Refreshing 'badeg' drink, Kebumen style

Agus Maryono ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Kebumen   |  Fri, 06/13/2008 10:04 AM  |  Java Brew

Badeg is the raw material from which brown sugar is made. However, in Kebumen regency, Central Java, badeg is also made into a refreshing drink.

When mixed with ice and consumed on a hot day, badeg is refreshing and delicious.

If you take the southern route from Jakarta to Yogyakarta (passing Purwokerto, Buntu and Kebumen), upon entering Kebumen regency, particularly on the road between Rawakele district to Ijo, you will find a line of stalls selling badeg beverages.

Many drivers or motorcyclists stop a while at one of these stalls to take a rest and enjoy badeg.

"It is really nice and very refreshing, as if it went through all the pores in my body," said Sukamto, 40, from Yogyakarta. He said he would always find time to buy badeg when he took this route.

Badeg, which is white in color like the juice of soursop, is quite cheap, too: A 1-liter bottle of badeg costs only Rp 2,000.

"Buyers usually come from far-away places such as Jakarta, Bandung or Surabaya. Usually they drop in a while to take a rest and enjoy badeg," said Yati, 35, a badeg vendor who sells her product on Jl. Raya Ijo. Yati said there were some 50 people from her village selling badeg along this road.

Yati, a badeg seller in Kebumen, Central Java, attends to her stall on Jl. Raya Rawakele-Ijo in Kebumen. Yati sells her badeg beverage to travelers passing through the area at Rp 1,000 a glass. (JP/Agus Maryono)

"Well, the profits are not bad. It's additional income. I can use the money to pay for my children's school fees and for their pocket money every day," Yati told The Jakarta Post, adding she sold an average of 10 liters of badeg a day.

"I buy badeg from a palm tapper at Rp 1,500 per liter. This is still pure, unmixed with water," Yati said, adding the pure badeg was then mixed with boiled water to triple its volume.

"If this pure badeg is not mixed with boiled water, it will be too thick. To turn it into a nice drink, the badeg must first be mixed with water," Yati said.

Consequently, 1 liter of pure badeg makes three bottles of badeg beverage, or six large glasses of badeg after it is mixed with boiled water.

A glass of badeg is sold at Rp 1,000. "Well, not bad. I can make a net profit of some Rp 4,000 as I still have to spend Rp 500 on ice cubes," Yati said.

According to Yati and other badeg sellers, the beverage sells very well during the fasting month and during Idul Fitri as many people pass through the area.

On holidays, Yati said she could sell an average of 15 liters of badeg (before it is mixed with boiled water) per day. In the fasting month or during Idul Fitri, she can sell an average of 20 liters of badeg a day.

Samhadi, 40, a local villager and also a badeg drink vendor, agreed with Yati. "On Idul Fitri we usually run out of stock. I can sell up to 30 liters a day during Idul Fitri," Samhadi said.

Samhadi said badeg vendors could only be found along the road between Rawakele and Kebumen.

"I have never seen a badeg vendor elsewhere, particularly along the southern route. I don't know whether there are also badeg vendors elsewhere," Samhadi said.

Samhadi said he did not know when exactly badeg began to be sold around his home.

"I think when I was in elementary school, there were some badeg vendors along the road side. Only then, there were no stalls where travelers could relax," Samhadi added.

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