Drink Archives • Magali Vaz | Fashion, Lifestyle & Travel Blog

Why Rooh Afza is Awesome (Especially in Indian Summers)

Magali Vaz — Mon, 13 Jun 2016 14:21:56 +0000

Unless you are lucky enough to live in a hill station, Indian Summers can be pretty brutal. I rely on a lot of different fruit or flower squashes to keep cool on these super hot days. Rooh Afza is undoubtedly one of the most famous squashes or concentrates available here. It was formulated in 1907 & has been widely available in both India & Pakistan since (it’s exported a lot too!). Most of us have been drinking Rooh Afza since our childhoods, so I thought I’d write about Rooh Afza & a few reasons why it’s truly awesome.

Why Rooh Afza Is Awesome!

Rooh Afza is formulated using natural coolers

While the most prominent & easily discernible ingredient in Rooh Afza is none other than the rose flower, Rooh Afza is actually a unani (a kind of herbal medicine) formulated with a few different herbs, fruits, vegetables, flowers & roots-

Herbs: purslane (“Khurfa seeds”, Portulaca oleracea), Chicory, wine-grape raisins (Vitis vinifera), European white lily (Nymphaea alba), blue star water lily (Nymphaea nouchali), lotus (Nelumbo), Borage and Coriander

Fruits: orange, citron, pineapple, apple, berries, strawberry, raspberry, loganberry, blackberry, cherry, concord grapes, blackcurrant and watermelon

Vegetables: spinach, carrot, mint and mướp hương (Luffa aegyptiaca)

Flowers: rose, kewra (Pandanus fascicularis), lemon and orange

Roots: vetiver (Chrysopogon zizanioides)

The ingredients were chosen for their cooling properties, that’s part of the reason why Rooh Afza is the perfect summer drink!

It’s Incredibly Versatile

One of the best things about Rooh Afza is that there isn’t just one way to consume it! The classic way of course is to mix it with water & have it chilled or mix it with chilled milk too, but a quick google search reveals a multitude of ways you can use it, ranging for simple to advanced.

Add just a couple of ingredients & you can make a refreshing Rooh Afza Lemonade, a great spin on a summer classic!

Another simple recipe that’s perfect for summers. Mix Rooh Afza with some milk & chill in popsicle moulds to make Rooh Afza Popsicles.

For the baking enthusiasts, check out this amazing recipe for Rooh Afza Macarons, a great blend of the classic Rooh Afza flavor with the timeless French dessert. Check out the link for step by step instructions with pictures.

The lesson being, you will never run out of new ways to use Rooh Afza.

It has stood the test of time!

As I mentioned earlier, Rooh Afza has been in production since 1907 – it completed it’s centenary nine years ago! Many generations have grown up enjoying it, so it has developed a cult following & is available in Indian / Asian stores across the globe.

If you are looking for a great way to stay cool, look no further than Rooh Afza, you can also buy Rooh Afza online! Have you ever tasted Rooh Afza? What’s your favorite way to have it? x

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Bandra Hi Tea at Taj Lands End

Magali Vaz — Wed, 25 May 2016 14:13:27 +0000

When many of my favorite things in life get together to create the perfect high tea experience.

I love tea – I love it cold, hot, masala or plain, any time of the day & any day of the year. Longtime readers will know the depth of my love for the famed beverage, I even have a separate category of this blog dedicated to TEA.

I also love eating out & visiting cafés, & a high tea is one of my favorite excuses to get out of the house (second only to breakfast / brunch). In Mumbai, there are a great dearth of places that do a truly nice high tea. So when I discovered Taj Lands End had started serving their own spin on high tea at Atrium Lounge, I had to go & suss it out for myself.

Their high tea is not the traditional English one – it’s said to be inspired by both the Portuguese Princess Catherine de Braganza (& Goan / Portuguese food & culture) along with Bandra’s historical culture.

As many of you may know / recognise, I am Goan & so a lot of the dishes were very familiar to me. I also went to college in Bandra for four years, it’s a suburb I know better than my home of Andheri. When Anirudhya Roy, the Executive Chef at Lands End talked about the places they went to research, they were my old college haunts that I went to almost daily, when the canteen got too boring or stuffy (also the canteen never served roast chicken or fugiyas!)

They have both an alcoholic & non alcoholic version of the high tea. I was a little skeptical about drinking in the afternoon, but the sparkling wine & shandy that I tasted were light, effervescent & refreshing, perfect for a chilled out afternoon by the sea.

They have a selection of teas, the one I tried was made in Portuguese style, strong, sweet with some spices & made fully in milk (no water!)

