This may come as a surprise to a lot of you, but I have to admit, up until about 6 months ago I had never tried actual buko juice fresh from a coconut.
When I was younger, I would always be given cans of coconut water to take to school with me. Sadly, it tasted disgusting, it was too bitter for me to even try to swallow. It tasted more like dirty water out of a puddle as opposed to fresh buko juice. So a lot of the time I would throw it out after 1 sip, maybe 2 if I was feeling adventurous.
After my early buko juice experiences, I had assumed that it just wasn’t for me; so I avoided it in my later years. Late last year I was on an island hopping tour out amongst the beautiful Philippine islands. We stopped at one island where they were selling coconuts for only a few pesos, so I couldn’t turn it down. After trying the fresh buko juice, my whole attitude completely changed. Fresh coconut is in a whole new league compared to the manufactured coconut water.
After that eye-opening experience, buko juice became my default drink of choice when dining out. I didn’t care how impractical dealing with a entire coconut at a dining table was; the nutritious, delicious drink made it worth the effort.
After doing some reading, I also found that fresh buko juice also has some major health benefits. Researchers have found that the fresh juice has the same level of performance as major sports drink companies when it comes to keeping athletes hydrated. The buko juice also has many other major health benefits; it is able to assist in lowering your cholesterol levels and also bring down your blood pressure. It’s so rare to find delicious drinks which aren’t loaded with sugar and also provide these as well as many other health benefits.
