Cold Drinks: Blended Iced Mocha At Sidamo

Sometimes you need a "cool me down" and a "pick me up," and Sidamo Coffee and Tea in Fulton has the blended mocha to do both.

Ice, espresso, presumably a dash of chocolate, and they whip the concoction right for there while you wait. Sidamo is a local joint.  I have to admit that the textures have varied a bit more than at a corporate coffee shop.  But their coffee makes the drinks delicious no matter how thick they end up.

Last weekend, my drink was thinner than a Starbucks frap.  The ice was blended to a fine slush, and there was a froth on top.  The key though is Sidamo's coffee -- strong flavor with no bitterness or burnt flavor.  The blended mocha -- along with all of their iced drinks, including the blended chai tea -- is a rich, refreshing drink.

Who else has good coffee drinks?  This is Cold Drink Week. You want something cool, but you want something better than another soda. The Cold Drink Week posts offer house-made refreshment -- places that make their own drinks and let your carry them out.

Cold Drinks: Watermelon Agua Fresca At R&R

The agua fresca at the R&R Deli in Jessup are the drink that Slurpees wish that they could be.

Imagine a drink slightly thinner than a smoothie, but made from real fruit.  The watermelon agua fresca literally tastes like you're sucking the middle of a melon up through your straw.  Part liquid, part crushed ice.  It's perfect for summer heat -- the cold shock of ice with the flavor of fruit, not artificial syrup.

R&R Deli continues to surprise me.  This is the takeout inside the Shell station at Rte 175 and U.S. 1, and they're turning out delicious food that offers up fresh, fresh ingredients.  I'd put their tacos up against almost any other food in Howard County.  When I was last there, they would blend agua fresca with strawberries, melon, watermelon and something else -- maybe guava.

This is Cold Drink Week.  You want something cool, but you want something better than another soda.  The Cold Drink Week posts offer house-made refreshment -- places that make their own drinks and let your carry them out.

Cold Drinks: Mango Lassi at Mirchi Wok

A mango lassi is a guilt-free milkshake, and it's a way to cool off while filling up.

This is a fruit and yogurt, whipped into a shake and then cooled down with ice.  The lassi is an Indian restaurant standard, and I can vouch for them at House of India, Akbar, Mango Grove and Mirchi Wok.

At the dinner table, the mango or the rose-flavored "sweet" lassi is a must-have for Mrs. HowChow.  But I carried one out last month from Mirchi Wok as a lunchtime treat.  I think all the local Indian joints will let you carry them out.

A lassi is thick.  It's not the icy refreshment of water, but it's cool and substantial considering that you're sucking down yogurt.  It's half of a meal, so it's worth the $4.

(Update: Mirchi Wok and Mango Grove relocated under the Mango Grove name to a spot off Dobbin Road.  Click here for all the Mango Grove posts.)

This is Cold Drink Week.  You want something cool, but you want something better than another soda.  The Cold Drink Week posts offer house-made refreshment -- places that make their own drinks and let your carry them out.

Cold Drinks: Salted Plum Soda At An Loi

The lesson of salted plum soda is that you don't need to buy a Coke to stay cool this summer.

An Loi Pho in Columbia sells the salted plum soda, and it was one of our first HowChow finds.  Mrs. HowChow ordered one up, and we found that they're light and sweet, wonderful with the grilled meats and noodles dishes that make An Loi one of our places for summer dinner.

In the middle of the day, the sodas are refreshing as well.  They're sweet, sour and salty all at once.  It makes sense.  The plums are preserved, so they muddle salt out into the drink.  That swirls with a touch of sugar and the soda water that they pour over top.

You get a thicker, saltier flavor at the bottom, so you should stir it up.  This is a handmade drink -- something way more genuine than even the Coke Zero that I love.  The takeout version goes great with a summer roll if you want a snack.  That's noodles with a shrimp, a slice of pork and some vegetables wrapped in rice paper.  Light, cool food for our crushing heat.

It's Cold Drink Week at HowChow.  Stay cool without feeding a bill into a soda machine.  Go check out the handmade drinks that will keep you just as cool.