Taj Lands End has also associated with the cool cats at Kulture Shop to display some of their beautiful artworks in Atrium Lounge, I even *finally* bumped into co-founder Jas while there. On that note, do check out this post from Pondicherry where I wore what still remains my favorite Kulture Shop tee.

The food was a mix of classics high tea fare with some unconventional stuff. Think British, Goan, Bombay, all in one. I’m still kicking myself at not trying the Scotch Egg but I did enjoy the bebinca – it brings back all childhood memories of being in our ancestral home in Goa, watching mom help the caretaker painstakingly prepare each layer under a fire of coconut husk (you know, the same bit coir is extracted from).

It’s a rotating menu, so that you don’t get bored even if you choose to visit on subsequent days.
All in all, the Bandra Hi Tea at the Atrium Lounge at Taj Lands End left me feeling all happy inside, I do look forward to visiting again soon! x

Atrium Lounge, Taj Lands End, Byramji Jeejeebhoy Road, Band Stand, Bandra West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400050

• website

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BRU Gold Coffee at Lakmé Fashion Week

Magali Vaz — Wed, 20 Apr 2016 08:14:40 +0000

How ridiculously refreshing iced Bru Gold Coffee helped me get through the sweltering days of Lakmé Fashion Week.

As glamorous as Lakmé Fashion Week is, it can be a bit difficult to get through the long days & still keep your energy levels up – which is why I was so thankful for the BRU Gold Coffee stall at the terrance opposite the main stage.

BRU Gold is made of a fine blend of the best Robusta and Arabica beans that lend their aromatic & tasteful notes to coffee, and provide a rich mouthful of flavour. Roasted to perfection, BRU Gold blends the exhilarating taste of pure coffee with an uplifting aroma that rejuvenates the senses. It is this granulated coffee that provides the pristine pleasure of coffee drinking to the fullest. Best enjoyed both hot and cold.

This season, BRU Gold associated with five leading designers of the country for an exciting contest. The names included Payal Singhal, Aarti Vijay Gupta, Nikhil Thampi, Wendell Rodricks, Kanika Goyal. During Lakmé Fashion Week, all one had to do was click a picture at the BRU Gold Café and upload this photo using the hashtag – #BruGoldCoffee. Each day, a designer outfit was up for grabs where one lucky winner got the chance to take home their dream outfit. Besides this, the BRU Gold Café treated fashion lovers to delectable hot and cold coffees!

I don’t mean to be dramatic – but the iced BRU Gold was my biggest saviour this season & I indulged in it multiple times a day! I even made a little vlog taking you around the BRU Gold Coffee stall at Lakmé Fashion Week. And now that I’m back from a bout of travelling, I keep a flask of cold coffee nearby as I write, edit & reply to my emails.

How are you keeping cool this season? x

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The Celebratory Drink | Santé Rosé

Magali Vaz — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 13:39:32 +0000

I don’t drink alcohol much but during one of my trips to Goa last year I noticed Santé Wines all thanks to the lovely label design. The illustrations are by Mario Miranda, one of my favorite artists.

The whole thing was too pretty to not document so I went out on my balcony & did just that! Haha. Incidentally, today is this blog’s seventh anniversary (blogoversary?) I’m celebrating this whole month on my YouTube channel, more details here! x

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The Post Shoot Indulgence | Blueberry Breezer

Magali Vaz — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 04:48:00 +0000

Bacardi Breezer has a special place in my heart because it was the first alcoholic drink I tasted & actually enjoyed. I remember back when they launched they just had three flavors? I always went for Cranberry. During my last trip to Goa I realised they had a couple of new flavors & Blueberry seemed to be the most interesting & it made a very refreshing post shoot treat.

Enjoying a cold breezer at the resort in Goa last month! Photos by Sheila Vaz, outfit details here.

Also I just crossed 9k on instagram which I find to be a pretty huge milestone since 9 is my number. This wouldn’t have been possible without all of you guys, so thank you! For those of you just joining us, my instagram handle is @magali_c & I post daily food, travel & fashion photos. Oooh & sometimes I hold pretty cool contests too.

Hope you all have a great Monday!

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Food + Drink | Four Seasons Wine ‘Gourmet Indulgence’ at Spaghetti Kitchen

Magali Vaz — Mon, 07 Oct 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Four Seasons Wines (a favorite at home!) recently launched the Gourmet Indulgence food & wine fiesta. I think it’s quite a nifty concept – enjoy a gourmet set menu (with wine, of course) at a fixed price at many of the city’s top restaurants. I visited Spaghetti Kitchen at Inorbit Malad with my mom for a little culinary indulgence of my own.

