Teh Botol is an Indonesian drink produced by the company ''Sosro'' and is sold worldwide. ''Teh Botol'' literally means ''bottled tea'' in
Indonesian
Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to:
* Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia
** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago
** Indonesian ...
. It is a sweetened
jasmine tea
Jasmine tea ( or ) is tea scented with the aroma of jasmine blossoms. Typically, jasmine tea has green tea as the tea base; however, white tea and black tea are also used. The resulting flavour of jasmine tea is subtly sweet and highly fragrant ...
and it is usually served cold. In addition, Sosro also sells the tea in a signature glass bottle as well as
Tetra Pak
Tetra Pak is a Swedish–Swiss multinational food packaging and processing company with head offices in Lund, Sweden, and Pully, Switzerland. The company offers packaging, filling machines and processing for dairy, beverages, cheese, ice cream ...
and
plastic bottle
A plastic bottle is a bottle constructed from high-density or low density plastic. Plastic bottles are typically used to store liquids such as water, soft drinks, motor oil, cooking oil, medicine, shampoo, milk, and ink. The size ranges from v ...
packaging.
History
The Sosro brand, a well-known tea brand in Indonesia, is taken from the Sosrodjojo (Souw Seng Kiam) family name, the owners of the company. They started the business of marketing
jasmine tea
Jasmine tea ( or ) is tea scented with the aroma of jasmine blossoms. Typically, jasmine tea has green tea as the tea base; however, white tea and black tea are also used. The resulting flavour of jasmine tea is subtly sweet and highly fragrant ...
based in
Slawi
Slawi is the administrative centre of the Tegal Regency of the province of Central Java, Indonesia. Slawi is known for the production of a particularly fragrant black tea and the tea drinking culture known as Moci.
Geography
Unusual for a tea- ...
, a small town in
Central Java
Central Java ( id, Jawa Tengah) is a province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogyakarta in t ...
province, in 1940. The first brand was called ''Teh Cap Botol'' ("bottle brand tea").
In 1965 the ''Cap Botol'' jasmine tea was first introduced to
Jakarta
Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
by promoting the product with
free sample
A product sample is a sample of a consumer product that is given to the consumer free of cost so that they may try a product before committing to a purchase.
Free samples
A free sample or "freebie" is a portion of food or other product (for exam ...
s under the marketing name of ''cicip rasa''. During the free tasting promotion, the jasmine tea was brewed on the spot, but the time required for brewing was too long for some of their more impatient customers. To overcome this problem, the promotion staff brewed the tea in the office before going to the promotion location and poured the ready-to-consume jasmine tea into big pots and pans. However, this technique did not solve the problem; the tea in large pots and pans spilled over on the way before they reached the location. Another solution was found by placing the brewed jasmine tea in clean used glass bottles, which were normally used for packing soda, soy sauce and other products. It was successful and gave birth of the ''teh botol'' (or bottled tea) brand name in 1969. The official name was ''Teh Botol Sosro''.
The first bottles were introduced in 1970. In 1972, they redesigned the bottles. In 1974, with the establishment of
PT, Sinar Sosro (a company producing the Teh Botol Sosro) in Ujung Menteng (part of
Bekasi
Bekasi (, su, ) is a city in West Java, Indonesia, located on the eastern border of Jakarta.the city of planet Bekasi is his nickname.It serves as a commuter city within the Jakarta metropolitan area. According to the 2020 Census by Statistics ...
at that time) again redesigned the bottle which remains in use today.
See also
*
Camellia sinensis
''Camellia sinensis'' is a species of evergreen shrub or small tree in the flowering plant family Theaceae. Its leaves and leaf buds are used to produce the popular beverage, tea. Common names include tea plant, tea shrub, and tea tree (not to ...
*
Cuisine of Indonesia
Indonesian cuisine is a collection of various regional culinary traditions that formed the archipelagic nation of Indonesia. There are a wide variety of recipes and cuisines in part because Indonesia is composed of approximately 6,000 populat ...
*
List of Indonesian beverages
This is a list of Indonesian drinks. The most common and popular Indonesian drinks and beverages are ''teh'' (tea) and ''kopi'' (coffee). Indonesian households commonly serve ''teh manis'' (sweet tea) or ''kopi tubruk'' (coffee mixed with sugar a ...
*
Tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...
References
External links
Local preference for tea puts Coca-Cola in cold sweat - The Jakarta Post 03 Sep 2005
Indonesian drinks
Tea brands
Indonesian brands
Drink companies of Indonesia
Iced tea brands
{{Indonesia-cuisine-stub