SAN ANTONIO — There's nothing quite like that Texas heat to dehydrate you and it's that time of year again where the sun is out and beaming. But, one agua frescas business at the Alamo Heights Farmer Market and Select 210 Market and is quenching all that thirst.
Viva La Calle is serving up over 40 different flavors of agua frescas. So, what is an agua fresca and how is it made?
"Agua frescas is basically the fruit. We juice it and then we take out the pulp and serve it in a drink," Emmanuel 'Manny' Ramirez, the owner of Viva La Calle said. "So it's all natural."
Ramirez came from Mexico five years ago and noticed the lack of agua frescas in San Antonio.
"I moved to San Antonio about five years ago. I knew there was a demand for agua frescas {and} since I'm native from Mexico, I was like okay this could be a good idea," Ramirez said. "And little by little it worked and now we have customers are coming."
He took the leap of faith and started his business small, often times carrying all of his equipment in his small car.
"We started the business three years ago and we literally started from nothing. I had a small car, I would carry all the buckets there, my table, my setup, my canopy and that's how I started the business," Ramirez said.
But as the business grew, so did the demand for more space. Ramirez said he couldn't afford a new trailer, so he took matters into his own hands, bought an old trailer and renovated it. He says he did such a good job that people ask him if he renovates trailers as a business.
"I found the trailer for cheap and I was like I'll just remodel it and make it look my own style and it worked," Ramirez said.
They also have coffee options like a vegan horchata latte and a cafe de olla. Ramirez said they're one of the only places in San Antonio that has a vegan horchata latte, "A lot of people come just for the coffee," Ramirez added.
Ramirez encourages everyone to come try them out. If you're not sure what to get, they're always giving samples. If you want a bigger quantity, you can also buy the drinks by the bottle for $16. When you bring those bottles back, you get half-priced refills, Ramirez said.