Ojo Gampang Nyerah: The Story of Warung Jogan

There is something quietly personal about the way Erwan Susanto approaches coffee. He introduces himself simply as Erwan. A graduate of Public Health from Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia. He describes himself, perhaps more honestly, as a village kid who now spends his days running a small and humble coffee shop. That coffee shop is Warung Jogan.

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Before it existed, Erwan worked as a barista. Over the years, the experience gave him more than an understanding of coffee. It also gave him a growing desire to have a place of his own, a space where he could finally express the ideas that, he felt, might never fully come to life while working for someone else.

"There was no single dramatic moment that led to Warung Jogan. No sudden revelation or carefully planned turning point. The idea was, in many ways, much simpler," says Erwan.

Erwan wanted a place where he could work, create, and serve coffee in his own way. A place where people could sit down, enjoy a cup, and perhaps, for a little while, not feel the need to rush. The name itself carries a message. "Jogan comes from the Javanese phrase Ojo Gampang Nyerah (don't give up easily)," he said. 

It is a personal reminder of how he wants to live his life. And perhaps, for those who find themselves sitting across the bar, it can become a small message of its own. Warung Jogan is often described as a slow bar, a place centered around manual brewing and a more intimate way of experiencing coffee.

Erwan, however, never intentionally set out to create a "slow bar." If that's how people choose to describe the place, he is perfectly happy with it. For him, the approach simply makes sense.

At a small coffee shop, brewing one cup at a time creates an opportunity for something that can easily disappear in a busier environment: connection. There is time to talk to guests, to exchange stories, to share knowledge, and to explain the intention behind the coffee being served. The bar becomes more than a place where coffee is prepared. It becomes a meeting point between the person who brewed the coffee and the person who will eventually drink it.

There is a certain pleasure in the ritual itself. The sound of coffee beans being ground. The careful process of brewing. The final moment when the cup is placed in front of someone and, hopefully, enjoyed.

He describes the process almost like a ritual, perhaps even a form of meditation woven into the daily rhythm of running a coffee shop. But what makes it meaningful is the interaction.

Erwan enjoys being able to exchange stories and knowledge directly with the people who come to Warung Jogan. In a world where coffee can sometimes become reduced to tasting notes, equipment, and technical precision, there is something grounding about returning to the simple act of sharing a cup with another person.

That, perhaps, is the experience he hopes people will carry with them. Not necessarily a perfect cup. But a sweet memory. Something that remains, even after the coffee is gone.

This sense of storytelling also shapes the way Erwan introduces coffee at Warung Jogan. His Instagram often explores different coffees and the characteristics that make each one distinct. But for him, the story behind a coffee matters just as much as the flavors inside the cup.

He believes people can connect with something more deeply when it is presented through a story or a meaningful narrative. Perhaps this is why his own coffee journey began with a cup that he still remembers clearly. In 2013, Erwan tasted a Bali Kintamani Arabica for the first time. It was a specialty coffee, but more importantly, it was a turning point.

That cup changed the way he experienced and appreciated coffee. More than a decade later, he still remembers it, and says he will remember it for the rest of his life. It is fitting, then, that the story of Warung Jogan is not really about coffee alone.

It is about the decision to create something of your own. About finding meaning in a small place. About slowing down enough to talk to another person. About the stories that travel from one cup to another. And, perhaps most of all, about a simple reminder carried in a name: Ojo Gampang Nyerah. Don't give up easily.

These days, Erwan finds himself drawn to coffees that are not necessarily the ones everyone is talking about. He is particularly interested in lesser-known Arabicas, coffees that may exist quietly outside the spotlight, away from the momentum of trends and popularity.

Perhaps it reflects something about the way he sees coffee itself. At Warung Jogan, curiosity does not always lead toward what is already famous. Sometimes, it means looking elsewhere. Finding something unfamiliar. Sharing a coffee simply because there is a story worth discovering. The local community, it seems, has been receptive to that way of thinking.

The response to Warung Jogan's approach has been overwhelmingly positive. Many guests have told Erwan that they had been waiting for a place like this. A space built around manual brewing, conversation, and a different kind of coffee experience. But creating a place is one thing. Keeping it alive is another. For Erwan, perhaps the greatest lesson from running Warung Jogan has been the importance of consistency.

Starting something can be exciting. There is energy in the beginning, when an idea is still fresh and every possibility feels open. Sustaining it, however, requires something different. It requires showing up again and again.

Over time, Erwan has learned that maintaining something can be far more difficult than starting it. The challenge is not always found in the coffee itself, or even in the day-to-day operation of the shop. Sometimes, the hardest part is simply maintaining his own focus and learning how to manage himself well.

It is an understated challenge, but perhaps one that many small business owners quietly understand. To keep going, even when the excitement of the beginning has passed. For Erwan, a meaningful coffee shop is ultimately not defined by the coffee alone.

It is defined by the emotional connections it creates. By whether people feel that they belong there. Whether they feel accepted. Whether a place can offer something beyond the transaction of ordering a drink and leaving with a cup in hand.

Perhaps this is why Erwan does not see growth at Warung Jogan as a matter of becoming bigger. In fact, he hopes the place remains small. Warm. Simple. For him, growth is not necessarily about expansion. It is about becoming better.

And as Warung Jogan moves forward, Erwan hopes it can remain what it has gradually become: a social space where people can genuinely connect with one another. There is something quietly radical about that ambition.

In a world where businesses are often measured by how quickly they grow, Erwan seems more interested in asking a different question: How can a small place become more meaningful?

The answer may lie in the way he describes Warung Jogan itself.

The coffee shop is both a child and a home. Like a child, it needs constant care, attention, and love to grow. It requires patience. It demands presence. It cannot simply be left alone and expected to flourish.

And like a home, it should offer something equally fundamental. Safety. Comfort. Peace. Perhaps that is the true spirit of Warung Jogan.

A small coffee shop where a cup of coffee is only the beginning. A place where lesser-known coffees can be discovered, where stories can be exchanged, and where people can sit without feeling the need to hurry.

Its name carries a reminder not to give up easily. Its ambition is not to become the biggest. And its future, at least for now, is not about becoming something else.

It is about staying small enough to remain human. To keep brewing. To keep connecting. To keep becoming better. And to continue being, for the people who walk through its doors, a little bit of a coffee shop, and perhaps, in some quiet way, a little bit of home. (Hudes Magazine)