We had just arrived in Jaisalmer not more than 20 minutes before noticing the “Gov’t Authorised Bhang Shop” sign in a tiny, tin-walled shack leaning up against the base of the old castle walls. The street smelled heavily of urine, as do many Indian streets, and hustlers abound, offering us leather goods and bracelets. A man wearing sunglasses coolly stirred a pot of green butter, or more likely “Ghee”, a clarified butter more commonly found in Indian foods. It was green from the cannabis he had been cooking into it.

Bhang is a preparation from the leaves and flowers (buds) of cannabis, traditionally harvested and prepared in Lassi form or smoked during the celebration of Holi and Vaisakhi.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, we agreed. Let’s at least get a hotel room before imbibing something which may do nothing or do everything to our minds. So we did, in an old palace room in a crumbling building within the yellow walls of the so-called “golden city” of the Rajasthan region of Western India.

Stumbling down the narrow city streets, winding down to the base, avoiding cow feces and loud scooters and small motorcycles, we arrived once again at the “Gov’t Authorised Bhang Shop”. This time, our friend was sitting inside, looking out, smiling coolly and calmly at people passing by outside.

“I’ve been running this shop for 20 years”, he said, “Anthony Bourdain came here. Look, we have a DVD. Look at the photo of me and Anthony Bourdain”. He showed us a yellowed photograph and beat up DVD case, while the Anthony Bourdain Bhang Lassi special played on loop on the small TV inside his shack.

He had menus sitting around the cushions and plastic chairs inside his shack. There was a hookah in the middle, as well as a variety of bongs, pipes, and other smoking paraphernalia for sale inside his shop. The menu had a listing of Lassi drinks, an Indian yogurt drink sometimes sweetened and sometimes salted, and occasionally fruit flavored. These were all also mixed with his liquid Bhang concoction.

A few old men wandered up to his shop, handed him a few bills of Indian Rupees, and walked away with small bags of cannabis. He also offered cookies and baked goods, and there was a strong likelihood he had been snacking on these throughout the day.

We ordered two Banana Lassis, and ordered them strong. He asked us if we had experience with things like this and we confidently lied in the affirmative.

The Bhang Lassi tasted like a banana milkshake. It was greenish, had a slight cannabis-like odor to it, and a slight cannabis-like taste to it. It was quite refreshing, cold, and served in small metal cups. It was only a few ounces, probably 6 ounces or so, and we sipped on them for the next few minutes quietly, chatting occasionally about the shop, his baked offerings, and India.

It only took about twenty minutes, walking back up the windy streets to the hotel, for the drinks to begin to settle in. We passed by a merchant we had met before, and chatted with him for a few minutes which seemed like hours. He nodded, didn’t say a whole lot, and laughed and patted us on the backs.  We seemed to keep repeating ourselves, and the effects of the Bhang was definitely setting in slowly. After wandering in a blissful spaciousness along the warm windy streets, we made it back up to the crumbling yet vastly spacious room with bars and no glass for windows and a cool breeze flowing over the warm stone wall outside. The only thing I could think of at that point was to grab my iPod and headphones.

My friend realized he had forgotten his headphones in his car back down at the base of the castle, which was of course in our minds entirely unacceptable, and after moaning a bit, grabbed his keys and walked down to his car.

After that my memory was somewhat jeopardized. I have a vague memory of staring outside the windows, watching the sun go down slowly and relaxing to chillout music, like Thievery Corporation and Zero 7. This went on for a while, my thoughts carried myself back home, back to my relationships, my friends, my family, and things which had been on and off my mind while traveling around India.

At this point, the drink began to hit full force, about one hour in.

My friend came bursting back in the room, laughing hysterically, and I couldn’t resist and had to laugh too. We laughed, until we couldn’t breathe anymore, slamming our faces into the pillows, falling off our beds, blissfully freaking out in a soaring existence with our headphones on and music bringing a smooth yet grooving tempo to our lives.

