Soda xí muội — tasting notes & food pairings

Soda xí muội

Soda xí muội is a Vietnamese salty-sour soft drink built on xí muội — a salted, sun-dried preserved plum or apricot — steeped or muddled with its brine, sweetened, sharpened with a squeeze of lime, and lengthened with cold soda water over plenty of ice. Pale amber and lively with bubbles, it is at once sour, salty and lightly sweet, with the soft, jammy, faintly medicinal note of the dried fruit sitting at the bottom of the glass. A fixture of old Saigon cafés and street stalls, it is a distinctly Southeast Asian cooler with no Western analog — closer to a savoury tonic than a fruit soda. It is non-alcoholic, caffeine-free and, in its usual form, vegan.

Crisp & tartNon-alcoholic

A glass of soda xí muội leads with the soft, jammy, faintly medicinal sweetness of salted preserved plum, then splits open into a bright, salty-sour tang — the fruit's lactic, fermented-tasting acidity crossed with fresh lime — over a cushion of sugar and lifted by the clean prickle of soda water; the salt and a whisper of smoky liquorice give it a savoury, almost umami depth, so it finishes tangy and refreshing rather than simply sweet, with the whole plum waiting at the bottom of the glass.