East Idaho Eats: Business brings delicious, refreshing drinks from different cultures

REXBURG — From different lemonades to creamy fruit drinks, to special exotic juices — a new business in Rexburg aims to quench your thirst.

Shaka Juice, a yellow drink shack, is located by the railroad tracks on 250 West Main Street in the Wolfe Lighting & Accents parking lot. The products at the shack were previously sold at local farmer’s markets before the business opened up.

“I really wanted to share different cultures with other people and for me, the best way to experience a culture is to try their food and try their drinks. So I knew it was something I was passionate about. I love trying drinks out and I wanted to share it with other people,” said Kioa Delos Reyes, the owner of Shaka Juice.

The drinks burst with flavor. Delos Reyes uses fresh fruit to produce his creations. He describes his creations as cultural drinks.

“We have different drinks like horchata from Mexico. We have a melona drink which is a honeydew creamy melon one from South Korea. We got some other drinks like from Puerto Rico like piña colada,” he explained.

One of the popular drinks at Shaka Juice is called Vaifala.

“It’s from the islands of Samoa and it’s a sweet, creamy pineapple drink. You are going to get chunks of pineapple in there as well,” said Delos Reyes.

Another delicious drink is called Otai, which is from Tonga.

“You are going to get watermelon (it’s grated and juiced), pineapple and also coconut milk with coconut flakes in there as well. This drink is sugar-free and dairy-free,” he said.

Some of the drinks have texture in them, like pulp. But there are other drinks that are smooth, creamy, and also kid-friendly like POG.

“Our number one flavor is the POG which stands for passion (passionfruit), orange, and guava and this is very popular from Hawaii where I’m from. Very refreshing, three fruits. I actually drank this every day in Hawaii. They sell it in cartons and gallons. This is the orange juice of Hawaii,” said Delos Reyes.

He explained that Shaka Juice has over 20 different flavors to choose from.

“We rotate every week and even on the daily depending on what fruits we have, how ripe they are and what we run out of,” he said.

Shaka Juice is open Monday through Thursday from noon to 8 p.m. and Friday through Saturday from noon to 9 p.m. Click here to “like” Shaka Juice on Facebook.