Saturday, September 30, 2017

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Guatemalan Juice Drinks

     Recently I found myself back at a Wegman's supermarket, so I stocked up on more exotic foodstuffs, and "drinkstuffs," if that's a word.  Today I'll be talking about a couple of Del Frutal beverages--a banana strawberry flavored one, and an apple flavored one.
     Del Frutal is a brand of the Alimentos Maravilla S.A. company, out of Guatemala.  This company manufactures a variety of beverages, including nectars and juices, soft drinks, flavored teas, milk drinks, and sports and energy drinks.  Currently they export to Central America, South America, North America, Europe, and Africa.  Alimentos Maravilla boasts of 25 years of experience.
     Each of the cans I bought were 330 ml. (11.16 ounces), and contained some actual fruit juice--11% for the banana strawberry one, and 20% for the apple.  Nutrition-wise each had 100% of the recommended daily amount of Vitamin C, and trace amounts of calcium and iron for the banana strawberry type.  Like many nectars/juices, these were not carbonated.  The banana strawberry drink was a reddish-brown color.  It had a thick texture, or "mouthfeel."  I was a little surprised how much I enjoyed this one, considering that I'm not generally a fan of bananas, or things flavored with them.  Anyway, it was a solid, refreshing beverage.  The apple kind was a yellowish-brown hue, and had the same thick texture.  Its apple flavor was reminiscent of a cider.  Once again, I came away fairly impressed.  Neither drink was excellent, but both were better than average, and quite good.
     I got to looking up some famous Guatemalans, or in some cases, Americans with Guatemalan heritage, and recognized several.  For example, NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Ted Hendricks, who played from 1969-83, was born in Guatemala.  The 6'7" (201 cm.) Hendricks, nicknamed "The Mad Stork," played on 4 Super Bowl winning teams (Super Bowls 5, 11, 15, and 18, with the Baltimore Colts and Oakland/LA Raiders).  Actor Oscar Isaac also was born in Guatemala, and has a parent from there.  Isaac is best known for roles in "Inside Llewyn Davis" (2013), "Ex Machina" (2015), "X-Men: Apocalypse" (2016), and for playing Poe Dameron in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" (2015) and in the upcoming "Star Wars" movie(s).  Actress Daphne Zuniga, who's part Guatemalan, Polish, and Finnish, is notable for her roles in "The Sure Thing" (1985), "Spaceballs" (1987), and in the television show "Melrose Place" (1992-96).  Doctor Rudolfo Robles (1878-1939) was the first to describe and document the hideous parasitic worm disease onchocerciasis, better known as river blindness.  Finally, Guatemala has produced 2 Nobel Prize winners.  Author Miguel Angel Asturias (1899-1974) won the 1967 Nobel Prize for Literature.  And Activist Rigoberta Menchu won the 1992 Nobel Prize for Peace for her efforts on behalf of the indigenous people of Guatemala.


















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