It Came From Super 88
As any fan of the site can tell you, I am a huge proponent of Super 88, the Asian supermarket here in and around
First up was a can of Foco (of low-quality energy drink fame) Mangosteen Juice Drink. The can was emblazoned with a botanical illustration of what I assume is a mangosteen. Now, call me ill-travelled and of shallow palate if you will, but I had never had anything with mangosteen in it, so this was exotic for me, those of you in more tropical climes where this fruit is plentiful may shower me in derisive laughter now.
The drink smelled excellent, like passion fruit, a sweet floral tropical fruit smell that let me know I had nothing to fear from this can. Although it was very thick and syrupy, it was not particularly sweet, but rather lightly floral and tropical; very yummy and refreshing. Starting so strong should have given me an inkling that more grim things were to come, but nothing could prepare me for what was next.
From the refrigerator, my impartial co-participant Jenny pulled a can of Golden King Wax Gourd Drink. Like the mangosteen juice, this was proudly wearing a botanical illustration of its namesake, which in this case was a long green squash-like gourd. I had not been looking forward to this one, as my imagination had built a flavor profile somewhere in the neighborhood of lawn clippings and grass jelly. I wish that were the case.
The drink poured, with a thin consistency, golden yellow into my glass. At first it smelled like nothing at all and I thought I’d be spared, but soon aromas similar to toasted dirt began to surface and I figured I had better face the music and take a swig. This beverage tastes like brown sugar and swamp, the flavor had me frowning and I realized that it was so bad it was making me sad. What bothered me most about this drink was the persistence of that swampy flavor; it stays with you for a good fifteen minutes after the initial drink. I mean, who juices a damn gourd in the first place?
Next up was Wong Lo Kat Herbal Tea. From reading the vibrant red and yellow label, it sounded like this drink was the result of some convergence between modern science and ancient Chinese herbal medicine. I had no idea what to expect, but I figured that no matter what, it couldn’t suck more than the wax gourd drink.
Upon pouring I was not at all surprised that this beverage looked like iced tea, because it is. It smelled like lightly citrusy iced chamomile tea and tasted pretty good, albeit medicinal. It tasted like chamomile, licorice, and something raisiny or prunish. It left my mouth feeling clean and refreshed, not bad at all.
The fourth beverage in the lineup was Mong Lee Shang Strawberry Flavored Pearl Soybean Drink with Tapioca Balls, in layman’s terms: Strawberry Bubble Tea. I was expecting bubble tea, not my favorite drink, but predictable and not terrible.
What I got, upon pouring the can into my glass, was a drink that smelled like strawberry soymilk, but was as close to bubble tea as Spam is to roast beef. The soymilk was chunky beyond the tapioca pearls, which were not black and round as the can art would have you believe, but rather a morass of clear little tapioca tadpoles. Definitely not a spectacular outing by the manufacturer. If you must have bubble tea, go to
Fifth up was Wonderfarm Bird’s Nest Drink. This is a drink I have some experience with from a few years back on my first outing to Super 88. Any beverage proudly wearing the words “White Fungus” on its label bears caution in my book.
The drink poured very thick, as a clear liquid with fluffy white fungus in suspension; not my idea of a good time. It smells like marshmallows and has a viscous mouthfeel with gummy fungus bits all through each and every sip or swig, they’re unavoidable. The drink tastes dusty and inappropriately sweet, just like I remembered it.
As someone who avoids even pulpy orange juice, this sludge was just not meant for me.
Finally was a unique offering by our good friends at Goya; Chicha Morada, a Peruvian purple corn-based beverage. The ingredient list looked promising, with fruit juices, and spices like cloves, I was expecting something in the neighborhood of mulled cider.
The Chicha Morada pours like and is the same color as red wine. The smell threw me off however as it was undeniably that of barbecue sauce. The taste echoed the smell, but bringing a roasted corn and brown sugar taste to the table as well. I could not have anticipated this flavor, but I didn’t dislike it, I just had a hard time figuring it out.
Once again, Super 88 has proven itself a cornucopia of the unique and uncommon. While I would not actively seek out any of these beverages, there were definite winners and losers of the night. The winners were the mangosteen juice, the herbal tea, and as confusing as it was, the Chicha Morada. The loser awards of the night go to the wax gourd drink for tasting like unhappiness, the bird’s nest drink for reducing one of the Royal Delicacies of China to an over-sweetened freak show, and to the Mong Lee Shang bubble tea which earns a dunce cap for screwing up a two ingredient drink.