Indonesia

 

Islam is the religion of the majority of Indonesians, but alcohol is widely available in most areas, especially in upscale restaurants and bars. Public displays of drunkenness, however, are strongly frowned upon and in the larger cities are likely to make you a victim of crime or get you arrested by police. Do not drive if you are drunk. The legal drinking age is 21.

In staunchly Islamic areas such as Aceh alcohol is banned and those caught with alcohol can be caned.

Indonesia's most popular tipple is Bintang (http://www.multibintang.co.id/) beer bir, a standard-issue lager available more or less everywhere, although the locals like theirs lukewarm. Other popular beers include Bali Hai (http://www.balihaibeer.com/) and Anker. A can costs Rp.10,000-14,000 in a supermarket sometimes, especially in 7 elevens, there are tables both inside or outside, so you can sit and drink/eat what you've bought and can be as much as Rp.50,000 in a fancy bar; more usual bar/restaurant price for Bintang is Rp.25,000-35,000 for a big 0.65 l bottle, however.

Wine is expensive and only available in expensive restaurants and bars in large hotels. Almost all of it is imported, but there are a few local vintners of varying quality on Bali.

Various traditional alcoholic drinks are also available:

Tuak

Sugar palm wine 15% alcohol

Brem

Balinese style sweet glutinous rice wine

 

Exercise some caution in choosing what and where to buy — homemade moonshine may contain all sorts of nasty impurities. In May 2009, 23 people, including four tourists, were killed by dodgy arak in Bali and Lombok.

Tap water is generally not potable in Indonesia. Water or ice served to you in restaurants may have been purified and/or boiled air minum or air putih, but do ask. Bottled water, usually known as Aqua after the best-known brand, is cheap and available everywhere, but check that the seal is intact.

Most hotels provide free drinking water because tap water is rarely potable. Do not use tap water for brushing your teeth. Also beware of ice which may not have been prepared with potable water or kept in hygienic conditions.

Quite a few Indonesians believe that cold drinks are unhealthy, so specify dingin when ordering if you prefer your water, bottled tea or beer cold, rather than at room temperature.

traditional drinks

Wedang Serbat - made from star anise, cardamon, tamarind, ginger, and sugar. Wedang means "hot water".

Ronde - made from ginger, powdered glutinous rice, peanut, salt, sugar, food coloring additives.

Wedang Sekoteng - made from ginger, green pea, peanut, pomegranate, milk, sugar, salt and mixed with ronde see above.

Bajigur - made from coffee, salt, brown sugar, cocount milk, sugar palm fruit, vanillin.

Bandrek - made from brown sugar, ginger, pandanus leaf, coconut meat, clove bud, salt, cinnamon, coffee.

Cinna-Ale - made from cinnamon, ginger, tamarind, sand ginger and 13 other spices.

Cendol/Dawet - made from rice flour, sago palm flour, pandanus leaf, salt, food coloring additives.

Talua Tea/Teh Telur West Sumatra - made from tea powder, raw egg, sugar and limau nipis.

Lidah Buaya Ice West Kalimantan - made from aloe vera, french basil, javanese black jelly, coconut milk, palm sugar, pandanus leaf, sugar.

juices

Fruit juices — jus for plain juice or es if served with ice — are popular with Indonesians and visitors alike, although the hygiene of the water used to make them can be dubious. In addition to the usual suspects, try jus alpokat, a surprisingly tasty drink made from avocadoes, often with some chocolate syrup poured in!

coffee and tea

Indonesians drink both coffee kopi and tea teh, at least as long as they have had vast quantities of sugar added in. An authentic cup of Java, known as kopi tubruk, is strong and sweet, but let the grounds settle to the bottom of the cup before you drink it. Last and least, no travel guide would be complete without mentioning the infamous kopi luwak, coffee made from beans which have been eaten, partially digested and excreted by the palm civet luwak, but even in Indonesia this is an exotic delicacy costing upwards of Rp.200,000 US$20 for a small pot of brew.

Tea teh is also quite popular, and the Coke-like glass bottles of the Tehbotol brand of sweet bottled jasmine tea are ubiquitous.

jamu

The label jamu covers a vast range of local medicinal drinks for various diseases. Jamu are available in ready-to-drink form as well as in powder satchets or capsules. Most of them are bitter and drunk for the supposed effect, not the taste. Famous brands of jamu include Iboe, Sido Muncul, Jago, and Meneer; avoid buying jamu from the street as the water quality is dubious. Some well-known jamu include:

galian singset — weight reduction

beras kencur from rice, sand ginger and brown sugar — cough, fatigue

temulawak from curcuma — for liver disease

gula asem from tamarind and brown sugar — rich in vitamin C

kunyit asam from tamarind, turmeric — for skin care, canker sores

smoke

Many Indonesians smoke like chimneys and the concepts of "no smoking" and "second-hand smoke" have yet to make much headway in most of the country. Western-style cigarettes are known as rokok putih "white smokes" but the cigarette of choice with a 92% market share is the ubiquitous kretek, a clove-laced cigarette that has become something of a national symbol and whose scent you will likely first encounter the moment you step out of the plane into the airport. Popular brands of kretek include Djarum, Gudang Garam, Bentoel and Sampoerna Dji Sam Soe, 234. A pack of decent kretek will cost you on the order of Rp 9000. Note that the cheapest brands don't have filters!

Kretek are lower in nicotine but higher in tar than normal cigarettes; an unfiltered Dji Sam Soe has 39 mg tar and 2.3 mg nicotine. Most studies indicate that the overall health effects are roughly the same as for traditional western-style cigarettes.

Recently a ban on smoking has been instituted for public places in Jakarta. Anyone violating this ban can be fined up to US$ 5000. If you want to smoke check with the locals by asking: "Boleh merokok?".