2023 will be an exciting year not just for food but also for drinks and everything else in between. Here are my latest, mostly liquid finds, based on current food trends.
Drinks
Flavored liquors are the craze, and we have a lot to hail!
Destileria Barako, a state of the art distillery, tucked away in the jungle of Malay—just off the island of Boracay—and makers of award-winning craft spirits like the Ube Cream Liqueur and the Salted Caramel Vodka, just unveiled the latest addition to their novelty line of drinks.
Perya Popcorn is made with sugarcane vodka, popcorn and macadamia. Perya Popcorn is caramel popcorn, literally in liquid form. Every sip brings back childhood memories of the perya and manong popcorn vendor, just as its maker, the liquid maestro, Kalel Demetrio. purposely made it to be. He said that Perya is a leveled-up “Netflix-and-Chill” partner, especially when prepared, as Kalel suggested, as a Popcorn Highball.
Perya Popcorn
60 ml Kanto Perya
30 ml Jack Daniels
90 ml soda water
Glass: highball
Pour in a highball. Mix and garnish with caramel popcorn. (Distileria Barako products are available at Boozy.ph, Robinson’s Supermarkets and Rustan’s Supermarkets.)Dirty soda
Nonalcoholic drinks, mocktails and dirty sodas are especially big on TikTok. The drink is made by combining your soda of choice with cream, flavored syrups and/or chopped fruit. It is often served with crushed ice.
The most common example of a dirty soda is a Coke Float. The more popular way of preparing it lately is by mixing Coke with coconut syrup, lime wedges, plus cream or a creamer of your choice.
Coffee and beverage predictions
In conversation with Franklin and Peaches Tiu of Far Skyes Enterprise (importer and distributor of Stasero & Stirling Syrups, Sauces, Frappe Powders, Matcha Green Tea and Mr. C’s Bar Mixes), they shared what they have observed to be on an uptick. Expect to see more of mochas, macchiatos and flavored lattes. Coffee cocktails are also on the uptrend. This is a perfect example:
Iced Butter Rum Latte
Combine a double shot of espresso and 30 g Stasero Vanilla Powder.
Add 20 ml Stasero Butterscotch or Stasero Jamaican Rum.
Add 100 ml whole milk or soy milk.
Fill glass with ice and pour the drink over.
Make room for drinkable desserts like this S’Mores Frappe made by simply blending 50 g Stasero Vanilla Frappe Powder with double shot espresso plus 15 ml of Stasero English toffee syrup. Fill a 16 oz glass with ice and blend in a blender. Garnish with whipped cream, some crushed graham crackers and marshmallows. The addition of beverages like these, the Tius pointed out, makes the menu more playful.
Flavored milks are also becoming increasingly popular, like nut milks, matcha milks, coconut milk powders, oat milks and many other variations thereof. Even adding milk to your favorite fruit sauces is becoming quite the treat for many.
Be trendy and make this Strawberries and Cream Latte.
Strawberries and Cream Latte
Steam 180 ml milk.
Mix in 30 ml Stasero Strawberry Syrup.
Top with milk froth or whip cream
Another fun way to enjoy sparkling water is by adding flavor to it. Doing so adds not just flavor, but also, depending on the syrup, makes a visually appealing drink.
This Stasero Lavender Sparkling Water is beautiful. To 30 ml Stasero Lavender syrup, mix in 120 ml sparkling water or soda water and fill the glass with ice.
Yogurt-based drinks
Using yogurt frappe powder in place of ice cream, milk and nondairy creamer for drinkable dessert recipes have become en mode for the lactose intolerant.
For the health buffs and keto crowd, sugar-free syrups in so many flavors allow those with dietary requirements to indulge. (Text tel. 0917-5349523; follow @stasero_ph on Instagram.) Fruit ice cream
Using all-natural ingredients never goes out of style.
According to Ian Carandang of Sebastian’s Ice Cream—a trendsetter, known for his inconceivable frozen delight flavors (that include the kakanin line of ice creams and even manggang hilaw and bagoong)—they have been busy turning real fruit juices into ice cream.
The Orange Ice Cream made with slow juiced pure orange juice and orange zest just debuted in his Podium Ice Cream shop.
Ian is currently busy searching for fruits that he can turn into ice cream.
There’s pomelo, grapefruit, green apple, apple; right now, only the cost and the yield limit him, Ian said. (Follow @sebastiansicecream on Instagram.)Cone tips
I am so proud of my grandchild, Stef Marcelo, maker of the Mini Tips Cones. Having worked in Creamies, an ice cream factory owned by his father John, Stef is always on the lookout for something new.
The very end of the cone has always fascinated him, especially those filled with chocolate at the tip. As such, the young, curious and innovative Stef experimented with simply the cone tips and came up with his very own micro cone waffle, generously filled with chocolate. You can snack on it as is, or playfully serve it with a micro-mini scoop of your favorite ice cream. By the end of the month, there will be two variants, milk and dark chocolate. Everyone who’s tried Tips Cones loved it! (Follow @tipscones on Instagram and Facebook.) INQ
Follow @iamreggieaspiras on Instagram and Facebook; reggieaspiras.com.