Vendors go trendy with aloe vera, ice apple mocktails

Whether it’s heady aloe vera and buttermilk concoctions or mocktails featuring a mix of ice apples and tender coconut water, these beverages sold on the streets of the city offer people a welcome relief from the heat. 

One of the newer entrants this year is the aloe vera buttermilk shake. Anandhi, who runs a street-side juice shop on Velachery Main Road tells us that the drink has steadily gained popularity with her customers. 

She says, “We procure the aloe vera plants by the truckloads from places like Namakkal and Theni. It costs us about Rs 60 per kilo and it’s a labour intensive job to extract the gel-like aloe vera chunks from the plant. As these chunks cannot be consumed by themselves, we blend them with buttermilk and sell them for Rs 25 per glass and Rs 35 per glass for a sweetened version. Aloe vera has many medicinal uses and health benefits.”

She adds, “Koozh, a traditional porridge made of finger millet (ragi) is also being blended with buttermilk and sold by vendors across the city.”

The new innovations are music to the ears of folks like Shiv Kumar, a city based social media influencer who says, “A shop in Vadapalani sells this mocktail which combines tender coconut water with chunks of nongu (ice apple drawn from the palm). It’s become quite popular among my friends and we prefer it any day over a packaged drink.”

He adds that even office canteens in the city have stocked up on spiced buttermilk which finds many takers among the health conscious. Another drink that is a summer time favourite for many is pathaneer, which is the unfermented liquid of the palm, which is now being sold in tetra packs by the government.