So by now most of you regular readers know that my guilty pleasure is watching Korean dramas, K-dramas for short. I also spend a little time each day learning Korean on Duolingo (and making slow progress, I might add). The girls and I started watching these shows several years ago because they simply are the best. We have no idea what passes for TV these days in the US.
About a year or so ago, however, I stumbled upon a disturbing sight. Lydia, my sweet, naïve baby was secretly watching the unspeakable. It’s hard to admit. Yes, she knew what she was doing was shameful, bringing dishonor to the entire family. She was watching a Chinese drama. It wasn’t even Taiwanese, but straight from mainland China. The horror of it all. I’ve tried to persuade her of the evil of her ways, all to no avail. She’s been completely corrupted.
Anyway, one of the things we really enjoy about these Asian dramas is their product placement scenes. Cars, phones, restaurants, appliances, clothing—nothing is off limits, and it’s amusing to see how the items are written into the storyline. One show even advertised yarn and knitting.
So Lydia’s latest drama featured a Japanese soft drink in many scenes and the marketers and actors did their job well. They made the drink—Calpis—look so refreshing and delicious. She had to try it.
As Calpis has been the most popular soft drink in Japan for over 100 years, it has made its way into markets across the ocean as well, even into relatively rural areas like ours. Unfortunately, Calpis isn’t a winning name in the US, so here it goes by the name Calpico.
Lydia brought her bottle out to me while I was working in the yard one hot day last week and let me have a sip. I, too, was surprised at how good it was and immediately turned the bottle to read the ingredient list. Water, sugar, yogurt, lemon juice. Sounds very DIY-able. (I also thought a drink of yogurt and water sound definitely unappetizing, but trust us and give it a try.) I suggested to Lydia that she might try to find a recipe online and start experimenting.
And she was off to the races.
For the next hour, about every 15-20 minutes, Lydia brought out her experiments. I will note here the Calpico is sold in glass bottles, and I have to say it tastes really good in a well-chilled bottle. Lydia tried using lemon juice and citric acid and making a strawberry-flavored drink as well. We didn’t like any of the other options as much as we did the lemon juice flavored drink.
Calpico—Original Flavor
½ cup Greek yogurt*
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice (True Lemon packets work well for this) OR ½ teaspoon citric acid
Ice cold water, mineral water, or club soda to dilute
In a small bowl, thoroughly combine the yogurt, sugar, and lemon juice. Press the mixture through a fine mesh strainer. Store in the refrigerator for up to one week.
To make your own Calpico soft drink, pour ¼ cup of the Calpico mixture into a glass. Add ¾ cup of water and stir well. Garnish with mint leaves or fruit, if desired.
*Greek yogurt is simply plain yogurt that has been strained to remove some of the whey.
Family reviews: We all (Aaron, Becky, Lydia, and I) agreed this is really good stuff. Lydia experimented with some other flavors but we like lemon the best.
Links to related posts:
Lemon and Lime Juice Options in TEOTWAWKI
6.22.24
Hmmm, intriguing. I'll give it a try this week. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteA friend asked the Cultural Attache at the Mongolian Embassy what they used here for Kumiss, a traditional Mongolian food/drink made from fermented mares' milk, and slightly alcoholic.
DeleteThat worthy reported that they blended Greek yogurt, and vodka, with a little sugar, and diluted the mixture with champagne.
We tried it. Not bad, but not exactly to my taste. But then, I still like to drink Imperium Compound.
John in Indy