Low and behold my astonishment when walking down the beverage isle of a grocery store in Lima, Peru when I found a soft drink like bottle featuring a big cartoonish picture of purple corn on it. I laughed and thought giddily to myself, “Silly humans, corn isn’t purple and even if it was who would drink…corn?!?”
Well I would, eventually, after being shown that there is purple corn, I mean really purple…I wonder if that’s what made Barney purple? Anyways, the corn is not some genetic freak of nature but actually dates back thousands of years back to the Incas. Hell, this stuff even made its way into a scene in Moby Dick, which since I am now also an amazing animal with a link to this purple corn that somebody should write a book about me. It would be less piratey with the ‘argh mateys’ and more like a cooler version of Eat, Pray, Love but something like Eat, Drink, Fling Poo? I think it’s kind of catchy, throw in some purple corn and you have a best seller.
Back to the corn, the purple corn. I decided it was my duty to try this stuff out, because while I like corn I can’t imagine drinking it, or that enough people would like it to warrant it having its own bottling company.
But before I tell you how it taste, let me tell you how it is made. First they boil the purple corn, I guess you can’t or don’t actually eat the corn which is scary because they drink it. I didn’t get too much of an explanation just a look of, ‘Uh Duh!’ You add pineapple, quince and clove to the boiling mix until it is a deep purple. (Not sure where you would pick up quince though?) Then you add spices like Cinnamon, sugar and lime juice for flavoring although I’ve heard that every recipe is different this seems to be the base of it. After all is said and done you can serve this drink hot or cold and it is regularly compared to wine although without the alcohol. I’m guessing there are a few similar nutrients but the non alcoholic part isn’t it’s strongest selling point in my opinion.
Now that you see all that goes into this purple concoction you can believe me when I say it doesn’t taste like you’re drinking cream corn. It is sweet and fruity not quite like a juice but not like anything else I can quite compare it to either. It’s purple so I want to say grape juice but it is not. The complexities offer a sweet yet spicy drink with a fruity twist that if you ask around is supposed to be a cure all. Will it cure your ailments, sure I guess if you tap your red heals together enough while drinking it down, but more importantly you can boast that there is such a thing as purple corn and you have drank it.
___________________________________________________________
Don’t forget to fling this post to others if you like what you see!













August 27th, 2010 at 11:49 pm
Ooh I can’t wait to try this.
September 1st, 2010 at 7:49 pm
It is good, I also recommend Panetón which will likely be everywhere if you arrive around December. If you are there for Christmas there is a big gathering in downtown Lima with fireworks and all on Christmas Eve.
September 17th, 2010 at 6:16 pm
I would have to try it, just so I said that I did. I’m glad it doesn’t taste like creamed corn though, that would be disgusting. It looks similar to a drink I had in Nicaragua. It was a dragonfruit smoothie and it was purple too. Your drink is really dark purple though and mine was more redish-purple.
September 20th, 2010 at 5:57 pm
I was really scared it was going to taste like corn, but gratefully it was delicious.
October 3rd, 2010 at 11:24 pm
I’m peruvian. Chicha Morada is the bomb!!!!
October 4th, 2010 at 4:41 pm
I really liked Peru, all the food and drinks. But the purple corn drink stuck out most of all.
October 7th, 2010 at 3:09 pm
I’ve heard about corn drinks in Peru, but I didn’t know they were purple!
October 7th, 2010 at 11:18 pm
Yup purple indeed, the yellow corn is different too. The kernels are huge, it is usually served with ceviche. They also have dried and salted corn kernels that are a snack. I guess Peru really loves its corn.
November 5th, 2010 at 8:46 pm
I’m peruvian and we drink it almost everyday..we prepare it at home because it doesn’t taste the same if you buy it from some store. It has great health benefits! i learned that it can help prevent cancer, it reduces cholesterol, controls obesity & diabetes, heps prevent wrinkles, it has high content of calcium and iron, lower blood pressure, etc etc…try it! it’s delicious
November 9th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
I can only imagine that the homemade version tastes better, but it still is something that would have otherwise never crossed my mind as a delicious sweet drink, corn. I’ve read that a few other countries have an alcoholic form of this drink, or at least bearing the same name. Is there a mix drink with this I’m all for spicing up a healthy drink….it could be the Peruvian Bloody Mary.