Rolling with Flavors: A Road Trip of Iced Coffees and Local Delights

The most interesting things about hitting the open road are windows down, playlist on, endless possibilities ahead, and discovering flavors along the road.

Hello @asean.hive, hello world.

This afternoon, after our 3-hour swim in one of the popular beaches in our neighboring place, we decided to go home just right after we had our lunch by the beach. The road became so hot that we could see heat waves rising. When we were in the dense part of that municipality, we saw a coffee store along the road. Thank God I noticed it. My partner looks sleepy while driving.

Don Macchiatos is a Cebu-based coffee chain that gained popularity for offering affordable coffee beverages at P39.00. I already had a sip of their coffee-based iced beverages in our place, and it tastes good, especially on hot days. So I asked my partner to stop, and I want the kids to taste the different flavors of Don Macchiato. I don't usually let them drink coffee beverages, but that time I wanted them to try it and see their reactions. Hahahah just a bit of experiment.

I took 5 flavors among the 9 flavors Don Macchiatos are serving. I got myself the classic Iced Caramel Macchiato, my partner had his Oreo Coffee, my college son had a Matcha Berry, Meztli got her Donya Berry, and Sky had his Black Forest. They were very satisfied with their iced coffees and enjoyed sipping.

Meztli had a hard time finishing her Donya Berry. She said it was a bit sour with dried strawberries at the bottom of her cup. She only had half of the cup and refused to finish it. She then said, next time she will be having Black Forest. Hahahahha I saw regret on her face for being a fan of strawberries.

The road trip continued, and when we were about halfway, we saw some food stalls along the road selling local delights. We had another stop, and this time, my partner got down from the driver's seat when he saw banana chips hanging on the stalls. He really loves banana chips and other crisps.

He bought two different banana chips the one with very thin chips and more yellow, while the other pack has thicker chips with less color. He said he wanted to try both to know which one tastes best. He also had a pack of peanut rolls and a pack of tagaktak. Tagaktak is a local delight which I guess is only seen here in Zamboanga del Sur. It is a crisp and crunchy roll of thin strips of rice flour mixed with coconut milk and sugar, and then swirled in hot, boiling cooking oil.

Right then, the rain started to fall and we continue our way back home with some sips and crips along the journey. I felt my stomach with so much heaviness, I was sure I was very full then. But I had to try every delicacy that we had just bought because they were all inviting me to have a bite. Their flavors and smell were so inviting that we could not resist having a taste.

Note: PHOTOS ARE MINE, AND EDITED BY CANVA.

Road trips and food are best shared with your family. This is all I could share with you today. Have a great day, everyone, and God Bless You.

Love,
@jeanieviv84