26-4 |
Traditional beverages from South and Southeastern Asia |
S. R. UHL, Horizons Consulting, 546 Jefferson Ave., Mamaroneck, NY 10543 Freshly prepared drinks from local fruits, vegetables and spices are popular in Southeast and South Asia. Packaged specialty drinks and Western style drinks, including Coke and Pepsi, appeal especially to the middle class and the younger generation. Some local drinks contain pieces of fruit, vegetables, barley, tapioca pearls and colorful seaweed based jellies. They are generally ‘eaten’ with a spoon as sustaining snacks. Tapioca pearls added to milk, tea, coffee, fruit juice or coconut milk are fun drinks for many Southeast Asians. Japanese and Western energy drinks are beginning to appear in Western style retail stores. In Southeast Asia, freshly made, specialty packaged, and bottled carbonated drinks are sold in retail outlets, upscale and Western chain restaurants, and food stalls. Watermelon, star fruit, guava, coconut, durian, sour sop, avocado, corn, sugar cane, barley, milo, flavored teas and soymilk are popular. In Indonesia, popular drinks include ais bandung (milk based with rose essence), iced ‘green’ coconut, avocado, iced coffee and orange juice with lime. In Malaysia and Singapore there is a tremendous variety of specialty drinks and Western influenced beverages, from herbal and fruit flavored teas, fruit flavored drinks, cincau (grass jelly drink), cream and strawberry sodas to cappuccinos and fruitades. Teh tarik or ‘pulled tea’ (from the way it is drawn) is sweet, frothy and milky and is very popular with locals. Jelly-based drinks, winter melon tea and bird’s nest drinks are popular with the Chinese in Southeast Asia. In India, freshly made fruit and vegetable juices including coconut, lychee, mango, carrot and tamarind, lassi (spiced yogurt-based), thandai (rich milk), masala teas and cold coffees, as well as coke and orange sodas, are popular in restaurants and small retail outlets. Sales of packaged specialty drinks are growing more slowly than in Southeast Asia.
Session 26, Traditional beverages from Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean and their marketability to the U.S. consumers
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