THAILAND: Basil Seed Drinks

Back in July, my friend Rhiannon and I set off on a trip around Thailand for 2.5 weeks. My next few posts will paint a picture of the time I spent here, focussing on my favourite or unusual foods and drinks.

When booking the flights, there were a few options possible. After "umming and ahhing" about the best value for money, we decided on the 2nd cheapest route which had a layover in Qatar... and so the very long journey to Thailand began. I have only been on a few long-haul flights in my life, and I generally prefer not to have a layover. However, Qatar was one of the most luxurious airports I have ever been to. It also had the added bonus of setting the scene for my first culinary discovery of the trip. Basil seed drinks.

During the flight to Qatar, we enjoyed the novelty of free food and drink, which came about every hour and was surprisingly tasty for plane food. The plane interior was also much more deluxe compared to the standard "easy jet" flight I am accustomed to! When we reached Qatar, we were seriously parched and surprisingly hungry considering the frequency of which we had been fed on the flight! So off we went in search of nourishment.

Qatar is a big airport but we soon came across a cafe that would do. In the way of snacks, most of the food was pretty standard to my western pallet, however the drinks looked very different. There was a whole selection of different ice teas, dairy drinks and soft drinks in unusual looking flavours. However what took my fancy the most was these brightly coloured drinks that looked a bit like frog-spawn!

It turns out that the frog-spawn was actually basil seeds, which are in fact, used in a lot of Asian sweet drinks. When dried basil seeds are emmersed in liquid, they form a light gel, encasing the seeds. Often the drinks can be made at home by adding the basil seeds to whatever drink you fancy, however the drinks which we found at the airport were made by a Thai company called City Fresh. There were 2 flavours available, strawberry and pineapple, so we got one of each to try out.

My first impression of the drinks was that they were sickly sweet. Both flavours were much too sweet for my liking, but the strawberry had a slightly more fruity flavour to it than the pineapple. Each mouthful included a generous helping of the gelled basil seeds and to be honest there was, perhaps too much seed:liquid ratio, making the drink more solid than liquid. I was glad that I had also bought a bottle of water, because these drinks did not quench my thirst. However something that was refreshing was that the gel had a slightly cooling sensation in the mouth- probably why this drink is so popular in Asia.

Once I had become more accostomed to the strange texture, I felt the need to bite down on each of the tiny jelly spheres. As I bit down, the sphere popped and I was able to crunch down on the seed in the middle. This was a slightly weird sensation especially in a drink, but not as off-putting as the sweetness.

Although I found the texture a bit strange, and the flavour too sweet, I would like to try another version of this drink that is perhaps slightly less sweet and with a bit of a sour kick to it. And although it could never make it on to the list of my "thirst quenching" drinks, I think it could grow on me as something to satisfy my sweet tooth!

In conclusion, not 100% converted, but I would try again maybe in a different flavour or brand.