Pumpkin Soup with Ground Bacon

Location: International restaurant, Melia Jardines Del Rey

Somehow, with no bacon bits in sight, the orange stuffless soup has bacon flavour in it, mixed with a creamy pumpkin flavour. Texture wise it isn’t that creamy - more clear than cream, but it’s like you can taste the creamy thickness instead?

The cream cheese soup I forgot to take a photo of that I had two nights ago was similarly interesting, in that it was cheese soup that felt creamy and clear at the same time. This place has some wild textures. Vicosity.

This is the last of my drinks posts in Cuba, and it seems off to end on formless pumpkin and bacon soup, clash of two titans and specialty of nowhere, but all things end not bittersweet but savoury, I guess? So lets be sentimental with this faintly unappetizing photo of pumpkin soup.

This is what I've learned. When a Victorian-era doctor prescribes seaside habitation for feminine lassitude, that is incredibly valid (don't @ me). The sea and sun is unfortunately a privilege, which is criminal because it's rejuvenating. For me, at least. Past Casey scoffed at the idea of just sitting on a beach doing nothing. Certainly it must be boring after some time, she thought. Past Casey is naïve and a fool. A naive fool. A moron, if you will. Post-beach bask Casey knows better and understands the healing power of Doing Nothing, Basking Under the Sun, Sea Breeze and Ocean Waves Flowing through a body like wind through an ocarina making music. Appealing to all senses. I am calm.

Looking out into the ocean at night as indiscernible dark waves crash into each other and lap the shore, the picture of paradise abruptly and jarringly now an entrance to the underworld, I understood a second thing: the reverence and sheer fear the mass of water elicits from any kind of sailor. Even on the shore, the waves illuminated by the uninhibited moon, I felt a panic grab me. What's the word? Sublime terror? A leviathan, vast, drowning, deep set bone chill awe? To be lost in the complete darkness of a continental watery grave; I too would pray to all the gods and speak of the ocean as a lover I hope will be kind.

An observation: it's quite clear who is a tourist and who is not when we were at the city of Moron, the nearest city to the resort. Mostly, the general tourist is white, and they receive nary a glance from the locals except by the most entrepreneurial among them. The white gaze, in this case, treats everything as part of the vacation experience. For my friend and I, who are not white and therefore not the standard tourist but an emerging other breed who travel with less geographic reservations inherent in previous generations of our kind, we are a sight as exotic as they are to us. Their gaze followed us as we roamed, curious and unfamiliar as they were to us. A mutual touristing moment. People came up to us. Two separate unrelated individuals at two distinct times of day asked us where we were staying, that they worked at that resort, today was their day off, and their daughter was born just yesterday - "congratulations to all the new born daughters," - so have you got anything to give her? Money, preferably, but she'd also probably like chocolate. Can newborns eat chocolate, I asked, and they shrugged and said why not? I didn't have chocolate or anything really on my person, because I didn't come from the circles where such travelling tidbits were exchanged, so I didn't prepare anything, sorry. I heard an old-but-not-quite-elderly white couple mention how they brought their family to the resorts here every year, though, and now that their kids flown the nest they come themselves, so maybe try them, with the know-how. Good luck, with you and your daughter and again you and your daughter. We walked a little faster.

Iced Coffee (idk where the pic is lol)

Location: Melia Jardines del Rey

Price: $5 CAD (as tip, technically everything in the resort is all inclusive)

It’s niiuiiceeeeeee and frothy and sweet but bittersweet in a way so that the coffee taste is still fairly strong!! I personally prefer it to be sweeter, but personally prefer most things in life to be sweeter, so my scale is relative and should be taken with a grain of sugar. Har

Sometimes I sit here, within the warm breeze that the Northern dweller in me can't reconcile with November, and I think I could not go back to sipping iced coffee in anywhere but by an ocean, on a beach. I mourn for all the times future Casey will be drinking coffee in any other place but here. But only a little, and not for very long, because what a shame to mourn in paradise.

