I am assuming that green mango shakes were invented in the Philippines. The same way I think kamias shakes must also be a local innovation. But I am not sure; these could have been influenced by fruit shakes elsewhere on the planet and we 
can’t claim to have invented them. Nevertheless, green mango shakes were a novelty when I was a teenager, and since I loved sour flavors, I ordered them often. I knew a lot of people who ordered them thinking they were drinking something very healthy and low in sugar (probably masked by the acid tart green mangoes). Over the years, I veered away from the incredibly tart shakes though I always managed to have one or two per annum. Lately, the versions I have tasted have either been curiously milky or creamy (Wysgal suggests it might be due to the addition of some powdered milk!?), too watery, lacking in any distinct green mango flavor or excessively sweet. So I thought, “how hard can it be to make a decent green mango shake?”
Actually, it wasn’t so simple to do. I had several attempts with mediocre results. To reduce the amount of added simple sugar syrup, I tried to start with a semi-ripe mango, still very sour but starting to turn yellow. A whole large mango into the blender, ice, 
some water and some sugar syrup. The result was a creamier, more opaque shake. I’m not sure if it was the quality of the mango, but the shake seemed murky or sappy. It was tart but not sharply so; refreshing but not memorable. I tried another shake with half of a very green mango and not as much sugar syrup and it came out watery and diluted; unappealing actually. Finally, I made a shake with one whole extremely green mango, lots of ice, very little water and several tablespoons of sugar syrup (maybe 5 tbsps or more!) and this came out close to what I recall of the first few shakes I had ever tasted. This was redolent with green mango flavor but not painfully tart. The tons of sugar syrup tempered the acidity but wasn’t cloyingly sweet to the tastebuds. But it did bother me how much sugar it took to get this drink to taste “right.” I rimmed the glass with fine salt and that actually made the drink more interesting for me. And as a last thought, I made a mental note to try rimming the glass with plum powder the next time around…sort of a green mango and champoy/kiamoy hit…now THAT is nostalgic comfort food, if you ask me!
Still thirsty for more fruit shakes or smoothies? Check out some of these earlier posts…
Pakwan or Watermelon Shakes
Pineapple Shakes
Blackberry & Whey Smoothies
Ripe mango Shakes
Plum & Grape Shakes – superb!
Strawberry Smoothies
13 Responses
Yours looks very good for morphed minatamis na manggang hilaw! How about adding a jigger of tequilla for green mango margarita and some calamansi juice for a refreshing cocktail?
My friend uses Karo syrup in her restaurant for green mango juice.
I love drinking green mango shake I prefer these anytime over the ripe ones. I love their tangy taste and they taste like real mangoes because sometimes whenever I buy ripe mango shape it has that over ripped taste which I hate yuck! GREEN MANGOES YEHEY!
When we were kids, my sister and I would order the green mango shakes at restaurants; they’d come with a slice of a green mango (I suppose to remind you of what you were drinking) sitting on the lip of the glass. My sister always had the urge to order a side dish of bagoong so that we could eat our green mango slices properly. Of course that made us wonder what a green mango + bagoong shake would taste like. Ew.
Have you tried extracting the juice of the green mango with those fruit juice extractors (like the ones used on carrots)? Maybe with enough of the juice extracted, you could add it to a full green mango in the blender, intensifying the fruit flavor and add honey instead of the sugar for sweetening.
Instead of syrup, try using condensed milk and ice with the sliced green mangoes. The shake will come out creamier and sweetened to you taste. I know coz I always get excellent results….
When eating in Filipino themed restaurants, my family would always have to order green mango shake. If it’s good, we go back often, if not, we just forget about the resto or come back after few months.
And also when my mom make this at home, she sometimes uses sugar substitute called stevia. I think she got it from a trip abroad.
you get different green mango shakes in restos, some too watery some are too sweet or too sour, and it really is hard to get the right consistency and taste, you really have to practice doing it. . . it is not the same as most fruits that you could never get wrong if you make shakes or smoothies. . .
Hi MM! i’m very easy to please especially when it comes to smoothies, shakes, what-have-you’s. green mango shake definitely tops my list and its refreshing effect on me. maybe i should try using sugar syrup for all my shakes (i literally pour gran sugar!) and yeah, maybe check out the plum powder…i’m a BIG fan of champoy myself!
Tia Maria’s used to have the best green mango shake…
MM, have you tried making a chico smoothie? This one’s a favorite, but of course, I can munch about five chicos in one sitting. :-)
Ihave probably not had a green mango shake in five years and then very recently an expat friend of mine ordered one and it looked so refreshing. Since then I have been on a green mango shake kick.. ordering them everywhere I go. Last weekend I ordered one at a club my family and I go to, and when the waiter brought it out my shake was a disgusting shade of yellow. When I asked what happened to my order for green mango he said, “Ay Mam, nahino na kasi!” I did not quite know how to react to that! Oviously! Now what I should of asked is if it got “nahinog” on the way to our table!
i learned something from watching tv shows :) freeze the mangoes first, already prepared, before including it in the shake. this allows for less ice, hence water, so that the shake will be thick, and super cold too. then i add corn syrup or sugar syrup to sweeten it up, admittedly, tons of it too.
green mango shake is one of my most favorate shake in town!!