Rob’s Really Good Chocolate Tea
I've never heard of chocolate tea before seeing this bottle in a local deli in New York, but since Rob says it's "really good," I figured it was worth a taste. Read More >
Indian Coffee
I had this weird coffee in one of Shanghai's art districts, tianzi fang (田子放）, at a terrace cafe.
I was in the mood for spiked coffee, so I figured I'd go with something new rather than the usual Irish coffee. I'd never heard of Indian coffee before, and it sounded interesting so I went with it. It was a choice that let me to discovering the weirdest coffee I have ever seen.
He Qi Zheng Herbal Tea 和其正
This drink is a Chinese herbal iced tea, with the slogan "中国人的凉茶," which means "The Chinese people's herbal tea."
It's taste is sweet, fruity, and fragrant. It reminds me a lot of the flavors of xiakucao, and luohanguo juice. While it's not too sweet, it tastes like it was sweetened with a dark cane sugar.
He Qi Zheng Herbal Tea is very similar to 王老吉 Wang Lao Ji, another Chinese herbal tea brand, but has a little bit of a lighter taste. I also like the fact that it comes in a bottle rather than a can, and there's more than enough of it to quench your thirst.
The ingredients of Heqizheng are water, sugar, 仙草 xiancao (grass jelly), licorice root, 鸡蛋花 jidanhua (Plumeria rubra, a type of flower), 布渣叶 buzha leaf (Microcos paniculata, a type of shrub traditionally used in Chinese herbal teas), chrysanthemum flower, honeysuckle flower, and 夏枯草 xiakucao (selfheal).
It shares a lot of similar ingredients with other herbal tea-style drinks I've tried in China, a lot of which are also used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). This has caused some controversy, and this company has been sued, though unsuccessfully, by a man claiming that the HeQiZheng commercial said it could cure diseases. The claim arose over the use of jidanhua and xiakucao in the drink, but the court decided that the drink is perfectly safe and that the man who sued them was ill for completely unrelated reasons.
Yerba Mate
I first tried Yerba Mate (pronounced mah-tay) on a trip to Uruguay, where it is everywhere and is an integral part of local culture. It is very closely tied to national identity, with the bag of yerba mate saying "El mate de mi pais," the mate of my country. People of all ages carry around gourds and a bombilla, along with a thermos of hot water. It is the national drink of Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, but is drunk throughout South America. Due to something in it (not caffeine), it gives you a really good boost of energy. Read More >
Inka Naturalis: Instant Grain Beverage
Inka Coffee Substitute
Inka is a Polish drink, commonly used as a coffee substitute. It's taste resembles coffee, but it has no caffeine.
The inka drink mix made by Naturalis Inka comes in a round can similar to instant coffee. The brown powder smells woody, but has a very similar aroma to the powdered coffee brands we're all used to. To make the inka beverage, you're supposed to use one heaping teaspoon of the powder, mixed with boiling water or milk. I tried it with water, and the inka coffee that resulted was suprisingly black, with a white and brown foam. It does taste like a very weak coffee, but maybe that's just because of the similarity in making it, and how it's known as a coffee substitute. Read More >