Cold drinks to enjoy during summer in Southeast Asia

It's summer in Southeast Asia and everyone seems to be reaching for a cold drink these days. It's not surprising because summer in Southeast Asia can get extremely hot and humid. Nothing quenches parched mouths and throats better than coconut water. Just chop off the top of a young coconut to expose the flesh, cut through the flesh to insert a straw and enjoy. Because the coconut water is insulated by the thick walls of the coconut shell, the water is always cool.

Sold on demand, street vendors in Indonesia, Vietnam, and Malaysia squeeze fresh sugarcane juice from portable presses that they carry in their stall. In Singapore, you'll find sugar cane juice in food courts. 

Contrary to first impressions, sugarcane juice is not cloyingly sweet because it is diluted with ice and the sweetness is balanced with a squeeze of citrus juice.

While Southeast Asian summers can be withering, the upside is that fruits are abundant during the season. Mangoes, melons, watermelons, pineapples, papayas and a host of fleshy fruits are pureed, sweetened and iced to make the most delectable tropical drinks.

It's impossible to talk about iced tea without talking about bubble tea. Although it originated from Taiwan, bubble tea has found its way to Southeast Asia where it was embraced with enthusiasm. 

What is bubble tea? Bubble tea (also known as pearl milk tea or boba milk tea) is a cold thick iced drink made by shaking a tea-based solution with milk, fruits or both then served with chewy tapioca pearls.

No, Starbucks did not invent iced coffee. The Algerian mezagran, a cold and sweetened coffee drink, has been around since the first half of the 1800's.

In Vietnam, ground coffee is measured into a special press, moistened with hot water then pressed directly into a cup. It is mixed with sweetened condensed milk then poured into an ice-filled glass.

Source Thespruceeats