Mango season has us mad for mangoes – king of fruits for a reason. We tried 3 new, different mango drinks and gave our verdict for you to try!
Mangoes, Mangoes and more mangoes – Pakistani mangoes are truly the best for a reason and that’s one particular reason making us feel lucky to be a Pakistani. We will be judging you if you tell us you don’t like mangoes (is that even possible?) Come summer, and everyone around us is obsessed with the king of fruits. So naturally, given how mangoes give us a small window of opportunity to grab them (only in summer), we embarked on a quest for 3 very fresh to the scene mango drinks. Navigating the extremely risky trail of exploring FoodPanda, we discovered 3 mango drinks that were not your basic mango shake (As much as we love it, it’s time to experiment).
We had a few requirements:
- We don’t want a mango shake
- It has to be new, not tried before
- And, well, yummy! (Not too much to ask). Read on to find out what the 3 drinks we found were and if they hit the lusciously sweet spot for true mango lovers (and our curated ratings game). So let’s dive in to it!
1. Greeno – “Mango Laban”
So basically, Laban (An Arabic fermented milk based beverage) tastes slightly sweet, salty and tangy while, the desi Lassi tastes sweet or a bit salty depending on what you add. Greeno is quite the IT place for drinks in Karachi – be it juices, smoothies, coffees and what not. Greeno stays on consumers radars for their new drink finds every season. Whenever there’s a new fruit in the season – Greeno is our go to for refreshing new blends, so when we began our mango madness search, Greeno came up as the obvious choice. The Mango Laban is a mango, yogurt, condensed milk, milk, honey and ice based drink.
This is what we thought: Definitely tasted the natural lush flavor of mangoes, but also felt a tanginess of the fermented milk or yogurt! It cpuld be likened to a mango milkshake but a slightly more tangy. The honey and condensed milk addition was enticing when we read up about it but we guess it was just an addition to balance out flavor and somehow got lost in the blend. However the team did say, it wasn’t as sweet as they would have liked it to be – perhaps Greeno Mango Laban is more a basic mango smoothie or a mango shake with a slight tanginess. Our team felt it was heavy with a sour/bitter taste and had a prominent yogurt after taste. Probably more appealing for those who like yogurt based drinks. for milk.
But beware if you don’t want to be paying Rs. 533 (ordered through FoodPanda) for a small mango milk shake because that’s what it almost was.
So based on our criteria above, we would rate the Greeno Mango Laban a 6/10. Not bad but just didn’t fit all the requirements.
2. Drop Coffee – “Mango Frappe”
We would be lying if we say we weren’t most excited for Drop’s Mango Frappe. Mango and Coffee? What, How, Where! Sounded like an exotic combination but we had to hold our horses for a taste test first. Very honestly, we weren’t even sure what to expect. Would it be predominantly more mangoish, will we even taste the coffee? We were buzzing with all these questions.
The drink cost us Rs. 744 through FoodPanda. So when the order arrived pretty quick we popped the straw in the dark yellow drink to finally get out first taste. The coffee hit us in a way we didn’t even expect, so coffee lovers it’s safe to say the coffee definitely gave the mango fair competition. As for how lucratively they managed the divine flavor of mango? Um, for one it didn’t taste like the natural flavor – we sensed an artificial mango syrup or essence (minimal at best) and the mango note hit last. It was both bitter with hints of sweet.
Mango Frappe from Drop Coffee was an experience for sure, fulfilling your caffeine dose for the day. It could be, however, mildly flavoured coffee – not a big fan. We hoped the mango flavor was stayed strong and more like a sip of fresh mango but unfortunately, it fell short. However, kudos to them for using paper straws! We hold the environment very dear so a major plus for being environment friendly!
We rate the Mango Frappe from Drop Coffee a 6.5 out of 10! A notch above our friend Greeno.
3. Espresso’s “Mango Cheesecake Shake”
Two of our MOST favorite sweet tooth options combined in one drink sounded like a dessert dream. We wouldn’t have thought twice before ordering it but eh, had to think twice because the teeny tiny shake cost a hefty Rs. 930 through FoodPanda!
We would have been hugely disappointed if the combo hadn’t lived up to the high expectations we had but … wait for it … it sure did! It was an absolute favorite for Team FUCHSIA – it seriously hit the spot! Not too sweet, not too bland, the Mango Cheesecake Shake from Espresso covered in cloudy whipped cream and sprinkled with cheesecake crust bits was a mini desert on its own. The cheesecake flavor though was not as pronounced but amplified by the cheesecake crust bits and whipped cream. Perhaps a little more cheesecake blended in would have raised the score further but this one’s definitely more than your average mango shake. But wait a minute, can we justify the price?
Rs. 930 for a small size? Probably only if we really go out all out for a treat! Again, the paper straws were an added plus!
The Mango Cheesecake from Espresso gets a whopping 8/10 rating! Might push it to an 8.5 if it was slightly less steep on the pocket.
We recommend you try these out and let us know what you think! Hurry up, because mangoes aren’t here for long! So drink up while the season lasts!