I also chatted with Chéf Nitin who informed me that none of the dishes on the Gourmet Indulgence menu are on the regular menu & they are specially designed to go with the wine. I personally favor white wine over red so I chose the Four Season Savignon Blanc to go with the three course meal.

The starter – Pollo Polpettine

Tender chicken morsels with porcini sauce & bacon.

I like meat, but I think you really have to have a Ron Swanson level love for meat to fully appreciate the dish. Between the chicken, bacon & strong porcini flavor, this was not my favorite part of the meal. Luckily it got better.

The main course – Pollo Repieno

Chicken breast stuffed with salsa San Remo & fontina with spicy smoked chicken sausage & fettucine.

This was perfect! Everything from the chicken breast to the chicken sausages & the gravy. You might not be able to tell from the photo above but this serving was quite large, so my only regret is not being able to finish.

The dessert – Melon Panna Cotta with Mint jelly

The panna cotta is shaped that way because it’s meant to resemble a watermelon, with kiwi seeds acting as the watermelon seeds. I think it was fun to look at & not too heavy, a perfect dessert to end the meal.

You can read my mom’s account of the meal here. Four Seasons Wine & Spaghetti Kitchen are on facebook too.

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Food + Drink | Barking Deer ‘Couple of the Week’ v. 2

Magali Vaz — Wed, 11 Sep 2013 13:05:00 +0000

Remember a few days ago when I told you about The Barking Deer Brewpub’s Couple of the Week? Well new week, new couple!

Fuller’s London Porter has an outstanding depth of flavour. It is brewed from a blend of Brown, Crystal and Chocolate malts for a creamy delivery balanced by traditional Fuggles hops. The range of flavors works well with the meaty Fillet Mignon (I had mine medium rare). And I can never forget that mashed potato- I want to eat it by the bowlful.

Just like last week this couple is only available till Sunday at ₹749! So if this sounds like something you like then don’t snooze.

The Barking Deer Brewpub, Opposite Blue Frog, Mathuradas Mills Compound, Kamala Mills Compound, Lower Parel, Mumbai

find them- website // facebook // twitter // instagram

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Food + Drink | The Barking Deer ‘Couple of the Week’

Magali Vaz — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 15:34:00 +0000

I’ve spoken about the Barking Deer Brewpub before. I love heading there whenever I’m at Lower Parel – great ambience & even better food.

Not all of us are good at pairing alcohol with food (I know I’m not) they have come up with this great combo called Couple of the Week where you get a dish & a beer to go with it at just ₹749.

This week’s couple is Estrella 1906 Beer with a (vegetarian) Farmer’s Pie.

Farmer’s Pie is similar to Shepherd’s Pie, but instead of minced meat there are an assortment of veggies & fresh herbs, topped with a thin layer of puff pastry & the dreamiest mashed potato I’ve ever eaten (thanks to Chef Parag taking the time to explain how it’s made I think I’m going to attempt making it at home, though I already know it won’t be this good!)

The pie was so wholesome & comforting & the beer balanced it out spectacularly. So I’m seriously considering visiting again this week while it’s still available (perhaps tomorrow after some shopping at Vogue’s Fashion Night Out!)

This couple of the week is available till Sunday & they’ll be back Monday with a brand new pairing (this time meat) & beer.

The Barking Deer Brewpub, Opposite Blue Frog, Mathuradas Mills Compound, Kamala Mills Compound, Lower Parel, Mumbai

find them- website // facebook // twitter // instagram

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Food + Drink | The Barking Deer Brewpub, Mumbai

Magali Vaz — Mon, 20 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

I couple of weeks ago I went to the Barking Deer Brewpub in Lower Parel, for their Bark for a Beer event & got to sample a lot of different kinds of beer & delicious food.

It’s a lovely little British-style pub with a hole-in-the wall feel & they play amazing music too. I definitely felt like I was in London (if it wasn’t for the rowdy, very Indian crowd).
I’m not someone who really knows beer (yet) but we were served Heineken, Amstel, Hoeegaarden, Leffe Blond & London Porter.

Greg, the founder was supposed to give us a tour of the microbrewery but at the end of the meal we were too stuffed to even walk properly. I think I’ll go back sometime for that tour!

The founder of shoe brand Matos was also there that day. They make shoes that are completely eco-friendly & for every pair that’s bought they donate a learning kit to charity (they only have a men’s range currently).

The Barking Deer Brewpub, Opposite Blue Frog, Mathuradas Mills Compound, Kamala Mills Compound, Lower Parel, Mumbai

find them- website // facebook // twitter

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