Photograph by Bennett Pruitt
What’s better than a cool, refreshing drink on a hot summer day? Especially if it’s nutritious and all-natural! One of the drinks that fit into this healthy, delicious category is coconut water.
Don’t mistake it for coconut milk—that’s from grated coconut squeezed into liquid. Coconut water is the water inside a young coconut. Even though all coconuts have the coconut water in them, only the young coconuts are used for drinking; we discard the old ones.
Basically, the coconut is an organic basket. Young coconut has a thick green outer shell then a very thin shell and then the edible flesh. Young coconut flesh is very soft and tender and usually white or translucent. There isn’t very much flesh, but lots of the water.
Old coconuts have a thick fibrous brown shell then a thin brown shell similar to the young coconut. Their flesh is thicker and an opaque white.
At Global in Kirkwood, you can find the young coconuts near the green mangoes and lemongrass and shallots. The green has been peeled so it is just white with a pointy top; similar to a fat pencil.
The one downside to these coconuts is that they are very challenging to open. Your chainsaw may come in handy… Just kidding, I recommend cutting 1 inch of the pointy top off with a large cleaver. You want to have an opening a couple inches wide for your spoon and straw. This is a good time to bring your husband in the picture and have him help (it’ll boost his ego too).
Once the top is off, you can enjoy your refreshing drink with its many health perks. Coconuts have a whole lot of vitamins B and C along with a few minerals and the coconut water is completely fat free! Drink up!
