stuart james beall

The Ocean Spray Company produced tropical beverages under the Mauna La’i brand name. These were sold in Salt Lake County, before the year 2000, when the brand was sold to Mott’s. I loved their Guava flavor, which was a sweetened blend of guava juice, lemon juice, and water.

I lost interest in the beverage for several years, until I was traveling as a truck driver, and was browsing at a strange grocery store. I found a bottle of something with the Mauna La’i name on it, but it wasn’t what I remembered. Someone had changed the recipe, so that it was mostly a blend of apple, pear, and white grape juices, with a smidgeon of guava flavor.

I decided that I could mix my own juice, and it would taste even better. The trick to having a delicious guava zinger beverage is finding good guava nectar. Mostly the stuff I could find was a guava flavored corn syrup. In some cases, the guava flavor was artificial.

Find a real guava nectar – which includes some of the pulp – and pour it “on the rocks” into a tall glass, just until it’s about half full. Add Simply Lemonade to fill the remainder. Stir and enjoy.

In summary, all you need for this is ice, a spoon, a tall glass, lemonade, and guava nectar.

If either your guava nectar or lemonade is too sweet to begin with, add about 1/3 water to dilute it.