Friday, July 12, 2013

Excelso Summer Holiday Beverages: Indonesian Foodblogger Gathering.

I was super duper excited when I received the invitation to join another gathering held by Indonesian Foodblogger. When I looked at the invitation, it was a straight yes!!!

This event was held in coordination with Excelso Indonesia as well as the chance to promote their SUMMER HOLIDAY BEVERAGES, I mean, I don't think that this brand needs anymore introduction since it's currently the top leading coffee producers in Indonesia and I am actually one of its fan!

Wait, have I mentioned that Excelso originally came from Indonesia? Some of you might think that it's an international brand for what you see on its packaging and outer physical appearance, well, they're expanding internationally, but originally it's a local brand and I am so proud of this brand for winning a lot of hearts, there you go, quality always the reason why something survives.

The event took place at its outlet at Food Society, Kota Kasablanka and for the record, they already have 105 outlets spread all over 19 cities in Indonesia. Bravo! I love how the restaurant is divided into two areas: one for smoking and another one for the non-smokers, I mean, who wants to eat in a restaurant where there's smoke flying around, it's such a major turn off, and hey, do you know that cigarette's smoke is one of the reasons that degrades the quality of coffee beans? It does!!! And I guess that's very smart of this restaurant to have separate areas for smokers.

You'll notice major usage of wood elements in this restaurant, it adds the minimalist yet classy atmosphere to this restaurant which is good!



Say hi to Ms. Hanny A. Elvind, she is the Marketing Communication Manager of Excelso Indonesia and she is the person behind all the publication and promotion of this campaign (going to that later on).

For Excelso "Summer Holiday Beverages" campaign, they're promoting this five drinks which has originally been parts of their regular menu, but what makes this summer proper? Definitely the base of the drinks: FRUIT!

Imagine you're in a summer season where everything tends to get hot and beach is everyone's favorite destination to play around, get tanned while sipping their favorite beverages! I personally would have wanted something fresh with mix of flavors from the fruit and I'm so ready to get impressed! So are you guys ready to see the beverages from the "Summer Holiday Beverages" series? Wait... I'm going to get there in a while, so fasten your seat belt and hold your cravings for splash of freshness.

For now, I'm going to review the food they're serving us at the event.

Cripsy Cass
Chocolate and Cheese - IDR 27.5k
Chocolate, Cheese and additional Ice Cream - IDR 32.5k

I recommend this one during your visit to Excelso any time for a light bite, either appetizer or dessert. This one is made from Fried Cassava and Tapai. To be honest, I am not a big fan of tapai dish, but this one is slightly different because they're making the tapai to taste so good and smooth while not overpowering everything. Nice!!!


Excelso Club Sandwich
IDR 59.5k

Did I mention that I am a big fan of this restaurant? Well, apparently not only me, but also my dad. This dish is my dad's favorite and he almost always order this everytime he visits this restaurant. I mean, this one is certainly good! The filling of this sandwich consists of chicken slices, smoked beef, sliced egg, onion, tomatoes and fresh garden greens, served by the company of french fries. This one is my standard of a good old sandwich <3.


AND NOW!!!
I'm ready to present you guys...
EXCELSO SUMMER HOLIDAY BEVERAGES!
Just like what I've mentioned earlier, there are five highlighted drinks of this campaign and let me tell you upfront... they're awesome.

Left to right: Maharani, Summer Splash Freeze, Banana Split Frappio.

Maharani
IDR 41.5k

This drink is the mixture of fruits like banana, pineapple, cherry, lychee, mixed with pineapple juice, orange juice and strawberry sauce, but, here's the twist: the thing that adds the uniqueness of this drink to a whole new level is because this drink contains coffee in it! And wait, don't start presuming that this would taste bad when in fact, this one tastes so good! Even the coffee adds something special and won't reduce the freshness. Another positive thing about this drink: IT'S SO PRETTY LOOKING! I adore the selection of the glass!

