Fresh wave: what soft drinks are in fashion now
Soft drinks in Moscow have become an independent gastronomic genre. It's not enough for guests to quench their thirst right now, they're looking for unusual flavors, layered textures, and naturalness in every glass. Izvestia found out how to refresh themselves in the capital's cafes and bars in warm weather.
Tropical taste
One of the most noticeable trends of recent times is the growing popularity of coconut water, which is increasingly being added to lemonades and non—alcoholic cocktails. The juice of young coconut does not contain added sugar or artificial ingredients, and thanks to these properties, it has become actively promoted by adherents of healthy eating, especially in the United States and Asian countries, from where the trend came to Russia.
— Coconut water is popular now because people are increasingly choosing more natural and healthy drinks, — the team of the Mátes cafe chain told Izvestia. — It is refreshing, light, not too sweet and goes well with fruits and citruses, which is why it is now often used in soft drinks. In addition, coconut water contains useful electrolytes and helps maintain water balance, which is especially consistent with the current trend towards a healthy lifestyle.
Espresso cream, matcha cream and lavender cream with coconut water
Coconut water also has significant gastronomic advantages. It makes the taste of drinks more rounded and complex, gives them a "tropical" sound and at the same time does not create a heavy density of juice or syrup. Mátes offers a range of soft drinks based on coconut water with coconut cream (each serving contains 10 g of protein) in three flavors: espresso coffee cream, matcha cream and delicate lavender cream.
In homemade lemonades, coconut water can be mixed with lime, lemon, berries and mint to make drinks fresher and lighter. This component also goes well with coffee or matcha tea, and for a softer, creamy texture, you can add a little coconut cream to them. Since coconut water is already slightly sweet and refreshing in itself, sugar should be added to it in a minimal amount or not at all.
Everything is purple
The newest fashion trend is now developing around drinks with ube root vegetable, also known as purple yams. The exotic product is loved by many due to its natural purple color and soft vanilla-creamy taste.
"The interest in ube is connected not only with the bright appearance of the drinks produced with it, but also with the general trend towards Asian flavors, comfort drinks and more emotional gastronomic combinations," Evgenia Pashnina, the chef—barista of the Rockets concept store coffee house, shares her opinion. — And we also wanted to make a bright multi-layered composition with it, where each ingredient reveals the next one.
The basic ingredients of the new drink created by our interlocutor are banana milk, which gives a soft creamy texture and natural sweetness, and ube, which adds light vanilla-nutty shades and depth of taste. Strawberry puree works in the drink as a juicy and refreshing accent, not allowing it to completely go to the dessert side. On top is an airy foam of lactose—free cream and matcha, which adds herbiness, light bitterness, and balances the sweetness of the lower layers.
Speaking about other fashionable trends in soft drinks, our expert also noted cold filter coffee. The special filtration technology reveals well the fruitiness, sweetness or floral shades of the coffee itself. At the same time, it remains very light and refreshing, so it works perfectly as a summer drink — complex in taste, but very clean and understandable. In her version of cold filter coffee, chef barista Pashnina enhanced the taste and juiciness of the main ingredient with the berry acidity of cherries, and added a subtle and sweet aroma of cherry blossoms to the foam.
Explosive balls
Bubble drinks have been in the top of the most popular refreshing mixes for several years now. The secret of success lies in their versatility, as they combine several factors at once: vivid visual presentation, unusual texture and the ability to assemble an option for yourself by choosing a base, sweetness, temperature, milk, syrup, fruit or topping.
— If earlier bubble tea was more often associated with black or green tea, milk, tapioca and caramel syrup, today this culture has expanded noticeably and now uses matcha, coffee, juices, lemonades, tonics, vegetable milk — coconut, almond, oatmeal, — explained the chef-barista of the coffee chain.Hello, Victoria Madalkhanova. — In addition to the classic tapioca, juice balls are popular - balls with fruit juice inside, as well as pieces of fruits and berries. In addition, guests are increasingly choosing lighter and less sweet versions with natural syrups, minimal sugar, or no pronounced sugary taste at all.
Lemonades
According to our interlocutor, among the most relevant versions of bubble drinks today are matcha tonics, bubble tea with vegetable milk, fruit and berry bubble lemonades, drinks with cheese foam, as well as coffee options prepared using the cold brew method with caramel tapioca. From a gastronomic point of view, they are all good because they are based on a balance of flavors and textures, combining freshness, acidity, sweetness, bitterness, milky softness. And dense or bursting toppings in them work well to enhance an interesting taste.
Lychee Matcha Tonic with Juice Balls
The matcha tonic in "Hello" is available in two versions. Each is based on a premium Japanese ceremonial grade matcha, classic tonic, ice, and juice balls. The first taste is sorrel-lime, where the fresh acidity of the greens plays interestingly with the tropical flavors of the juice balls. The second option is with lychee puree and coconut, which is milder and sweeter. There is also a more dessert-like and rich author's bubble tea based on black tea on the menu. It is made from Assam black tea brewed by long-term infusion in hot water, which allows you to preserve the characteristic tartness. It is then combined with natural caramel topping, chocolate cookie-flavored syrup, milk, ice, and tapioca balls with cane syrup. Thus, black tea here works as a noble base: it does not argue with sweetness, but makes the taste more collected and saturated.
The birch, the basil
The increased interest in Russian cuisine contributes to the growing popularity of kvass, especially since this drink is perfect for interesting gastronomic experiments.
"Kvass is not only clearly associated with a traditional domestic product, but it can also be beneficial to health, like many other fermented drinks, such as kombucha," Nikita Drozdov, the head bartender at Alaska Gastrobar, is convinced. — Besides, this drink is really very promising, so in addition to the more or less familiar bread and white kvass, new varieties of it are already appearing in the bar charts: honey, beetroot, nettle, oatmeal, milk kvass.
Birch lemonade with red basil and honey
In turn, our interlocutor created an original lemonade based on kvass from birch sap with the addition of honey and fragrant red basil. This exquisite drink is perfectly refreshing in the summer heat and contains a low number of calories compared to the usual lemonades.
Birch kvass can be prepared at home, our expert advises. The first step will be to filter the natural birch sap through gauze into a clean container. Next, add sugar or honey to it to start the fermentation process. For a richer taste and aroma, you can also add raisins, other dried fruits or bread, if desired. The container of fermenting juice should then be left for several days indoors at room temperature. The finished kvass needs to be thoroughly filtered, and then the drink can be stored in the refrigerator for up to seven days.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
