Dutch settlers established tea plantations on the island of Java in the early 18th century and later on Sumatra and Sulawesi. Although tea is picked year round, usually by hand, the best comes during the dry season of August and September. Nearly 60% of Indonesian tea is green tea; black tea is mostly exported for blending. The word for tea in Indonesian is teh.

The drinking customs in Indonesia differ by region. The Sundanese people, from the region of Western Java, serve tea without any sugar. In restaurants in that region, it is common to serve plain tea as a free beverage, instead of a glass of water. This is because the main tea plantation is in West Java, so tea is cheap and plentiful. Furthermore, the tropical Indonesian water is unsafe to drink without boiling it first. So, serving a cup of plain hot tea is a gesture to the guest that "the water is clean and boiled".