Aguapanela

The simplest drink in the country, with a whole plantation behind it.

Panela is sugar cane juice boiled down and pressed into a brick. It is not white sugar: it has the colour of dark honey and a taste closer to molasses than to anything out of a sugar bowl. You break a piece off, dissolve it in water, and that is aguapanela.

I had the cold version, with lime and ice. It is delicious and it is very sweet, sweeter than you would expect from something that looks like iced tea. After a hill or in the heat it is exactly right, but it is not what you drink all day when you are thirsty.

The hot version is the household remedy here, for a cold or for being worn out, and in some places a piece of cheese goes into the cup and melts in it. I am saving that for next time.