Trying Out Happy Lemon

Everyone loves Happy Lemon, to the point that I have yet to taste it. My friend told me to get the one with rock salt and cheese, screw lactose intolerance, but with it being a popular brand, I never got the chance to actually taste it. The Greenhills store was perpetually filled during the rare times I visit Greenhills. When I was in Singapore, even the Happy Lemon over there had long lines, so I never bothered lining up.

When I heard that Happy Lemon opened in Rockwell, I decided to go give it a try when a day that I had patience to line up if I'm not in a hurry. On that day, it was a weekend and the lines were horrendously long.

So that's the famous rock salt and cheese. Interesting. And the lemon-shaped smiley is very inviting.

Surprisingly, even if the lines were long, service was fast. I guess these guys are trained to work fast due to the long lines. I'm known to be quite adventurous with my orders, and sometimes I make the mistake of getting a very strong order so I conceded to ordering the bestsellers. For the Rock Salt and cheese, I was recommended the Cocoa with Rock Salt and Cheese (the green tea variant seemed like a no-no for me) and for milk tea, Oreo Milk Tea was the choice.

As our orders were, sumunod na ko sa uso.

I was expecting grated cheese and rock salt bits on the rock salt and cheese drink. I was surprised to find a creamy liquid on top of the chocolate drink with a sprinkling of chocolate powder. Actually, the creamy liquid is the rock salt and cheese part. The rock salt obviously has dissolved into the cream cheese resulting in a mix of sweet-salty-rich flavor. The cocoa part tasted like Chocolait, actually, and I was glad that there was no irritating powder bit. The Oreo milk tea really had Oreo bits rather than powder. I like that I get the real thing though.

My verdict? The Oreo Milk Tea didn't cause me to gag with the sweetness or richness and for some reason for both flavors, I didn't find myself rushing to the bathroom after, or maybe because I'm starting to get immune to the stomach-churning effects of dairy already by taking it in. The Rock Salt and Cheese drinks are supposed to be taken in without stirring straight sipped from the cup instead of a straw poked in. It was mellow in sweetness but very rich, and the saltiness of the rock salt and cheese balanced the sweetness of the chocolate. Flavor was very mild though.

I was expecting a mind-blowing reaction after sipping the drinks though, due to the long lines, but it was just nice and okay for me. I'd go back here on a day where lines aren't long or if I have the sudden crave. In fact, Avy and I were here last Thursday. Her favorite had brown sugar and I think I'll try that soon.

Did Happy Lemon leave me smiling? It did of course, or else I wouldn't come back. It's also pretty affordable too as even the large drinks didn't cost me more than Php 100 (unless I get an add-on). I just get the regular-sized drink due to the richness so I don't get the "cream overload". But otherwise, I like it. And it's organized too.

Calamansi + Lemongrass for a Dinner Drink

Ever since I tasted refreshing lemongrass drinks, I wanted to know how they're made from scratch. Lemongrass is readily available here. We could pluck them from the ground or soil if we're lucky enough to grow them in our garden or friend's garden and once we get the recipe right, we're good. If not, lemongrass (locally known as tanglad) is available in small bunches at groceries for about Php 5.00 - Php 7.00.

My first attempt at a lemongrass drink didn't turn out quite well. It was drinkable yes, but I sort of overboiled the lemongrass so it tasted more like the water in sago't gulaman than the refreshing sharp lemongrass taste. Here, it's best that I use white sugar here since brown sugar colored my liquid brown when I wanted a greenish hue for my drink.

While prepping dinner, I saw the lemongrass bunch I purchased on a recent grocery trip and

decided to give it a try again, reducing the boiling time. By serendipetous chance, I saw the calamansi I got from our house in Las Pinas having already wonderfully ripened that they're yellow instead of green. You know what? This calls for a time to experiment to make calamansi lemongrass drinks.

When I make my drinks, I don't have exact measurements. Everything's just to taste, so in this post, I won't be writing much measurements. The measurements I used here might not work on certain people so it all depends on taste preference.

