Guilin Sour Plum Soup

Guilin Sour Plum Soup is a "natural drink" for relieving summer heat, brewed from dark plums, hawthorns, dried tangerine peel, rock sugar, etc., sour and sweet, with a faint herbal fragrance. The process involves soaking dark plums and hawthorns in water for 1 hour, putting them into a clay pot with dried tangerine peel and licorice, adding enough water to bring to a boil over high heat, then simmering over low heat for 40 minutes. Rock sugar is added to melt, then the heat is turned off. After cooling, the residue is filtered out, and it tastes better when refrigerated. The brewed sour plum soup is dark brown, with a balanced sour and sweet taste in the mouth; the sourness of dark plums has a hint of aftertaste, and the fragrance of dried tangerine peel adds more layers to the flavor. Taking a sip after refrigeration, the coolness 窜 (cuàn, rushes) from the throat to the bottom of the heart, instantly dispelling summer heat. Guilin people like to add a little osmanthus to the sour plum soup, giving the drink a touch of floral fragrance, making it more refreshing. On the streets and alleys of Guilin, vendors often push carts with ice buckets to sell it, served in glass cups with straws, a great thirst-quencher when visiting scenic spots. Sour plum soup is not only delicious but also relieves greasiness; drinking a cup after eating hot pot or heavy-flavored dishes will make the stomach feel very comfortable. Foreign visitors will like its sour, sweet, and refreshing taste, finding this drink like a "Chinese sour plum juice," a natural summer heat-reliever.