Grass jelly is a sweet dessert eaten in various parts of Asia including Taiwan, China and Southeast Asia, and in recent years, we can even find it as a choice of topping in bubble tea in Western countries. Prior to that, though, you’d be most likely to find it chilled and sweetened as a beverage in cans at Asian supermarkets like this Dashing Industrial Mesona Grass Jelly Herbal Tea. It contained 22% grass jelly.
The beverage was a translucent dark brown, almost black colour with a sweet herbal nose. Served chilled, the liquid component came through first with sweet and fragrant herbal notes much like the aroma before reaching the jelly. The tiny cubes of jelly (5 mm) carry a more smokey undertone that’s characteristic of grass jelly, essentially being a more concentrated version of the liquid. That said, the flavour was gentle, without being overpoweringly herbal like Chinese medicine. While enjoyable, the weight of the jelly creates difficulties in consuming this ‘jelly drink’ as it invariably ends up with a collection of the jelly at the bottom of the can.
This Dashing Industrial Meson Grass Jelly Herbal Tea contained 320 ml. It was produced in Taiwan and purchased in Sydney, Australia in 2017.