Pina Colada

I got only a little bit of rum, maybe a tablespoon. Perfect level of rum, in that I can still taste it but it doesn’t hurt me. And I am warm.

I still prefer the rum-less version I had yesterday, and it was also sweeter I think, but maybe I’m comparing it too harshly because the vibe back then was impeccable. Ocean views, sitting under a gazebo? Salty breeze in my hair? Pina colada served in a straight up PINA PINEAPPLE? Sometimes flavour is as much ambience as it is the flavour itself, unless something is truly, deeply fantastic and makes a statement all on its own. That’s why expensive restaurants serve as little as they do. The environment is part of the cost.

(Personally, i think it shouldn’t be, unless I am sitting on a literal stairway to heaven. Your ambience better transport me to fantasy realms if you’re going to charge $70 for bite sized portions. Bitch.)

The drink is sweet and strong of pineapple. Pineapple isn’t normally my thing, but pineapple juice is definitely growing on me during this trip, solely because of pina coladas. Juicy, sweet, refreshing, and just a hint tipsy. Vacation resort vibes.

Sharon says it tastes like candy. I think she mentioned hichew the other day. She’s not off.

After awhile, it does get a bit too sweet.

Mojito

Sharon’s

Sharon: “it’s okay. Not as sparkly as I wanted, but it’s not bad. It’s not too tequila.”

Me: presentation marks: solid, the bartender put a mint in it and it looks very tropical. Taste: I prefer my pina colada, but it’s still nice and sweet (not as sweet). Flavour-wise I think you get a bit of the citrus, but it feels very much like any other sparkling juice. Not very distinguishable. I like my pina :)

Pina Colada

Location: A bar in the middle of the causeway to Cayo coco

Price: $5 cad

~ If you like pina coladas, and getting caught in the rain, ~

In my head all day every day 24 hour tickles my brain brain dome. I sit in the sun and vibe

Listen. I don’t know what’s in this thing. All I know is that it tastes amazing. Sweet. Juicy. Appetizing bits of fruit. I'm going to take a stab in the dark and say it’s pineapple. But that's only half of it. There's also bits of sun. Bits of sea breeze. Gives it a lil spicy kick. A little tangy shove to chillitude. Math.

Location location location, man. I understand that now; vividly, intimately. I get it. I see you, realtors.

Canchánchara

Location: Palace Cubana?

Price: $5 USD

It’s mixed honey, lemonade/lime, and rum, with a sugarcane sticking out. It’s good, but because I didn’t have a lot of time to drink it and lack the ability to throw back rum, I drank as much as I could and alas some lonely drops were left behind. I'm a savourer. It - literally, in this case - burns me not to savour. The honey and lemon mediated the sting of rum pretty well, but you have to really mix it otherwise you get a sip of honey and a sip of rum. That is my wisdom.

22.11.2023 Casey: I know, dearest no one in particular reading this, it took me over a year to make another post on a drink from a place I was when the earth was last where it is now relative to the sun. Time is a funny thing, and procrastination a joke I haven't heard the punchline to yet. You feel?

Coconut Juice starring: pigs escaping :), bees making honey :), bunnies :)

Location: Finca la Maria - organic family owned farm

Price: $2 CAD 

Sharon: 5/10. It’s very watery (Casey: it’s juice). Be nice if it’s cold. And sweeter. 

Casey: I think it’s sweet enough for me. It’s appropriately juicy, nicely coconut. Perfectly fits the tropical farm vibe. I’m not a big fan of coconut in general, but as an experience it’s nice!

The Honey

You just dip your finger in, swipe some, there we go. Naturally sweet, good consistency. Doing the lord’s work, little bees!

The Experience

I also got to chew on sugarcane, which you can dip in their farm brewed coffee with their own coffee beans and also in chocolate, because they also grow cacao! 

And I fed a bunch of animals and an - alpaca? llama? - licked my hand :))) !!!

Red Wine

Location: Melia Jardines Del Rey, Cayo Coco, Cuba

It is wine. I don’t understand it. I don’t particularly like it. End of review.