We lay in our beds, staring at the Rajasthani artwork with elephants, kings, and camels painted on the walls of our ancient room. The sun setting outside cast a warm golden glow into the room, with a light breeze coming in through the barred glassless windows. Occasionally we would move, lift our arms, walk our legs up above our heads, stretch and shiver as the Bhang brought a heavy tingling sensation throughout our limbs and a light lofty relaxation to our cerebral selves.

After about three or four hours, I cannot remember if we fell asleep or not, but reality started to set back in. It was dark now, we were starving, yet still covered in a dense psychological haze. We agreed we should stand up, as shaky as our rubber limbs were and as unstable as our balance was, to find food while we still could.

After that, a glorious and lavish Indian feast followed atop the roof of one of the castle pillars, as well as a few Kingfisher beers, and the quiet desert in the distance like a dark ocean we were still floating gently in.

This is a guest post by Matt Boynton: This is a guest post by Matt Boynton: Matt is a world traveler and vagabonder financing his operations remotely through writing. He is in constant pursuit of new business ideas and beverages.

Photos © Matt Boynton: Don't Be Trashy, Recycle Bhang Shop

This is another find from the Vegetarian Festival in Boston. My friends dragged me over to the booth where they were handing out samples, "It's sooo good. You have to try this one." The rest of the drinks from this company, Ajmera Innovations, were good but not really that interesting. The saffron pistachio flavor really stood out as a unique flavor combination, especially for a drink.

The milkshake drink comes in powder form, and says to add milk, but I think they added soymilk to keep it vegan. It's got the texture of a liquidy smoothie, but with small chunks of nuts in it. It has a unique spicy flavor that comes out slowly on the back of your tongue. It starts off as a mild warming sensation, but then makes itself known after a few sips.

If you want an interesting flavored drink, I would definitely try this saffron pistachio milkshake mix. Their website says it's based on an Indian drink called Thandai, and that it can also be used to make ice cream. If you're an ice cream wizard, you should buy this just to make ice cream with it, then send me some. I'm sure it would be delicious.

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.

The waitress said it's coffee, plus Bacardi white rum and egg. I thought that the egg would be mixed in somehow, but it came and there are some kind of flakes floating around that I guess are the egg whites or some part of them. When I went to stir it, I discovered a whole egg yolk sitting at the bottom. Needless to say, I was a little surprised.

The coffee itself is just a pretty mild coffee with the rum coming through a little bit. It's not too strong in bitterness or alcohol.

I thought that the yolk was hard-boiled, but I bit into it and it popped, spilling yolk all into the coffee! They must have put it in there raw. The whole coffee is now a yellowish light brown or golden color. It actually didn't even change the taste much though, just made it a little more bitter. Toward the bottom of the cup though, it did start to taste distinctly eggy.

Even though I'm not sure that the egg was necessary, after adding some milk and sugar this Indian coffee turned out to be really good and one of the weirdest coffees I've had so far. Toward the end of the glass there was a higher concentration of egg yolk because it had all settled to the bottom. I was a little turned off by the chunks in the bottom, similar to the bottom of the yak milk tea, but in both cases it didn't ruin the rest of the drink.

I haven't been to India yet, but when I do, I will order a coffee there and see if it's the same. Do they actually drink coffee like this in India?

I heard a lot about Thums Up from my Indian friends all throughout college, but never got a chance to try it until I recently found it in an Indian food specialty shop. After hearing so much praise, I had very high expectations. It looks and tastes like a cola, but it does have a distinct taste from the likes of Coke or Pepsi. It's flavors are more like China Cola, herbal and aromatic, though sweeter and more carbonated.

It may just be my bias knowing it comes from India, but the spices and flavors in it do seem to match the profile of Indian food. According to Wikipedia, it has a taste "reminiscent of betel nut." I don't know what betel nut tastes like but for anyone who does, maybe it gives you a better idea of what I'm talking about. That being said, it is still a cola, and may just be an interesting drink as an alternative to Coke. Its interesting flavors would also make a good mix with rum for a rum and thums up.

Thums Up still comes in a glass bottle with an actual, real bottle cap that you have to use a bottle opener for. What it might lack in convenience, it makes up for in authenticity. Despite the fact that it's made by Coca-Cola, I still give this drink a thumbs up.