A drink with cradle-to-grave benefits

(News Terupdate) - Wedang uwuh, or “rubbish drink”, sounds repulsive. But the drink, which originates from the Mataram kings’ grave complex in Imogiri, Bantul, Yogyakarta, can be refreshing and beneficial to one’s health.

Uwuh in Javanese means organic waste in the form of old tree leaves. Wedang uwuh comprises clove, nutmeg and cinnamon leaves that have fallen off the trees.

One can’t just use any old leaves – they must come from the grave complex.

“If the godhong [leaves] were collected outside the cemetery, the taste is different,” said Winarno, 42 who has been selling wedang uwuh since 1995.

The father of two can’t pinpoint why the drink tastes different when made from leaves collected outside the palace complex, although he noted the graveyard’s clove leaves were smaller, longer and thicker.

“If the leaves are from outside [the grave complex], they tend to be thinner. When they are brewed with water, the aroma is different; the taste is better when the ingredients come from the palace complex.”

In addition to the three leafy ingredients, the other raw materials of wedang uwuh include ginger and Javanese sugar (unrefined palm sugar).

The modern wedang uwuh contains grated kayu secang (sappanwood), lemongrass stems or lime leaves.

“The original recipe doesn’t use sappanwood because it destroys the special taste,” Winarno said.

How is this drink made? Mix clove, nutmeg and cinnamon leaves and brew them in hot water with ginger. Add some Javanese sugar to make the drink sweeter.

Once brewed, the various ingredients used to make wedang uwuh blend into a special aroma.
The fragrant aroma of nutmeg sap can be immediately smelled. Wedang uwuk tastes of spicy cloves and sweet brown sugar.

The sappanwood gives the drink a reddish hue. This beverage tastes even more delicious when drunk warm, with the cinnamon adding a touch of spice and sweetness.

“It’s exotic and unique. Once you start drinking it, you can immediately taste the spices,” said Giarto, 48, from Kali Code who often drinks wedang uwuh from the Imogiri graveyard.

Wedang uwuh has become quite a popular drink across Indonesia. Winarno often receives orders from Jakarta, Batam and Kalimantan to dispatch raw ingredients to make the drink.
Every visitor to the grave complex feels that their pilgrimage is incomplete if they leave without drinking the wedang uwuh.

“I get orders for between 100 and 200 packs of wedang uwuh, once a week on average, to be sent to Jakarta. I sell one pack for a single drink for Rp 2,000 [20 US cents],” Winarno said.

Mbok Jimah, a widow with two children who sells wedang uwuh near the graveyard’s entrance gate, said she could amass a small fortune selling the concoction during holidays.

“I can make at least Rp 500,000.”

Mbok Jimah sells the drink on Thursday and Friday afternoons, as well as Sunday mornings and Monday. Other than that, she also makes good money on kliwon (the fifth day of the five-day week) Tuesday and Friday. According to the Javanese tradition, those two days are good for pilgrimages, which is why the Imogiri graveyard is always crowded around that time.

“When families do a pilgrimage to the palace, they always order wedang uwuh,” said Mbok Jimah, who has been selling wedang uwuh for the past 12 years.

Specialty foods are also sold around the graveyard area such as pecel (mixed vegetables with peanut sauce) with koro tempeh and marinated tofu. The tofu and tempeh are large there, with the pecel sauce made solely from peanuts.

Believe or not, the origins of the wedang uwuh tradition are still unknown to this day.

“When I was born, wedang uwuh already existed,” said Jafar, 96, a retired palace courtier who works at the Imogiri graves.

Wedang uwuh, which is based on a recipe handed down from generation to generation, was originally made for families living in palaces. When they went for a pilgrimage, the servants would make drinks from the trees to quench their thirst after climbing the steps to the graves.

The multitude of ingredients used in the wedang uwuh make the drink a healthy one. Ginger warms the body up and can improve blood circulation. Ginger’s anticoagulant properties reduce the absorption of cholesterol in the blood and liver.

Cinnamon is renowned for increasing one’s appetite and reducing pain. This plant also contains antioxidants, which can help keep the body fit.

Nutmeg leaves contain saponins, polyphenols, and flavonoids, which help relieve pain, relieve abdominal colic due to indigestion, improve blood circulation, and overcome other stomach problems. Sappanwood is sometimes used to calm inflammations or stop people from coughing up blood.

And the piece de resistance: ginger. Ginger lowers blood pressure as it stimulates the release of adrenaline hormones and expands blood vessels so that the flow of blood is less restricted.

The plants, which grow 40 to 60 centimeters high, help digest food because they carry the digestive enzymes protease and lipase, which break down proteins and fat.

“If I have indigestion, I drink wedang uwuh and it [the indigestion] immediately disappears,” said Tri Muryani, from Bantul, Yogyakarta, located 10 kilometers from the Imogiri graveyard.

Because it’s good for one’s health, Tri Muryani always has wedang uwuh at hand.

“Just pour the contents into a glass; brew with hot water and wedang uwuh is ready to drink. Everyone in my family regularly consumes it.”

Posted in: News Today