BUT LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THE BREAD (not pictured).

Gold. Ambroisa. Soft, chewy, makes the ccrrrrshhh crrrrshhh when you scrape a knife over the shell. Unique, one of a kind, never the same, original, breathtaking, heartwarming, 

Cocktail (pineapple, orange, coconut, something, etc)

Location: Melia Jardines del Rey, Cayo Coco, Cuba

Price: ALL INCLUSIVE RESORT TRIP BAE-BEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!! (which was like ~$579??? CAD for 5 days and nights, for flight, accommodation, food, ice cream bar, drinks, unlimited iced coffees, 24 hour pool access, 24 hour beach access,)

Beginning of Cuba Resort Trip my dudes!!!!!!!!

Sharon’s immediate response is, oh. That’s interesting. I took a sip and that’s exactly how I would describe it.

First and foremost, it is sweet. Very and noticeably. It’s also juicy, and looks juicy, and by all visual cues reads as a juice. Yet the strong undercurrent of coconut -

Listen, I’ve been on a flight for 5 hours and it’s 10pm, I’m hungry, tired, in line, they gave me a sweet drink, I like it, I don’t know what it is, I’m an easy target.

Matcha Tea Latte

Location: Plearn cafe

Price: $7.75? CAD

6.4.2023 12:05am Casey: yes I know it’s been subsequent matcha tea latte posts. But they’re all from different places and you gotta compare!

Aesthetic wise it gets full points. Generally speaking, I think hot matcha tea latte brings out the flavour better, but this one is pretty strong too. I would love it more if it was milkier, but everything I drink now I compare to my fav Liberty Coffee Bar hot matcha. So I’m just going to have to buy the hot version!

Marianne ordered the taro latte. The taro is very strong. When stirred, the espresso brown dominates the pretty purple taro and now it looks like chocolate milk.

Yet the matcha holds up strong after trying a sip taro!

Also new name who dis

ZenQ Milk Tea with Grass Jelly

Location: Taoyuan Neverland (sells ZenQ drinks with their food)

Price: +$3 to daily combo

I like it! Sweet, milky, got all you want from a milk tea, drank after some Taiwanese fried chicken. Noice.

Matcha Tea Latte

Location: Presotea

Price: $6.99 for large

-, a flavour tried and true to celebrate me getting a full driver’s license so I can drive like I’ve always done but now under the influence (of official government ministry approved confidence).

God I need to drink more water to wash away that god DAMN avocado, unholy drink combo, fresh a-voc-a-dooo, vine reference. One sec.

It’s not the best, but it’s infinitely better than the avocado. Bit diluted, matcha taste is bit off, could be bit milkier - just a bunch of bits and bats.

Avocado Cheese Milk Tea; good god

Location: Presotea

Price: $8.99????? CAD????

Two of these things should maybe not be in milk tea.

This is difficult to drink. As in, it’s thick as shit and literally difficult to get through the straw.

It brings back nightmares of the last time I drank avocado in the form of a milkshake, which felt, as it did now but to a thankfully lesser degree, like sticking a straw into a whole ass avocado and then swallowing mouthfuls of mushed avo. It’s thick, pure avocado. Nature’s butter but as a milk and you drink it. Christ. This thing is $8.99. *$8.99*.

I can’t taste the cheese, and am not sure if that’s a bad thing.

Fortunately, I am not a masochist, and this drink is not mine - merely mine to sample. *My* drink is the infinitely superior good ol -

Bellini

Location: Cactus club cafe

Fuzzy peaches

Frozen Brazilian

It tastes like something specific but unknown.

5.4.2023 11:42pm Casey: These are the only notes I wrote.

Matcha Tea Latte

Location: Tim hortons???? But cool???? Look at that menu selection????

Price: $4 cad something??

It’s better and cheaper than Starbucks and is so overall superior!!!!! Unfortunately, it is only in select Tom hortons, and this is the fanciest - fancier -  Tim’s I’ve ever seen.

