Not just an ointment, but a peel to the senses
Drink of the week: Foco Aloe Vera Drink
Jessica Fromm
Issue date: 4/9/09 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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While on the lookout for something to quench my thirst on a hot summer day, I hit up an Asian market on Story Road.
Finding myself surrounded by foreign products, I had spied a bottle labeled "coconut juice."
Operating on the misconception, "Hey, I know coconut, that's safe," I purchased the beverage and took a big swig. To my horror, I was not rewarded with the sweet, creamy coconut taste that that was I accustomed to, but instead was confronted with mouthful of liquid akin to runny sour milk.
I remember sprinting out the market and spitting the contents of my mouth out onto sidewalk, much to the entertainment of my companions, and to the chagrin of the little elderly man who had just sold me the drink.
Feeling a need to atone for my act of rudeness and ignorance in the field of exotic beverages, I decided to challenge my preconceptions and once again sample the drinks of Asia. I entered Dakao at 98 E. San Salvador St. and headed straight over the large humming refrigerator filled with international offerings. Scanning the merchandise, I chose the two options that seemed the least familiar to me: Foco Aloe Vera Drink and Iceberg Soursop Drink. They cost a $1.40 each.
Drawing my cup, straw and courage, I sat down at the small square table inside the eatery. I decided to begin my flavor quest through the Orient with the Foco Aloe Vera Drink, a product of Thailand.
My previous knowledge with the main advertised ingredient, Aloe Vera, was limited to external use. Most often, I had encountered it as an ointment applied the epidermis immediately after a bad sunburn.
According to a brief look around the Web, Aloe Vera has traditionally been an ingredient of many South Asian medicinal concoctions, but there are no real studies on the benefits of the internal uses of the cactus.
As such, I was apprehensive as to what this succulent's internal effects would be, but I pushed on and cracked open the can. Taking a whiff of the contents, I noted that there was no strong smell, only a slight tinge of honey, one of the advertised additives.
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