Açaí: Smothie & Juice

Above: I hold a glass of açaí juice from a carton, bought in Holland. It looks dark red/brown but not exactly purple, and there is some reminiscent taste of açaí  in it. Refreshing for sure. But the real thing ?

Today I decided to to make some smoothies using some bananas and blackberries. And then I found in the fridge this juice my husband loves: açaí blended with red fruits. Above you see the photo of it. I decided to "correct" the colour adding more blackberries for me (small glass on the photo below). Deeeeelish ! But yeah: then the açaí taste was almost gone.

I think this carton with açaí juice we buy in Dutch supermarkets is not the real açaí juice - it is more an adapted and diluted drink version to suit European tastes. Only 5% of the total amount of ingredients is açaí pulp which is mixed with apple concentrate, black berries, red grapes and other fuits. If you have never tasted açaí before, then you will probably like this juice from a carton. If you have tasted an açaí smothie in Brazil then you know you are not drinking the real thing.

On the  video below you can see how a kiosk vendor prepares the açaí smoothie in a bowl. Some people like it with granola or/and banana - which I dispense. I like it thick and sandy and so dark and cold possible: "petrol" like ! There are many ways of serving and enjoying it.
And you, while living/travelling abroad... have you ever tasted anything that seemed different from the original product back home ?