Stop and smell the coffee in Malaysia

At Rumah Kupi in Kangar, Perlis, your latte is served up with a piece of nostalgia. Housed in a traditional Malay home on stilts, guests sip on fresh brewed coffee by shuttered wooden windows overlooking a durian orchard.

On quiet days, owner Mohd Daniel bin Azizan would play host and give a historical narrative about the design of old village homes. “The traditional Malay house had minimal partitions to allow for good ventilation,” he explained. “In fact, a lot of the designs was to improve air flow, because people back then didn’t have the means to invest in a fan.” The stilt structure, panelled windows, and gaps on the floor all help to cool the house in Malaysia’s humid weather.

Such experiential journeys are what Tourism Malaysia hopes tourists can discover through its Northern Malaysia Coffee Experience. Focusing on the northern states of Perak, Penang, Kedah and Perlis, the new tourism product also aims to spotlight both unique coffee-based gastronomy and spa products.

Rumah Kupi in Kangar, Perlis serves up fresh brews in a traditional Malay home on stilts.

Tourism Malaysia director-general Datuk Zainuddin Abdul Wahab said, “We are focused on improving the tourist experience following the latest trends, especially for the 'millennials' who enjoy the café lifestyle.”

Beyond just chasing after the right cuppa, the Coffee Experience also highlights one of Malaysia’s oldest coffee mills, Antong Coffee in Taiping, Perak. Most machines in the factory date back to when it started operating in 1933. Guests can see coffee beans roasted the traditional way over wood fire stoves before they are mixed with sugar, dried, crushed and then packed. But there is also another lesser-known historical trivia to interest visitors. The mill was the former home of the founding father of modern China, Sun Yat-Sen, and his romantic partner, Chen Cuifen.

Spending time on a coffee farm could also give you insights on the coffee culture in Malaysia. And visitors can do just that at Keda Agrobiz, a farm in Kedah that cultivates coffee and sells coffee seedlings. Guests can observe first-hand how the coffee fruit is harvested, take part in tasting sessions and get insights on the farming process and the local coffee industry.