Titilaras Coffee Shop in Surakarta, Central Java announced it would stop selling Americano from its menu starting March 2026, following the escalating conflict in the Middle East triggered by U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran.
The decision was declared by founder Arkha Tri Maryanto via Titilaras' Instagram account on March 1, 2026, who told detikJateng at his café in Baluwarti, Surakarta on March 4 that the move was his way of taking a stand and saying, "We are fed up. We are fed up with the issues that keep happening."
Arkha traced the history of the Americano back to American soldiers who struggled to drink straight espresso, with Italians originally using the term as a mockery — yet over time it became a national identity, which led him to question why Indonesian coffee shops should keep carrying someone else's identity on their menus.
As a result, Titilaras replaced the Americano with a fully rebranded method — changing both the name and the brewing technique — insisting that every time a country's name appears on a menu, it indirectly amplifies that nation's identity and influence.
Arkha shared that several other coffee shops have since privately contacted him expressing their desire to join the movement, to which he responded positively, saying the gesture also serves as an education for the public about the quiet but real weight behind the names we normalize every day.
