Banana Milk has become a novelty for tourists to buy when visiting Korea.Tourists love the super-cute Banana Milk Bottle:short and stout and rater dumpy. The designs makes it easy for even little hands to hold.Although a novelty drink for tourists to seek out,for Koreans it's part of life and will remind them of their childhood(although its a popular drinks for adults too!)Banana milk was first introduced in 1974 as a part of a government scheme to encourage South Koreans to drink more milk.They used bananas to attract attention because of the time bananas were at a luxury fruit in Korea.The taste is flavoured because its sweet but not too sweet.
We do not tend to think of drinks as having different textures,but you'll find some Korean drinks have unfamiliar characteristics such as this dessert drink.It contains garins of rice,barley and pine nuts,along with malt powder and sugar. After drinking it,you'll always see remnants of cooked rice in the bottom of your glass.Sikhye is usually drunk at Korean Festivals such as Korean Lunar New Year. And it is often drunk after a sauna or a pst-meal drink.Sikhye is usually sold in cans,glass jars or plastic bottles,but you can easily make your own at home.
"Coffee Milk" is exactly that coffee-infused milk.But being Korean its sold in clever fun litle packages,shaped like pyramids(handy on the move).Its also sold in regular milk cartons(but we think the pyramids are more fun...)For those of us who visit the big coffee chains for milky coffee,thes are little pouches of heaven.They aren't too sweet to taste and surprisingly, for what looks like a milkshake they're chock full of caffeine for that caffeine hit you crave when you're having a long day.
If your looking for an alternative to coffee consider some Korean Ginseng tea not only is it warm and comforting to drink but there are many health benefits of Ginseng Tea.Koreans drink it to boost their energy levels and immune system,keep their heart healthy and reduce stress.Making Ginseng Tea at home from scratch by boiling the Ginseng Root over the stove is a bit of a faff,so instant packs are now available. These granulescontain plenty of Korean Ginseng extract from a bold, earthly flavour and a wonderful aroma.
Sujjeonggwa is a popular traditional dessert drink also known as Korean cinammon punch.Just like Sikhye, Sujeonggwa is a drunk over Korean Festivals and holidays.
And not only does it taste delicious but it is to aid indigestion(perfect after eating lots of food during celebrations!)
Sujjeonggwa is made from water,cinammon,ginger and can be served hot or coldBut when heating it up,the sweet and spicy aroma will make your home smell wonderfully welcoming for guests.
Whipped coffee is-is there anything more heavenly?Dalgona is a froty coffee served to sit on top of milk.(and looks fabulous on Instagram and Tiktok.)
The ingredients are pretty basic,nothing fancy:instant coffee,water and sygar.But they're whipped up to a caramel colour and fluggy texture.Yum!You can also buy a green version of dalgona,Daalgona Matcha which is just as smooth and creamy but with the added antidioxidant and detoxifying properties of the Matcha Tea
They say that Dalgona was introduced to South Korea by an actor Jung ll-Woo first experienced it in Macau.It reminded him of a Dalgona,a traditional Korean snack
Milkis is a Korean drink that we don't see in the UK:a milk and a yoghurt soda!Yes-fizzy milk!It's made by a company called Lotte Chilsing using carbonated water, milk,sugar and corn syrup.There are many flavours available such as;peach,strawberry,mango,apple,orange and melon.I think most curious foodies will want to take a sip to try it.
