Strawberries and Melons.
by Islam El Shazly
Because of its location on the Mediterranean and the crossroads between Africa and Asia, Egypt has access to a lot of fruits that might not be available in other places in the world, particularly North America. Some of these fruits are exotic by European and North American standards; while others are common everywhere. I tried to have fresh juice in Canada, and frankly it didn’t come close to what we have over here.
Below is a list of just a few of the most brilliant drinks you can find in Egypt, and believe me there is an insane amount of cocktails available to satisfy even the most demanding taste buds.
Warning! Drooling might occur.
1. Mowz bil-Laban (Banana with Milk) / Jawafa bil-Laban (Guava with Milk):
Both equally very delicious drinks that are very nice anytime of the year; Banana or Guava blended together with Milk and are served cold. It’s definitely one way to get the young ones to drink their milk.
Strawberry Juice, Mango Juice, and Gwava with Milk.
2. Strawberry Juice / Mango Juice:
They are both staples in Egyptian household, wedding and gathering and are the easiest drinks to identify. Both are sweet and refreshing.
3. Qasab(Sugarcane Juice):
A uniquely Egyptian drink, served cold it is an awesome way to keep cool in the hot summer days of Egypt. Sugarcane is planted all over the south of Egypt where temperatures and soils are perfect for it. It is a brilliant drink, and in a hot day it is the perfect natural picker-upper to get your energy back.
Sugarcane Juice. King of the hill on a hot day.
4. Karakadey (Hibiscus Juice):
Another very popular drink in Egypt is Karkadey, a juice made of the dried Hibiscus flower. The best thing about it is that you can have it cold or hot, however, the one you’re most likely to find at juice vendors would be the cold variety.
Best friends: Hibiscus on the left and Tamarind on the right.
5. Tamrhindi (Tamarind Juice):
Twin to Hibiscus, you will often find both of them being served at dinners in a lot of homes in Egypt. It is made pretty much the same way that hibiscus is made; only it is commonly served cold.
6. Qamar Al-Din (Stewed Apricot Juice)
A hit in Ramadan at every dinner table, along with Tamarind and Hibiscus they are the primary cold refreshment in Ramadan after a long day of fasting they are perfect for a boost of sugar and energy. Yummy!
7. Sobia (Coconut with Milk):
A refreshingly cool sweet drink usually found in Ramadan at almost every dinner table. Kids love it. You can also get it year round at most juice shops.
Sobia - Coconut with Milk, a hit with yungins!
8. Kharoob (Carob Juice)
Like Tamarind only a bit musky and dark and for some reason the best carob juice is found in Alexandria. It is served cold.
9. Sahlab (Orchid – Orchis Mascula):
Basically made out of dried and crushed orchis mascula, other ingredients include sesame seeds, Coconut, sugar, milk, and topped with raisins and nuts. It is very sweet and served hot, best way to warm up nice in the winter. The best Sahlab is usually found at coffee shops. You will not find it at Starbucks though.
Sahlab... Drooling definitely allowed. Photo by Aisha Yusaf.
10. Watermelon Juice / Cantaloupe Juice:
Both very refreshing drinks that are great on a hot summer day. Available when melons are in season.
Cantaloupe juice, AKA Melon juice.
All the above juices and cocktails, except for the Sahlab which is available at coffee shops, are available at every Juice parlor or shop. The above pictures were taken at Family’s Refreshments (Murattabat Al-‘Aaelat) at 83 Othman Ibn Affan Street, Triumph, Heliopolis, Telephone: +2018.261.0060 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +2018.261.0060 end_of_the_skype_highlighting.
You are right, there are a lot of similarities in the cuisine and in beverages. The little variations are what make it more fascinating.
I am afraid I don’t know what it was..
Strawberry and mango juice is a fantastic combo…. enjoy ๐
I’m doing a project about Egypt and we are looking at some drink’s to go with the fafel and we are doing the strawberry and manjo juice hope my class Like’s it ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
My friend bought me strawberry flavoured drink which you added to prosecco or it said pour over ice cream have you any udea wat ut wad
They were mouth watering! Egyptians and Iranians have almost the same taste in beverages. Iranians drink something like Sobia (coconut and milk) and they use Salep in making ice-creams!
