List of Indonesian drinks facts for kids

A cup of Java coffee, a popular Indonesian drink called Javanese kopi tubruk

Indonesia is famous for its delicious drinks! The most common ones you'll find are teh (which means tea) and kopi (coffee). When you visit an Indonesian home, they'll often offer you teh manis (sweet tea) or kopi tubruk. Kopi tubruk is a special coffee where hot water and sugar are poured right into the glass with the coffee powder. You drink it without straining the coffee grounds.

You'll also find many tasty fruit juices, called jus. For warmer drinks, there are sweet options like bajigur and bandrek. Many popular Indonesian drinks are served with ice (called es). These icy treats can even be like desserts! Think of refreshing drinks made from young coconut (es kelapa muda), grass jelly (es cincau), or cendol (es cendol or es dawet).

Indonesia is a country where most people are Muslim. Islamic dietary laws mean that many Indonesians do not drink alcoholic beverages. However, long ago, some local alcoholic drinks were made. For example, old Chinese writings mention that people in ancient Java drank a wine made from palm sap, known as tuak (palm wine).

Warm and Cozy Drinks in Indonesia
Cool and Refreshing Drinks in Indonesia
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Warm and Cozy Drinks in Indonesia

Indonesia has many wonderful hot drinks, perfect for a cool evening or just to enjoy with friends. These drinks often use spices like ginger, making them extra flavorful and comforting.

Spicy Ginger Drinks

Ginger is a popular ingredient in Indonesian hot drinks. It gives a warm, slightly spicy kick!

Air guraka: This warm ginger drink comes from Ternate in North Maluku. It's special because it's mixed with palm sugar and walnuts.
Bandrek: From West Java, this is a hot and sweet drink. It's made with coconut sugar and ginger, and sometimes has small pieces of young coconut in it.
Sekoteng: This is a popular hot ginger drink, especially among Chinese Indonesians. It's made with ginger, sugar, and milk. It often has peanuts, slices of bread, and little sago pearls called pacar cina floating in it.
Wedang jahe: This simple yet delicious drink from Central Java is made from fresh ginger. It's boiled and sweetened with palm sugar or regular sugar, and served hot.
Wedang ronde: This warm ginger drink from Yogyakarta is also a dessert! It has chewy glutinous rice balls, sometimes filled with peanut paste, floating in a sweet ginger and lemongrass tea.
Susu jahe pinang: This is a hot drink made from milk, ginger, and the fruit of the areca palm.
Susu Telur Madu Jahe (STMJ): Popular in Central and East Java, this is a very rich hot drink. Its name stands for "milk, egg, honey, ginger." It's believed to be very good for you!

Sweet Coconut Milk Drinks

Some hot drinks use coconut milk, giving them a creamy and rich taste.

Bajigur: Also from West Java, this is a hot and sweet drink made with coconut sugar and coconut milk. It's very comforting.
Wedang angsle [id]: From East Java, this is like a warm, soupy dessert. It has coconut milk with sago pearls, sticky rice, and mung beans.

Unique Coffee Drinks

Indonesia is famous for its coffee, and there are many interesting ways to prepare it!

Java coffee: This is a classic coffee from the island of Java.
Kopi dabe: From Tidore, North Maluku, this coffee is mixed with many spices like ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, and pandan leaves.
Kopi durian: Found in Sumatra, this coffee is mixed with durian fruit instead of sugar, giving it a unique taste.
Kopi jahe: This is simply coffee mixed with ginger, popular nationwide.
Kopi joss: A very unique coffee from Yogyakarta! It's served with a piece of burning charcoal dropped right into the cup. Don't worry, it's safe!
Kopi luwak: This is one of the world's most expensive coffees. It's made from coffee beans that have been eaten and then passed by a civet animal. The civet's digestion changes the beans, giving the coffee a special flavor.
Kopi pala: From the Banda Islands, this coffee is mixed with nutmeg.
Kopi rarobang: From Ambon, Maluku, this coffee is mixed with various spices and walnuts.
Kopi sanger: From Aceh, this is a "pulled" coffee mixed with milk, similar to teh tarik.
Kopi santan: From Blora, Central Java, this coffee is mixed with coconut milk.
Kopi talua: From West Sumatra, this is a hot coffee mixed with blended egg yolk, making it frothy and rich.
Kopi takar: From Mandailing Natal, North Sumatra, this coffee is served with a cinnamon stick and in a coconut cup.
Kopi tarik: From the Riau Islands, this is another "pulled" coffee with milk, similar to the tea version.
Kopi tubruk: A very common coffee in Java. It's made by mixing hot water directly with coffee powder without straining, so the coffee grounds stay in the cup.

