Mix Your Own Drink Fun – Inspired by Halo-Halo from Philippines

When I was in the Philippines doing a test drive of Ford’s EcoSport SUV, we stopped at Susie’s Cuisine in Pampanga. It reminded me of a delicatessen back here in Australia, with a host of gourmet and interesting foods.

We tried a popular drink in the Philippines called Halo-Halo, which essentially means mix-mix. The idea is you throw different ingredients in a tall glass, add ice and milk, and then mix-mix away. It’s a social drink, where people take a break from the humidity, and slowly make their way through a tall drink, mixing the flavours in the glass as they chat; it’s part of the process. Halo-Halo is very sweet and cold. Below are the ingredients I used in the Philippines.

Saging Saba: frozen banana

Aleya (Halaya) Ube: A purple dessert made from purple yam

Macapuno: Chewy, soft coconut meat

Aleya (Halaya) Gatas: Which I think means “milk jelly” which tasted like condensed milk to me.

Leche Flan: Similar to crème caramel dessert (you can see it pictured below in my cup)

Minatamis Na Beans: A sweet white bean mix

Crushed Ice

Milk

Below is a 30 second video of making Halo-Halo in the Philippines.

I knew this would be a fun concept to do with my own kids. I found the Philippine version to be too sweet for my tastes, but used the concept to create our own Mix Your Own Drink activity. The kids ABSOLUTELY loved it and tried many different combinations.

Ingredient Selection

Frozen Bananas
Mango Puree
Blueberries
Raspberries
Coconut
Fresh Ginger Pieces
Mint Leaves (from our garden)
Watermelon
Lemon/Lime
Ginger Cordial
Lime Cordial
Passionfruit syrup
Crushed Ice
- Sparkling Water

These small mason jars are available from Kmart for 75 cents by memory. They are a good size for this activity because it’s easy to try different flavour combinations. Below is an example of how to build a drink.

Add
ice -> raspberries -> mango puree -> coconut -> lime -> blueberries -> mint leaves -> sparkling water

The kids loved the flavoured cordial and added fruit too.

This was a massive hit at our place, and a fun idea for family fun night, birthday parties, celebrations of weekend activity.

On April 10, 2017 • By Kelly - Be A Fun Mum

About Kelly - Be A Fun Mum

Kelly loves life at both ends of the spectrum: wearing high heel shoes one day and hiking boots the next; sipping tea out of a pretty cup and slurping hot coffee from a camping mug; challenging herself physically and stopping for quiet unhurried moments to feel the wind on her face. Kelly and her husband Matthew seek to live a fun and adventurous life with their four children and pet bird.