Mong Lee Shang - 5 Reviews

Do you remember the Nestle Quik bunny, aka Quiky? From the 70s to the 90s he worked promoting the Nesquik powders used to flavor milk. He got all caught up in the glamour and in 2001 he hit rock bottom. The drugs, the interspecial relationships, he realized it was all to much for him and that he needed to walk away. Nestle hired a new rabbit (Nesquik) and most of the world never noticed the difference. Fame can do strange things to a bunny, and it takes a big rabbit to know when to extradite yourself from a situation.

Quiky spent a few years traveling the globe trying to find himself. He got clean, and adopted the vegan lifestyle. While visiting Taiwan he met up with the folks at Mong Lee Shang and he worked with them to create an incredible strawberry soymilk. It was essentially the old Nesquik strawberry powder from the 70s mixed in with soymilk, but it was a taste that Quiky had missed and he never thought he would have again. For some reason the company insisted on adding tapioca balls to the drink. Quiky didn't know why, but he had to admit that they added an element of fun to the drink and didn't really havea taste of their own.

Things were looking up for our bunny friend. He was set to appear as spokesperson for this new drink, and the company promised to keep it wholesome. Everything fell apart though when he found out that the drink actually contained caseinate (milk protein), and that it wasn't really vegan at all. Quiky felt like he had been duped and he walked out of the offices of Mong Lee Shang never to be heard from again.

It's been awhile since I have delved into the world of unusual Asian beverages. I feel I'm about due to have some added texture in my drink. As a result I find myself sitting down with a good book and a can of grass jelly drink. Let me put my feet up, crack this can open, and begin our little adventure.

Before I even had the can completely open the smell of lychee was in the air. It's sweet, fragrant, and doesn't really smell like something you should consume. My first sip was all liquid, and all lychee. What is it about that fruit that makes it taste vaguely like perfume? I've had some lychee drinks in the past that I just couldn't finish, and I've also had a couple that I found to be quite pleasant. Luckily this can of Mone Lee Shang falls into the latter category. It definitely tastes like a perfume, but in an almost candy-like way. It's similar to those Violet candies that old ladies and Editor Dan love.

Before I took another sip i swirled the can around to mix up the grass jelly. That did the job. My second gulp was full of little gelatinous cubes. I know to a lot of people that would probably be disgusting, but I've grown to love a little texture in my drinks. They taste like a honey sweetened iced tea that was somehow made into Jello. If you pour this drink into a glass, so you can actually see the cubes it even looks like Jello that is the color of iced tea. The flavor of the grass jelly balanced out the lychee even more and made this drink truly enjoyable. I've read that grass jelly drinks are consumed in Asia as a way to beat the heat. It's pretty warm out there today, and I can concur that it helped me to fight the heat.

I didn't know what to expect with this. Upon first sip, it tasted like soymilk with an extra flavor to it. Then Monet reminded me of the mung bean dessert balls you get at Thai or sushi restaurants. That is EXACTLY what this tastes like. Even though we followed Jason's instructions to shake this prior to opening, the tapioca balls still stayed at the bottom. The tapioca balls are much smaller and less chewy than those I'm used to in bubble tea. Sadly, these would not be as effective if you were to spit them.

I came in to work today and the lovely and talented Kristin Merz stopped at her local Asian market and picked me up this Mango juice drink. Yes, there is nata de coco in it, but there isn't a lot. It's not like a lot of the other ones I've had where there is an abundance of little squared, gummy goodness. This drink had but a few little dudes but the mango juice was actually really good. There is actually a small bit of mango chunk in there, too, but nothing to really write home about. It's not a puree or a smoothie, just a juice, but a good juice. Personally, I think it's an all or nothing gig with nata de coco. Either put a lot in or don't put any in.

This is a excellent juice and I urge anyone who is 10% adventurous to go down to their local Asian market and get a can.

As to be expected, this is pretty much sweetened soymilk. The flavor is nothing fancy. I was bummed because I didn't get any tapioca balls for the first half of the can. I was afraid it had disintegrated or just weren't added to this can. Then I got a sip that was pretty much all tapioca. So if you ever get one of these remember to shake it. For anyone who's ever had bubble tea, it's the same idea. If you're not familiar they are pretty much flavorless little gelatinous balls that add a fun little texture.