For years, I always thought I had to go to Little Saigon to score fresh-pressed, Vietnamese-style sugar cane juice. A petite woman named Huong has run Quang An Duong Chinese Herb Store in Rosemead’s Vikon Center since 2005. She presides over shelves that resemble a library’s card catalog. Each drawer holds a different spice. Each spice supposedly cures a different ailment or provides a boost. You’ll also find bags of fungi and boxes of various teas and tonics. When she’s not working as an Eastern pharmacist, Huong makes Sugar Cane Juice, known in Vietnamese as nuoc mia.

Quang An Duong Chinese Herb Store uses a machine to press sugar cane stalks to order with tart kumquat. The bright yellow liquid ($3.50 and up) is filtered over ice into a 20-ounce (or larger) Styrofoam cup, providing incredible refreshment on warm days in the San Gabriel Valley, which are frequent.