Summer Splash Freeze
IDR 41.5k

Another sweet looking beverages from Excelso is this Summer Splash Freeze, but is it as sweet as it looks? The answer is friggin yes!!! It's not just plain sweet, it's fabulous sweet. This drink is the mixture of red berries, cherries and apple juice, somehow the mixture of those three items created a light sour to keep you freshened up. Make sure you have this right the second it's served, the colder the better. Brrrr...

Banana Split Frappio
IDR 41.5k

Since it's a 'frappio' beverage, this one contains coffee, but since I am a coffee worshiper, I have no problem with it. This beverage is a chilled coffee blended with whole banana, chocolate syrup and strawberry topping. This one is fresh yet chilling, if you're a big fan of banana and coffee beverages, go for this one! Three drinks served and I have nothing negative to say, what for when you love each and one of it? This one is again, AWESOME! Applause for the usage of walnuts and cherry on top, just adds the prettiness a level higher.



Banana Split Freeze
IDR 41.5k

This drink might look identical with the previous mentioned above, but what makes this one different from before is that this one is coffee-free and the color is a little lighter. If you're not a fan of coffee but you still love banana, this one is proper for you. It's again, fresh, memorable, sweet, addicting and creamy.

Mystery Drink!
Can you guys guess the last drink of this "Summer Holiday Beverages" series?
I'm going to give you a little hint: it's fresh, it's pretty and it's awesome.....

Still doesn't have any clue? Okay, I'm going there in a while but I have a little story to tell.

At the invitation (attached from the email), it was mentioned that there's a drink decorating competition. We've been told that the drink would be this one called "Maui Fruit Punch" (which is by the way the name of the last drink, so there you go!), but without knowing what's inside the beverage and all, I go with my way of decorating the drink, I wanna keep it simple since the beverage itself NEEDS TO BE THE HIGHLIGHT! And I wanna emphasize the pretty colors of this beverage!

Summer for me is bright colors everywhere, fun, fresh and yet a little flirty at the same time, and in this case, flirty equals to the drink itself. So I go by adding flowers in pink gradations and transparent glass rocks to symbolize the ice, while the base is simply a white plate.



See?! The color of the drink is so beautiful already that I don't think I need to add a lot of ornaments to emphasize it. I believe simplicity sometimes equals to classy and I love how the background of these pictures I took is the leaves from the restaurant's decoration. It pretty much looks like my ideal summer beverage! I can imagine myself having this in the middle of a hot day in a pretty beach :).

Maui Fruit Punch
IDR 41.5k

This drink is a fruity drink made from banana, cherry and lychee, with pineapple juice, orange juice and topped off with strawberry syrup. I got to taste the drink myself and I pretty much love this! It's so refreshing and yet the exciting part of this drink is you can guarantee the freshness by having the real fruit chunks (pineapple, lychee and cherry) inside.



If you're too busy travelling this summer, having these fabulous beverages from Excelso is almost equals to a fun summer holiday!

To celebrate the release of these fabulous "Summer Holiday Beverages" from Excelso, Excelso is giving you guys lovely treats <3.
For minimum transaction of IDR 100.000 (including one of five "Summer Holiday Beverages" in the transaction), Excelso's giving you free complimentary of Melba or Blossom Freeze!!!
Isn't it such a nice deal? It's like freshness doubled!

This promotion ends on July 31st so hurry up, drive to your nearest Excelso outlet and don't miss this chance!

Special thanks for Excelso Indonesia and Indonesia Foodblogger (IDFB) for this fun event and for gathering us on a special day!
Till then,
HAPPY SUMMER HOLIDAY EVERYONE!

Excelso Cafe Kota Kasablanka || FACEBOOK | TWITTER
Food Society, Kota Kasablanka
Upper Ground Fl. Unit MU-36
Jl. Casablanca Raya, Kav. 88
Jakarta Selatan 12870

email: eatandtreatsindo@gmail.com

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