Aguapanela

Aguapanela is made by adding pieces of panela to water and stirring until the pieces are entirely dissolved. The drink may be served hot or cold, with lemon or lime often being added.^[3] In the hot form, sometimes milk or a chunk of cheese is added in place of fruit juice.

In Colombia, black coffee is often prepared with aguapanela instead of water and sugar.

In Costa Rica, panela is combined with hot water or milk to make agua dulce ("sweet water"), a common breakfast drink.^[4][5]

Uses

Many claims^[who?] have been made about the beneficial effects of aguapanela, based on beliefs such as having more vitamin C than orange juice or as many rehydrating minerals as Gatorade. Popular belief also considers it a helpful drink for the treatment of colds.^{[citation needed]} However, much like softdrinks, it is almost exclusively just sugar water.^{[citation needed]}

Today, aguapanela has gone from being a blue-collar drink to one that can be found in upscale café boutiques in Colombia as a tea.

Canelazo is an alcoholic version of aguapanela with cinnamon and aguardiente added to it. Sugar is rubbed on the edges of the glass when served.

See also

• Papelón con limón, a similar drink from Venezuela
• Canelazo, an alcoholic variant
• Sugarcane juice, for when the input into panela is served without processing
  • Guarapo (drink), an alcoholic variant of that

References