Drinks

I usually prefer eating fruit to drinking fruit.

So I don’t make smoothie often.

But recently I received a large papaya in my farm box, and after enjoying eating it fresh, I realized I still had a lot left.

(I wish I had taken a picture of the whole papaya.)

So I decided to use it to make smoothie.

I also had a lot of fresh ginger, so I added a big chunk of it too.

Papaya Ginger Smoothie: papaya, ginger, lemon juice, ice, oat milk, honey

This turned out fantastic!

I’m notorious for my poor smoothie-making skills, but this was so good!

I have to confess that my husband helped me with this one.

I was hesitant to add ice when he suggested, but he was right; that made it better!

One of the things we were excited about renting a unit in this building was its great facilities.

But I wasn’t really taking advantage of the gym until recently.

Now I try to go three to four days a week and work out.

I’m not a fan of cardio machines, but this view helps.

It’s not a huge gym, but the high ceiling and a lot of mirrors make the space feel large and comfortable.

I do use the pool regularly.

My favorite time to swim is in the late morning, when it’s quiet and most of the pool is still in the shade.

The view from the pool is fantastic, too.

They have this nice sitting area right by the pool.

I’m waiting for friends and family to visit us in Bangkok so that we can have a pool party!

In the morning the first thing I drink is a glass of water.

Then I drink a cup of hot green tea with fruit and breakfast.

After that I mostly drink water either cold or room temperature throughout the day.

But I also enjoy creating flavored tea, using fresh fruits and herbs.

This pineapple rosemary iced green tea was very refreshing.

I liked it slightly sweetened.

This one was passion fruit mint iced earl grey.

When I have a lot of passion fruits, I freeze it and make passion fruit cubes.

It’s one of my favorite snacks.

I usually throw a cube in my mouth, or put a few in a cup with some sugar and enjoy it as a quick sorbet, or add a few cubes to cold beverages like the one above.

The frozen passion fruit slowly dissolved and added nice sweetness and tartness to the tea.

It’s fun to make your own drinks, but I also like to go to cafes to get inspiration.

We visited this beautiful cafe the in the same building as a Karmakamet shop, one of the most popular aroma brands in Thailand.

I don’t remember the name, but it was something Christmassy.

It was certainly festive-looking.

They were also very serious about their coffee.

I’ve never had decaf coffee served in this fancy manner!

I would suggest checking out the shop first and then enjoying a tea or a drink in the cafe.

You can choose a table outside, surrounded by the plants, or inside where you feel like you are in an old movie setting.

The shop shows the history of the company.

It looked almost like a museum than a store.

Plan to spend some time, checking out various fragrances and taking pictures.

The shop was as photogenic as the cafe.

I’ve never been a big drinker, but I do like some cocktails.

One of my favorites is mojito.

I don’t remember where I was the first time I tried the cocktail, but I do remember that I really liked it.

I was surprised by the use of fresh mint leaves, and I loved how refreshing it was!

Now I grow my own mint in a planter, so it seemed like a great idea to make mojito.

I got the basics, mint and limes.

Now not so typical ingredients.

I wanted my mojito to be a bit special this time, and I added mango powder and homemade passion fruit jam.

Since the passion fruit jam was already sweetened, I didn’t have to make syrup.

It already looked promising!

This was SO good!!

It’s October, but the temperature hovers around 90 degrees in Bangkok, so it was perfect.

I liked the mango powder I purchased online so much that I wanted to create something to really highlight it.

Initially I wasn’t sure about combining coffee with mango, but here in Thailand there is a beverage called orange coffee, so I thought this might work too.

I added the mango powder to coconut milk.

Using mango powder instead of fresh mango has an advantage because it does not water down the milk.

The powder has such concentrated flavor, and just a little amount does a fantastic job.

I’ve never been a barista, and I hardly ever go to fancy coffee shops, so I had no idea which goes into a glass first, coffee or milk.

But it all seemed to work out just fine.

It turned out to be an outstanding latte!

I absolutely loved this flavor combination.

Since we moved to our new home in Bangkok, we’ve been purchasing a lot of things just to start a new life.

There is a large shopping center near our place, so we go there a lot, but we utilize online shops as well.

Online shopping is very easy, and thankfully many sellers accept returns.

When I had to return something (which was rather large) because the quality was not what I had expected, I was nervous because I wasn’t sure exactly how it would go.

But the process was quite smooth, and I now feel pretty good about online shopping here.

Still, I wasn’t expecting to find live plants, but I found a seller that sells organic herbs in a pot.

Thank goodness.

It arrived quickly, safe and sound.

I have to confess something first today.

The citrus fruit I talked about in the previous post and the one before that was NOT Sudachi, but Kabosu.

I was just informed by the source.

They are similar, and I did not know the difference.

But I got interested, and did some research.

I found out that there are differences.

Kabosu is a little larger than Sudachi.

They are grown in different regions.

The flavors are supposed to be a little different too.

They say Kabosu has a milder sourness compared to Sudachi.

Water, brown sugar, Kabosu juice, cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom.

A little rum was added to finish it.

I really liked the combination of Kabosu, brown sugar, spices, and rum!

This is a great drink to enjoy on a cold winter day.