Local Drinks

1. Wedang

   Hot drink

   Usage

   The general word for a hot drink: boiled water, or tea or coffee made with hot water. On menus the ingredient follows the word "wedang"

   Grammar Note

   The krama word for a drink is "unjukan". "Wedang" itself is neutral enough to be understood in either register

2. Wedang jahe

   Ginger drink

   Usage

   A hot drink made from ginger. Traditionally the ginger is cleaned, roasted over charcoal, half crushed and then dropped into boiling water; palm sugar is added if you want it sweet

3. Wedang secang

   Red sappanwood infusion

   Usage

   A traditional Javanese drink: ginger infusion with sappanwood ("secang") added, which is what turns it red. Regarded as good for the body; sweet with a gentle heat

4. Wedang uwuh

   Herbal drink of whole leaves and wood

   Usage

   A traditional herbal drink known around Imogiri in Bantul, Yogyakarta. The heat comes from ginger and the red colour from sappanwood; cloves, cinnamon leaf and liquorice root round out the taste and are held to be antioxidant

   Grammar Note

   "Uwuh" means fallen leaves or litter — a Javanese joke about how the whole leaves and wood chips float in the cup

5. Teh poci

   Strong sweet tea from a clay pot

   Usage

   A speciality of Tegal and Brebes on the north coast of Central Java, served in an unglazed clay pot ("poci") with rock sugar. Locals call it "wasgitel", from wangi (fragrant), sepet (astringent), legi (sweet) and kenthel (strong)

   Grammar Note

   "Poci" is the clay teapot; "teh" is the same word in Javanese as in Indonesian

6. Kopi

   Coffee

   Usage

   Java coffee is known worldwide. It is normally made by pouring hot water straight onto the grounds and drinking off the top once they settle. The beans are arabica or robusta

   Grammar Note

   "Wedang kopi" means coffee made with hot water

7. Dhawet

   Coconut milk with green rice-flour jelly

   Usage

   Coconut milk sweetened with palm sugar and filled with green rice-flour jelly ("cendhol"), sometimes with jackfruit or sugar-palm fruit added. Served over ice

   Grammar Note

   Javanese spells it with "dh", a retroflex d; Indonesian writes "dawet"

8. Dhawet ayu

   Banjarnegara-style dhawet

   Usage

   The speciality of Banjarnegara in Central Java, made with jelly, coconut milk and palm sugar and marked out by its green jelly. Drunk in the heat of the day. The town square has a monument of the cart and the two wayang figures Semar and Gareng who sell it

9. Legen

   Fresh palm sap

   Usage

   Sap tapped from the flower stalk of the palmyra, coconut or sugar palm: whitish but thinner than milk, and sweet. An old drink, already named in the 19th-century Serat Centhini, still sold in villages such as those of southern Rembang. Note: it is not alcoholic when fresh, but left at room temperature it ferments on its own into "tuak", so drink it cold and freshly drawn

   Grammar Note

   Also "legian"; related to "legi", sweet

10. Jamu

    Traditional herbal medicine drink

    Usage

    A traditional drinkable medicine made from roots, leaves, fruit and bark; some parts are boiled, others used raw. It has been known in Java for centuries and is still sold in markets and on the street

11. Jamu gendhong

    Jamu carried and sold on the seller's back

    Usage

    Jamu sold from bottles in a basket ("dunak" or "tenggok") slung on the seller's back with a cloth sash, poured out for you on the spot. Kunir asem, beras kencur and uyup-uyup are all sold this way

    Grammar Note

    "Gendhong" means to carry on the back; "dh" is a retroflex d

12. Kunir asem

    Turmeric and tamarind jamu

    Usage

    The best-known of the carried jamu, made from turmeric ("kunir") and tamarind ("asem"). Yellow and sweet-sour, drunk to cool and freshen the body

    Grammar Note

    Indonesian writes "kunyit asam"; the Javanese form is "kunir asem"

13. Beras kencur

    Rice and aromatic ginger jamu

    Usage

    Jamu made from rice and aromatic ginger ("kencur"), taken for aches and tiredness and popular with people doing heavy work. Sweet and easy to drink, so a good first jamu

14. Uyup-uyup

    Jamu of gingerlike roots

    Usage

    Jamu made from the gingerlike rhizomes called "empon-empon"; also known as "gepyokan". Taken to help milk flow in nursing mothers, to reduce body odour and to settle the stomach

    Grammar Note

    "Uyup" is to sip; the name doubles the word, a common Javanese way of forming nouns

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