Drinking in Latin

I’m a Mexican food fanatic. I serve at least one take on tortilla-wrapped goodness to my family every week (and have been scaling up spice levels and authenticity since the kids started on solid food…). When I’m grabbing a bite on the way home after my weekly game of hoops, the first thing that crosses my mind is my favorite local (and muy auténtico) grab-and-go taco spot. Something more upscale? I live in the suburbs of Chicago, so great spots are everywhere (we have a thriving Mexican and greater Latin American population around here). And when hitting the city? Two words: Rick Bayless. Oh, that and maybe 150 other excellent options. Did I mention that I was married on the Mexican holiday Dia de los Muertos?

And although I’ve long since perfected my take on the all-too-often botched margarita, and remain quite at home with a frosty bottle of Negro Modelo, I have to admit that I’m not as beverage-savvy as I should be when it comes to Latin America.

Luckily, I decided to run a Culinary article on just this subject in Food Product Design during 2011, so I’m now much more up to speed on this subject. I just finished editing the article (watch for it in the Nov. issue), which covers everything from sodas (can you say Jarritos?) to cocktails, and fruity aguas frescas to warming atoles and maté (I’ve had maté on the brain ever since I finished reading Julio Cortázar’s excellent novel “Hopscotch” a few months ago … the characters in the alternatingly linear/nonlinear streaming tome, particularly protagonist Oliveria, continually have gourds of yerba maté in hand…).

Much room exists to expand a Latin edge when it comes to beverages—from C-store and QSR to retail grocery through fine dining. Select Starbucks (Arizona and California—strong Hispanic markets) have been trying out a new line of teas, including one based on hibiscus (inspired by the Latin American agua de jamaica) and is also test marketing a new RTD canned line (alas, not in the hibiscus flavor, but featuring Latin-friendly flavors nonetheless…). The most-interesting aspect of these releases? Use of green coffee extract, namely chlorogenic acid; check out a recent (free) Report I penned that discusses this cool ingredient for more info. I also expect to see more maté hitting the RTD energy drink market, particularly those promoting “natural” energy. And although it might take some fine-tuning to get the texture right, the cuáker I made myself for breakfast today (think oatmeal-fruit smoothie) might be just the thing to diversify the oatmeal-centric foodservice market.

And, of course, nothing happens by accident, so I wasn’t the least bit surprised to see, just as I put the finishing touches on the aforementioned Latin American beverages article, an article in The New York Times on how Jarritos is upping advertising to capture more market share in the United States. Those kaleidoscopic bottles are sweetened with pure cane sugar, of course.