Old-Salt Lemonade

Old-salt lemonade is a popular local drink of Haikou and the surrounding coast, made from Hainan's aged sea salt, fresh lemon juice, syrup and iced water, at once salty and sweet with a touch of tartness, one of a family of old-salt drinks that also includes pineapple and passion-fruit versions.

Hainan's coast has produced salt since ancient times, and the aged sea salt of the Yinggehai salt fields has a distinctive taste; in modern times the people of Haikou married old salt with tropical fruits and lemon to create the local family of old-salt drinks, a fixture of everyday summer refreshment.

Mixed to order, the cup is iced, squeezed with lemon, dashed with old salt and syrup and shaken; the salt lifts the lemon's fragrance and sweetness, drunk on the spot at street drink shops and night markets, a homely Haikou summer staple.

The meeting of aged-salt savour with lemon's sweet-sour, and its salty-sweet lingering finish, are what set the old-salt family apart from ordinary fruit juices.