Consumed on 9 August 2015
Location - McDonald's Thanrin, Jakarta, Indonesia
Price - Included in Burger Balada combo (39,500IDR = ~$2.91USD)
Calories - Unknown. Estimated ~250kcal
The one of two "promotional" sides that was served with the
Burger Balado was the 'Teh Sirsak Soda". My Bahasa is a bit rusty, but I know at least Teh was Tea, and Soda, was well, Soda, but I had no idea what Sirsak was. Probably should have Googled it
before trying the drink, but I always forgot to, so when I took my first sip, I was completely baffled by the flavour. I could easily taste the tea (Jasmine) and the soda (because it was fizzy) but the fruit flavour confused me for a bit. It was like if you mixed slightly underripe papaya, melon and maybe threw in a bit of jackfruit in the mix. I tried to connect to the free McDonald's wifi, but I never could make it through the registration and confirmation process, so I just enjoyed the rest of my drink. When we eventually made it back to the hotel and had a decent wifi connection, I found out that it was the beautiful (read: ugly)
soursop! I always forget about soursop...I've had as a dessert a number of times in South East Asia, and I enjoy it every time, but I always
forget that I enjoy it and never seek it out in the future. That needs to change when we move to Thailand as it will be far more affordable than here in Singapore - but back to the drink.
It had similarities to a
McFizz, and actually, if they had called it a McFizz, I probably would have passed since I have had such a bad history with them, and would have tried the Indonesian staple Teh Botol. Teh Botol is marketed like Coke is in the rest of the world at Indonesian McDonalds, all the promo photos use it next to their burgers rather over Coke. The tea was clearly jasmine tea, and unlike a McFizz where they add a flavoured syrup and then Spite to make an overly-sweet mess, this one was just sweet enough. I have a feeling they mixed a Teh Botol + soursop combination together with soda water, or if they did add Sprite, it was so little that it didn't overpower everything else. The other surprise was the inclusion of "bubbles" or little bits jelly at the bottom of the drink. It clearly wasn't real fruit pieces, and they added a nice little treat to the bottom of the cup and I think they might have had a different fruit flavour to the rest of the drink. I've had McDonald's "bubbles" in drinks a
few times, and these were hands-down the best
attempt at them so far. One last point I'd like to mention was that this drink was free with any combo purchase. Unlike here in Singapore where you need to pay an extra "upsize" fee to your already expensive combo to get a McFizz, this one was included in the already cheap price, so it definitely deserves a:
Rating - 5/5
