Literally meaning "barley with little bones," this is said to be the most refreshing drink of Chile. It's served all around the city, and in the farther regions of Chile, like in the Lake District, they serve it in actual glass cups and you stand there and eat it, returning the glass to the vendor after your finished. This brand, Copihue, is named after the Chilean national flower ... the copihue, which only blooms in cold, damp climates. We saw a few varieties in Temuco: White, red, and blended kinds. Temuco had the perfect weather for the copihue.
Anyway, this drink consists of barley, or something like it, at the bottom of a cup, peach syrup and a peach pit (the "little bone" in that title) floating around the top. I don't know about other people, but I can think of many things that are more refreshing than drinking syrup on a hot day and sucking on a peach pit. The first few weeks of being here, it was just so hot and sipping syrup sounded awful. But these vendors are quite prevalent. They are on every corner, and visited often. I see a lot of people carrying Copihue cups, maybe not in the numbers that the above advertisement shows.
My first week here I ordered lunch off a fixed menu, and had this as part of the dessert, not really sure what it tasted like. Sucking on a peach pit was a bit tricky and kind of ungraceful. You have to put this whole thing in your mouth, suck on it, then spit it back out?
The barley-like mote is nice, though. I can see it being used for a soup.
-- Lauren
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