This is fantastic…. I would have gladly grabbed an extra suitcase and paid the fee… ๐
hi,
after returning from my 10th vacation in egypt last month, your post makes me feel like going back there for a 2nd time this year if at all possible ๐
while strolling through spinneys’ supermarket at senzo mall, i’ve found some cooled (100% fruit content) juices: mango and guava, which i did know from thailand. bought some bottles, drank a few and went way over the baggage limit on the way home taking the remaing ones with me ๐
i did also bring some (different) fresh mangoes home. i was surprised about the variety of mangos and, being lost, asked an employee for his recommendation. not surprisingly, he suggested the two most expensive sorts. they were.priced at almost 40 and 60 egp per kg, (which seems prohibitively overpriced for egyptian wages. however,) they were very tasty, i particularily enjoyed the big, (relatively) cheaper ones.
what did i miss by not buying their cooled innab, carob, doum and tamarind juices? would they appeal to western european taste? would it have been worth to overstate my baggage limit even more?
Thanks for the acknowledgement. Looking forward to the new recipe.
Hi Antony…. It’s been a while I know ๐
Hi Islam, Looking forward for new recipe. Best Wish Wishes.
Thanks for the credit Brian, I hope you try them soon, they’re very delicious ๐
Hopefully i can try one of these sometime, i actually used this article for research at school i credited my info to the url
You’re very welcome, and thanks for the extra bit of information about Guava, it’s one of my most favourite fruits. You can find Papaya in Egypt, but only seasonal like the rest of the fruits available in the country, and probably not at a regular green grocer.
Thank you and just so you know Guava is from the New World/America from North America Mexico to the northern part of South America. What i don’t understand is why isn’t there Papaya in Egypt or at least I couldn’t find any. Papaya is beyond delicious!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Alexandra, great to hear from you… Here’s the link for the recipes: https://www.alrahalah.com/2012/07/top-10-beverages-in-egypt-the-making/
Enjoy!
you should have put the recipes i really wanted to try these but i didn’t see the recipes but other than that thanks it really helped me want to know what they drink in the other countries
Thanks anahadga, they are definitely some of the best drinks in the world.
really this it’s good BEVERAGES IN the world not just in EGYPT
Hi Vicki,
Glad you like the site, and since you’re on facebook you should check us out over there (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Al-Rahalah/222177917814608) we would love to have you as one of our friends ๐ You can send us the picture to editor(at)alrahalah(dot)com and we’ll try to identify it for you, but I think you might be talking about Carob, it’s hard and looks a bit like a brow!
Hi there!
I have a mystery here. I was in Egypt about 10 years ago and was given the karkadee to drink all over the country and so loved it. Well actually I loved everything but anyway when I left I bought a huge bag of it and the shop keeper told me I should try this other thing which I think is maybe a tea but I am clueless here. I knew exactly how to brew the hibiscus one but cannot find a pic to match this! Hoping to show you in a pic and you tell me please.
Tarnation it won’t let me. They are brow round like sort of hard pieces and remind me of mushrooms but they aren’t. I will try to post a pic on Facebook and maybe you can see it there. I am Vicki by the way and adore this site and the recipes.
Thank you very much. Looking forward for another delicious recepie.
Best Regards
Antony
Hi Antony, I will see what new drinks I can add to the list… Cheers.
Always this is very good. Can you please add new items?
Best Wishes
You’re welcome!
thanks!
You are very welcome.
I love love love sahlab. I had it almost 14 years ago and could never remember what it was called but absolutely loved it and got so addicted to it while living in Egypt. Thank you for this post!
Great to hear that ๐
I’m working on the recipes for all the drinks featured in the article and will post them once they’re ready insha’Allah.
Great talking to you and you are welcome.
Dear Islam,
It was very nice. Thanks a lot. Keep in touch. I shall check with you for any other interesting recipe.
Best Regards
Antony
You’re welcome Antony, I’ll be waiting to hear how it came out ๐
Thank you very much for your efforts. Let me make it and will keep you informed the comments.
