I’ve heard these bell equipped hand or machine cranked gizmos all over the place ever since I got here, but haven’t really stopped to actually see what they do. Until today that is.

What they do is they press out juice from peeled sugarcanes by crushing them. Often some spices are added as well, such as lemon or ginger.

The mix consists of a 50-50 mix of sugarcane juice and crushed ice. It’s actually really good. It even has these dark little bits floating around, reminding you that still a moment ago this was a sugarcane.

It is said that the juice contains a lot of nutrients, and although I was at first sure this would be diabetes in a cup, the sugar content isn’t actually that high. Someone spoke of a glycemic index of 43, but I can’t relate to that.

If you have some of this stuff make sure it’s fresh. Due to the sugar, and generally less than optimal hygienic conditions at the vendor, a lot of micro-organisms like to set up shop in this.