly Arabica.

You might think that since coffee bean is so easily available in Sabah, Sabahan will have the best coffee. No, no, no. If you go to coffee shop, you will be disappointed.

During my father's time, I remember when I was still young, most coffee shops were owned by Hai Nam Lang （海南人）. The taukeh would make coffee themselves, wearing white singlets and short trousers up to their knees. For every cup of coffee they made, they would discard the coffee powder already used, and spooned fresh coffee powder into the muslin they used to filter the coffee. Then they would scoop hot water to run through the coffee powder in the muslin. The coffee was collected with mug. You could order kopi-O (with sugar), kopi kao (thick coffee with sugar), kopi (with condensed milk), kopi C (with ideal milk). When you walked into a coffee shop, you walked into the aroma of coffee. I can confidently tell you, it beat Starbucks.

How does the coffee shop look like now? The person making coffee are mostly Indonesian ladies. When you order coffee, they WILL NOT discard the used coffee powder. They may or may not add fresh coffee powder into the muslin. They may just run through the used, stale, coffee powder with hot water. What comes out is black liquid sweetened with sugar or condensed milk or ideal milk. Some even soak the muslin in a jug of hot water. When you order coffee, they will just pour for you the 'soaked dark black liquid'.

Most people are not fuzzy about coffee here. They just drink as long as it is dark in colour, including my husband. What a pity! The real coffee culture is gone!