With the popularity of jamu in decline among urban youths and middle-aged mbok (woman) selling jamu on the street now a rare sight, some have sought to repopularize the herbal drink with modern means.

The effort to repopularize jamu reflects in the growing number of jamu cafés. One of them, Acaraki, borrows the coffee bar concept and methods of brewing. It sells jamu brewed using equipment intended for coffee, such as coffee grinders, espresso machines and French presses.

Its founder, Jony Yuwono, opened the first store at the Kertaniaga building of Kota Tua in West Jakarta last year. He has now opened a second store in Kemang, South Jakarta, known for its upscale restaurants and cafés.

Jony said his store concept started with the realization that jamu was in decline among the youth and that people prefer coffee to jamu, despite both commonly tasting bitter.

“Coffee is bitter, but people drink it anyway, so why not jamu?” Jony said during the opening event of the Kemang outlet on Sunday.

He said coffee was enjoyed for its taste and aroma, diversified thanks to baristas’ exploration of coffee.

Acaraki Kota Tua offers three methods of jamu brewing: French press, pourover V60, and espresso machine. In Kemang, Acaraki offers up to eight methods, with the addition of rokrepsso, flairesso, aeropress, syphon, mokapot and cold drip.

Acaraki jamu is priced at around Rp 30,000 (US$2.13), depending on the kind and method of brewing.

Acaraki is not the first café of this concept. Other popular jamu breweries are Suwe Ora Jamu in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, and Jamu Bukti Mentjos in Senen, Central Jakarta. Both offer ready-to-drink jamu made traditionally.

Some also like to brew their own jamu at home — and sell it online.

Iim Rismawati, 40, and her mother Widayati, 66, brew their own jamu and sell it in small bottles under the brand “Tradisi Eyang” (grandmother’s tradition).

Iim and Widayati started selling the jamu they made at home in 2013 at the Ecomart public bazaar in the Ancol Allianz Ecopark on the weekend and on public holidays.

“People used to call our jamu ‘jamu eyang’ because we had not created the brand yet. Initially, our customers drank our jamu directly or in bottles to be brought home,” Iim told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

She said their jamu was still made the traditional way by cleaning and drying spices and then toasting them. The spices were then blended, purified and boiled with more spices and palm sugar.

For her offline customers, she makes batches beforehand, but for the online store on Instagram and marketplace Tokopedia, she makes it according to incoming orders.

Iim and Widayati sell their jamu at Rp 8,000 to Rp 15,000 per 250-milliliter bottle, depending on the kind of jamu.

Despite the blossoming jamu cafés, some customers remain loyal to the old way.

Dian Negara, 27, a resident of Depok who commutes to Jakarta every day for work, prefers to make her own jamu rather than trying out the latest jamu cafés. “I’ve never bought the [trending] jamu. I prefer to buy the ingredients and make it myself, so there will be a lot of it,” Dian said.

“It is true that the jamu gendong [traditional jamu sellers] are very rare nowadays,” she added.

She said she had been making jamu by herself in the last four years, learning it from her mother. She would usually drink jamu four to five times a month, or a sachet of jamu if she was feeling under the weather and needed a quick jamu.

“Many are trying jamu again because of the hype, but not many do so routinely because of jamu’s benefits,” Dian said.

Nikita Devi, 29, a resident of Cibubur, East Jakarta, still regularly purchases jamu from traditional jamu makers in her area.

“If I feel under the weather, I like to go to the jamu store to buy ingredients for certain benefits. I prefer jamu that I make by myself,” Nikita said, adding that she sometimes also went to jamu cafés.

Despite the convenience and newness of jamu cafés, Nikita prefers the traditional jamu makers.

“For me, Suwe Ora Jamu and the like cannot fully replace traditional jamu. [The cafés’] recipes have new techniques of making jamu to attract customers. [Traditional] jamu is sold as medicine without any gimmicks,” she said.

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