Other Interesting Hot Drinks

Kembang tahu: This is a tofu pudding served with a sweet ginger soup, found all over Indonesia.
Sara'ba [id]: From South Sulawesi, Makassar, this drink is made from palm sugar and ginger. It can also be mixed with coconut milk, milk, or raw egg yolk.
Teh manis panas: This is simply hot tea mixed with sugar, a very common and popular drink.
Teh poci [id]: From Tegal, this hot tea is served in a clay teapot with large crystallized sugar pieces.
Teh talua: From West Sumatra, this is hot tea mixed with blended egg yolk, similar to kopi talua.
Teh tarik: From the Riau Islands, this is a sweet milk tea that is "pulled" back and forth between two containers to make it frothy.

Cool and Refreshing Drinks in Indonesia

When it's hot, Indonesians love to cool down with a variety of refreshing drinks, many of which are also like desserts!

Icy Fruit and Jelly Delights

Many cold drinks are made with fresh fruits, jellies, and lots of ice.

Es buah: This is a popular cold drink made from different kinds of fruit, ice, syrup, and condensed milk. It's like a fruit salad in a glass!
Es campur: This sweet dessert is made with shaved ice, pieces of coconut, various fruits (like jackfruit), grass jelly, syrup, and condensed milk. It's a colorful and tasty mix.
Es cendol: A very famous sweet jelly drink found all over Indonesia. It's made from rice flour jelly (often green from pandan leaves), mixed with coconut milk, shaved ice, and palm sugar.
Es cincau: This jelly drink uses grass jelly with shredded ice and sugar or syrup. It's very refreshing.
Es blewah: A cold drink made from the fruit of the blewah melon.
Es durian: A cold and sweet dessert made with durian fruit.
Es kelapa muda: This is a super refreshing cold drink made from fresh young coconut and its water, sometimes with syrup. It's often served right in the coconut!
Es kuwut: From Bali, this drink has coconut, citrus, honeydew melon, and basil seeds.
Es pisang ijo: From South Sulawesi, this is a sweet dessert with green-battered banana and rice pudding, served cold.
Es teler: A very popular cold dessert! It's a mix of avocado, young coconut, jackfruit, and shaved ice with sweet condensed milk.
Es timun serut: From Aceh, this unique cold drink is made from cucumber.

Refreshing Juices

Indonesia has a wide variety of fresh fruit juices.

Jus alpukat: This is avocado juice, often served with chocolate condensed milk, which might sound unusual but is very delicious!
Jus buah naga: Purple pitaya (dragon fruit) juice.
Jus gandaria: From Ambon, this is a juice made from the mango-plum fruit.
Jus terung belanda: Found in Sumatra and Sulawesi, this is tamarillo juice.

Other Cool Drinks

Bir pletok: From Jakarta, this is a shaken ginger drink served with ice. Even though it's called "bir" (beer), it's completely non-alcoholic!
Es asam jawa: Also known as air gula asam, this cold drink from Central Java and Yogyakarta is made from the juice of tamarind fruit, served with palm sugar and ice. It's sweet and tangy.
Es kopi susu gula aren: This is a popular iced coffee with milk and palm sugar.
Soda gembira: Meaning "happy soda," this is a nationwide cold drink, often made with soda, condensed milk, and syrup.
Sweet iced tea (es teh manis): Just like the hot version, but served cold with ice. It's one of the most common drinks in Indonesia.
Es teh tarik: This is the cold version of the "pulled" sweet milk tea, served with ice.
Jamu: These are traditional Indonesian herbal drinks, often made from roots, leaves, and spices, believed to have health benefits.
Sari temulawak: A herbal drink from Java, made from the juice of Java ginger.
Lahang: From West Java, this is a sweet cold drink made from the sap of the Arenga pinnata (sugar palm) tree.
Legen: From East Java, this drink is made from the sap of the Siwalan palm.