Après Ski China: Bird's Nest Drink

If you have ever been skiing or snowboarding in China, you'll know that when it comes to genuine Chinese food and drink - things are "interesting" to say the least.  Seahorse on a stick, boiled snake skin and deep fried scorpions are commonly eaten snacks, readily available at street markets and restaurants around the country.

I recently saw a Chinese speciality that I just had to share; Bird's Nest Drink is a refreshing Chinese beverage containing genuine bird's nest and is available from all good Chinese supermarkets.

You may have heard of Bird's Nest soup, which is a highly rated delicacy in China. It's made from the nests of a species of Swift who construct their small cup-like nests entirely from their own saliva.

The birds nest high up on the sides of cliffs and the Chinese have been scaling these cliffs with the help of bamboo scaffolding and collecting these nests for hundreds of years as they believe them to have health benefits,  such as aiding digestion, alleviating asthma and raising libido, and the trade in bird's nests is therefore very lucrative.

So I just had to give this can of bird salvia a go. The liquid was clear, colourless and had white globules in (which I assume was the bird spit). Taste wise - it was sweet and sugary (due to the other main ingredient - rock sugar) but I doubt it's going to be knocking Coca-Cola off of its top spot any time soon.

Bird's Saliva - you can't beat the real thing.