Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--A Vietnamese Soft Drink

     This one's a bit convoluted.  It came from the So It Is African Market, which I've referenced before.  Which, as the name suggests, mainly sells products from African nations.  However, it also has some Caribbean wares, or products used by those with Caribbean ancestry.  The drink I had is from Vietnam, but it was distributed by an American company which specializes in Hispanic, Caribbean, and Spanish cuisine.  The beverage in question was the guanabana/soursop juice drink from Iberia.
    The origin of guanabana (aka soursop, graviola, and several others) is unknown.  It's somewhere in Central America, South America, or the Caribbean, but that's as detailed as we can get.  This plant needs a hot and humid climate.  Currently though, it's grown around the world in places with just such an environment.  Including Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and of course, Vietnam.  Soursop is in the same genus as cherimoya, which I covered in my November 15, 2014 post.  The fruit has a fun and distinctive look to it, having a green, spiky rind, a whitish pulp and large black seeds.  Aside from being eaten raw, it also is commonly used in drinks, candies, sorbets and ice creams.  Consumers often claim that its texture is like a banana, its odor is like a pineapple, and its flavor is similar to an apple, and strawberry, with an additional citrus tinge.  Nutritionally the fruit has decent amounts of Vitamins B1, B2 and C.  Other health effects are controversial, or just conjectural at this point.  Some alternative medicine practitioners claim that soursop can fight cancer.  But, as usual, scientific evidence for this is lacking, thus far.  On a more worrying note, there may be a link between soursop and Parkinson's Disease.  It contains a neurotoxin called annonacin, which may be the cause.  Paw paws and custard apples also have this substance.  So maybe don't eat this fruit frequently, to be safe.
   As is often the case, I wasn't able to find out anything about the Vietnamese company which produced the drink.  The only info was about the distributing company, Iberia.  Iberia has been around since 1930.  The firm has been bought out several times by other companies, but as of 2019 it's owned by the Brooklyn Bottling Company, or the other BBC.  Iberia markets essentially every main food type--meat and fish, grains, vegetables, oils, seasonings and sauces, juices, waters, milk, pasta, snacks, desserts, and cookies.  And, religious candles, for some reason.

Iberia guanabana/soursop juice drink:  Came in a 500 ml./16.9 ounce can.  Ingredients were 35% soursop juice, water, sugar, citric acid, ascorbic acid, and soursop flavor.  The color was slightly whitish.  The flavor was milky, with some sourness.  Overall it wasn't bad, but also not especially great.  Sorry to be wishy washy, but it didn't have a very distinctive taste.  Maybe if you're a big fan of the fruit you might also really enjoy this drink.