Kelsey: it’s not bad actually. The vanilla is like an undertone in the drink so you can taste it. You can still taste the matcha but I don’t know if it’ll be better without the vanilla

Oh I like yours better than mine.

Mine is sweeter

Mine tastes like a matcha vanilla cookie.

Me: I mean that’s exactly what it is.

Kelsey: drink it. It’s slightly inconsistent, not in a bad way. Sometimes you get the vanilla and sometimes not so much.

Me: it smells good - oh it does smell like a matcha vanilla cookie

Kelsey: someone put in vanilla extract while baking a matcha cookie and it’s not a bad thing.

It’s such a. Beautiful colour!!!!!

It’s good. I can feel the vanilla but it’s not overpowering. Definitely sweeter. The cold non-vanilla version has a clearer taste though. Like, if the vanilla hot version is a cloud, the cold not vanilla one is like a clear sunny day. There’s just such clarity to it, you know? But I prefer the hot version because heat better brings out the cozy taste of matcha.

Tip: Quality is inconsistent, but if you want a generally stronger matcha taste, buy the medium size. The large size might dilute the drink (based on experience) (the experience being) (I went again later that day and got another one in a large)

Golden Latte

Location: Velvet Sunrise Cafe

Price: $5.65 cad

There’s: turmeric, oat milk, cinnamon, ginger, etc.

It smells really thick. A bit like a perfume and I don’t know how I feel drinking perfume. But it’s supposed to be medicinal so I guess I won’t die from it! Only on the inside!

A very strong kick to the taste buds that feels nothing like a latte, or milky at all. It is, very specifically, a spicy Christmas oat milk drink (Christmas because of the ginger giving gingerbread house flavour). Not my thing. Took me 3 hours to finish. Sipping.

Mango Saigon Drink

Location: Deer Cake

Price: yeema got it

The lid even has a built in stopper :’) it’s the return of the sippy cup lid style!

Perhaps saigo isn’t the best choice to put in takeout cups, because it’s blocking the mouth of the lid and so the drink itself is staggering through. Let me take off the lid.

Okay nevermind opening this seems impossible without spilling the whole thing. Making do.

I just realised that dent on the lid is for SECURING THE STOPPER. This lid is living in 2052. Takeout cups have really innovated the last couple of years???? This cup is smarter than me and it doesn’t even have Bluetooth (implying that I do).

Strong mango taste, exactly what I would expect from mango saigo, just in a cup. Traditional way of eating it is hot, in a small bowl, with a Chinese spoon. This one is served cold. Of course, it depends on the environment, climate, season, time of day, whim, and what have you, but generally speaking I prefer the hot version, which I think brings out the sweet mango taste better. The hot one also usually has a thicker consistency to it, whereas this you could arguably say it’s more watery. Still good though!

Actually, the way the “spout” is arranged makes it quite conducive to sucking up the saigo so you can drink it!

Iced Mango Matcha Tea

Location: Liberty Coffee Bar 

Price; $6.25? Cad

5.4.2023 5:00pm Casey: I lost the photo. Or maybe I never took one, idk lmao. Here is an artistic interpretation from memory.

Remember how I said last time, mango, matcha, two of my favourite flavours, what could go wrong?

I’m back at Liberty Coffee Bar, where, unexpectedly, my favourite matcha tea is from. Will this make a difference? Will I like it? Do celebrities know things? What do they know? Let’s find out!

It’s not bad. Mom actually thinks the mango flavour isn’t enough, but she likes how it covers some of the bitterness of matcha (which I, on the other hand, enjoy). The mango flavour is pretty strong already immho. To the point where the mango soft sweetness almost masks the matcha flavour, but in a peculiar, milky thick way? I think I will always prefer the two separate - though there was this mango soy sauce I tried once that really grew on me after a few bites (paired with pan fried salmon). How is this related? It’s,,.. mango… mixed with… unexpected flavour… experience.

i stab a pig (mooncake)

watch with subtitles