In the tin town of Ipoh, beans are roasted with palm-oil margarine and no sugar, giving a lighter roast than ordinary kopi. Served with sweetened condensed milk, it is sold as white coffee.
The name is a literal translation of a Chinese term used by 19th-century migrants working in the tin mines. The beans are not white. Visitors sometimes assume there is a special white bean.
Malaysia grows some of its own coffee too. Arabica was planted in Malaya in 1779 and liberica arrived in 1875. Tenom in Sabah is a major robusta source for kopi.
Ipoh white coffee · kopi putih / white coffee
How it's made. Beans are roasted with palm-oil margarine, without sugar, to a lighter roast, then brewed.1
How it's served. Served with sweetened condensed milk in Ipoh's old coffee shops; instant versions with creamer and sugar are also sold.
What the record says
- Ipoh white coffee beans are roasted with palm-oil margarine rather than sugar, which gives a lighter roast.1
- It is served with sweetened condensed milk.1
- The name comes from a Chinese term used by 19th-century migrants in the tin mines; the beans themselves are not white.1
- Arabica was planted in Malaya in 1779 and liberica was introduced in 1875.2
- Tenom in Sabah is a major robusta producer for kopi.2
Thin. Popular accounts credit Hainanese brothers at Sin Yoon Loong in 1937, but these came only from search snippets and promotional sites, not an opened source, so they are left out. The western Johor liberica belt was also found only in snippets. Ipoh white coffee overlaps with Singapore kopi culture.
- Ipoh white coffee · Wikipedia in the bibliography
- Kopi (drink) · Wikipedia in the bibliography