Best Regards
Antony
After much searching, I think I found the simplest recipe – http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080312042905AAj2M9k, there are lots of recipes out there, most of them will end up being a rice pudding type dish not a drink at all, and there’s the Saudi version that has barley in it. I haven’t tried it yet, so bottoms up and good luck ๐
Egyptian Sobia
Ingredients:
1 cup grated coconut
1 ltr milk
1/4 kilo sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup rice starch
Directions:
Soak coconut in milk for 1 hour, add sugar, vanilla, and rice starch and blend in blender! Serve chilled. Enjoy.
Dear Sir,
I am still looking for the recipe for Sobia (Coconut Milk) Drink. Please help me out for this.
Hey Antony, best regards to you too…
Some of these juices you can make at home and all you will need are the simple ingredients involved in it and a blender, so if you want to make “Mowz bil-Laban (Banana with Milk) / Jawafa bil-Laban (Guava with Milk)” then all you will need is the Guava/Banana and the milk and maybe some sugar or honey to taste. The Qasab needs a specialized custom made juicer. The Sahlab can be found in ready made mixes in some stores, all you need is add milk to the mixture according to the directions, but I will try to get you the recipe for it if you would like to make it from scratch.
I have gotten several requests asking how to make these juices, so here’s what I will do; I will prepare the recipes make sure they work well, then post them all in one post insha’Allah.
Cheers ๐
How can I get the receipe for these juices?
Best Regards
Antony
Wa Alaykom Assalam Wa Rahmat Allah Layali ๐
Thank you very much for your compliment, I am glad you liked the post ๐
There are several places where you can enjoy these drinks, some better than others. If you are in Mohandiseen area then Farghali on Jami3at Al Dowal Street is the best. If you are in Heliopolis, then the best place would be Al-3a’ilat (ุงูุนุงุฆูุงุช) in Safir. There are lots of fresh juice shops in Egypt. As for the Sahlab, you just have to be in a decent coffee shop, an Egyptian one, not a franchise like Starbucks because they won’t have it, I also don’t think Cilantro would have it.
I hope this helps, let me know if yo need anything else.
Best wishes,
Islam
Al Salamu Alaykum Islam.
What a wonderful post!
I was wondering if you could recommend some shops where we could find these beverages?
Thank-you.
Best wishes,
Layali.
Sobia and Faravela were my absolute favorites! I used to see a lot of people have Arkasus and Tamr-el-hind as well ๐
You are welcome :)… and thanks for your insight, now I know what to order when visiting Mexico ๐
How interesting!
It turns out that karkadeh has probably been borrowed by the Spaniards from the Arabs during the middle age and made it’s way to Mexico where it is a very popular drink called “agua de Jamaica”.
I love to drink it ice cold in summer.
Tamarind and guava juices are also very popular as well as many other tropical fruits.
Thank you for the insights into egyptian beverages!
It is as you said, I guess I should have mentioned that :). The mirinda hibiscus was not amusing at all, they wanted to bank on the popularity of the drink, but it was short lived.
something worth mentioning about hibiscus tea is that it’s very effective in lowering blood pressure and many egyptian MD’s actually ‘prescribe’ it for hypertension patients.
in 2009, pepsico. tried to imitate the popular drink by creating a fizzy variation sold under the mirinda brand, i was in egypt at the time when it was debuted in ramadan and the product was a total fiasco and tasted like a cough syrup.. i wonder if they still make it?
Greetings Connie… I bought some from Aswan and got more as a gift from Sudan, can’t get enough of it ๐
when I first came to Egypt in 1977, traveling by car, I had Karkadeh for the first time of my life, in Fayoum.
I asked “what is this drink?” and got the answer “It is made from flowers”
I was really impressed what a poetic country!
Greetings, Connie
You are welcome Aisha, it is a brilliant picture and we are very glad you shared it with us.
Thank you so much, Islam, for choosing my image for Sahlab, I’m thrilled to see it here and I’m very happy I could be of help!
My favourite drinks, other than Sahlab, are Tamrhindi and Qamar Al-Din. Don’t think I’ve had Sobia or Karakadey. Love coconut and hibiscus, so I’m sure I would enjoy these drinks too!
Sugarcane juice, the 1st time I had it was in India, and yes, it is an awesome way to keep cool!
Thanks so much for sharing, it’s always interesting and nice to know what are popular in other countries.