The first thing I did was squeeze the calamansi juice into the pitcher. I put a strainer on top of the pitcher since citrus pulp annoys the crap out of me. I squeezed 13 fruits because I finished that big bag. I like that they're all yellowed so the fruit's soft.

Normally, to make calamansi juice you need to dilute the pure juice with water right? Instead of pure water, I used lemongrass water. To make the lemongrass water, I needed to prepare 4-5 stalks of lemongrass. I washed them of all debris and dried them. I peeled the dry stalks out and sliced the brown rooty bottom part so I get that nice juicy bulb in the bottom and fresh green stalks. Carefully I sliced the stalks lengthwise and pounded them with the blunt end of a chef's knife since this helps to get the juice out. While at it, a pot of water's just boiling, around 2-3 tall glasses of it.

Once the stalks and bulbs are all pounded, dunk them in the pot of boiling water and boil the lemongrass until the water turns into a nice green color. Be sure not to overboil. What I did was lower the heat after 10 minutes to a nice simmer, stirring constantly. I usually check the aroma of the lemongrass water. If you get that distinct refreshing lemongrass scent, you're all good. After it all simmers down quite nicely, I let it cool until it's just warm. I strain the mixture and then slowly mix it in with the calamansi juice in the pitcher until I get the right taste I want. By this time, I make adjustments. If it's too sharp, I add some water. If I want it tad tarter, strain some juice in.

To sweeten, I use white sugar here since I want to maintain the green-yellow color of the drink. I like drinking this cold, dunking 6 ice cubes in the glass. Honey could be used to sweeten, kinda lacing it in before serving. Yumm!!!!

Just some tips:

1. Pound the stalks. If the blunt of the chef's knife doesn't work, use the mortar. That's a way of getting all the juice out.

2. Sugar dissolves better in warm liquid. That's why the lemongrass water and calamansi are warm.

3. It's best to use glass pitchers here with higher resistance to heat.

Have fun!

A BF Trip

Southeners who are tired of the 3 malls in our area can try trooping down BF Paranaque for quaint treats. At the strip of Aguirre Ave in BF Paranaque are strips of gourmet restaurants and commercial restaurants, snack houses, cafes, etc. Some even offer free Wi-Fi. Right now, I'm at my favorite coffee place right here in the South blogging.

First up is dinner at A Vennetto restaurant. Makati goers know this pretty Italian place at Glorietta but we at South troop over to BF for per-slice gourmet pizza and pasta to share.

Here's a vegetarian treat: olive and garlic base sauce with mushrooms:

The taste was aokay. I like the mushrooms and how it was pure simplicity. Also, it was healthy

You can have a hero sandwich too, if you're hungry and if there's some left, take it with you.

yumm! Also, in A Venetto, you can order your pizza by the slice if you want to try just one. Since I have this huge bloat issue whenever I eat too much pizza, I order my usual seafood pizza and just feast on pasta.

Coffee is none other than at BoNa coffee, where I'm blogging right now. I'm right here at the flagship store in BF, enjoying free WiFi and this baby:

This is BoNa's bestseller and this is my first time to try it, considering I've been a BoNa client for quite a while. This is Kona mocha, and the coffee they used here is Kona, which is supposedly stronger. I can feel the kick but it's not as strong, but I'll know I'll have the energy to prep up for tomorrow's shoot.

Anyway, the reason why I only tried this now is that it's forever out-of-stock. When I found out that they had it and I've heard great reviews about it, I ordered a mezzo (Php135) and I was not dissapointed. The dark chocolate shavings on top are another treat!

Apparently, I'm right here in BoNa, enjoying free WiFi and sipping my Kona Mocha. <3!

Now I know why a wholelotta bloggers love this place as well, especially the southeners!

The South does have hidden treasures, even if it's a far off place. :-)

The weekend's almost ending. Enjoy the rest of it!