The Ultimate
Bird's Nest Guide

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The Ultimate Guide to Buying Bird’s Nests

Not all bird’s nests are created equal, and neither are the brands. In this guide, we walk you through what to look out for, the key consideration sets, and some pitfalls in choosing a brand to consume.

Bird’s Nest products have been around for centuries.

With its rarity and laborious harvesting process, it is no surprise that it remains one of the most prized superfoods out there. People consume Bird’s Nests for its nutritional values, and growing research into the field has confirmed the presence of essential amino acids, glycoproteins and sialic acids which confer many benefits to the body.

Yet, the industry remains opaque and consumers need to be discerning to get their money’s worth of product.

Factors to Consider

If you are buying bird’s nest to consume or as a gift for someone you care about, these are what you should look out for in a brand:

1. Track record, cleaning methods and sources - Where is the bird’s nest from? How are they cleaned? Where and how are they cooked?

2. Dry weight of Bird’s Nest in your bottle - How much Bird’s Nests are you actually getting?

3. Price - Are you getting your money’s worth of bird's nest? Is this for consumption or for gifting? What are you optimizing for?

4. Ingredients and sweetness levels - What recipes and flavors are available? Where are the ingredients sourced from? Are there any artificial flavors, colorings or sweeteners used?

1. Track Record, Cleaning Methods and Sources

Knowing where your bird’s nests are from and where they are cooked is important to ensure legitimacy.   

With the rise of counterfeit bird’s nests in recent times, it is important to know your bird’s nests are handled by a legitimate company with a track record.

We’ve been to many processing facilities and noticed a huge variance and cleaning quality...

...from companies straight out bleaching the nest to make their nests look cleaner (and thereby command a higher price) to good players who painstakingly undertake a manual process of handpicking the dirt from nests.

 Avoid companies that do not disclose the country of origins of their supply and shy away from disclosing where the products are cooked. 

Pro tip: Look out for a brand’s media footprint, companies with media coverage tend to stand behind their bird’s nests and uphold their reputation. 

The Purest Co: All our bird’s nests are cooked in Singapore in our HACCP, ISO certified and FDA-approved facility, sourced from ethical bird houses or cave farmers in both Indonesia and Malaysia. All our nests are processed using the traditional hand-cleaning method.

WE ARE ON

2. Actual Amount of Bird's Nest in Dry Weight

The cooking process of bird’s nests will result in the nest expanding at a dramatic rate.

Always ask how much of the bird's nest in dry weight is put into your bottle. To put things in perspective, one bird’s nest cup typically weighs between 5-7 grams.

Some companies will shy away from disclosing this information...

...simply because bird’s nest is the key cost driver in a bottle of product, and this allows them the flexibility to reduce the amount to improve their profit at the expense of the customer.

Pro tip: Avoid buying brands that mix in white fungus or seaweed with bird’s nests. These ingredients mimic the texture and aesthetic of bird’s nests when cooked. It is a common tactic in the industry to cook these ingredients together to create an illusion of a thicker broth when in fact the bird’s nest content may be much less.

The Purest Co: Transparency is one of the hallmarks of our brand. We use 9 grams of bird’s nests dry weight in almost all our bottles, with the exception of Cave Origin, which has 8 grams of bird’s nest and our gift set which has 1 gram per small bottle.

"Avoid buying brands that mix in white fungus or seaweed...these mimic the texture and aesthetic
of bird's nests when cooked"

3. Price

The price variance in the industry is wide because the entire spectrum exists from bird’s nest drinks that contain minimal or even no amount of bird’s nests to concentrated bird’s nest products, and everything in between.

People buy bird’s nests for typically one of two reasons; for consumption or for gifting. It is useful to know what you are optimizing for.

When optimizing for consumption, whether it be personal consumption or for the consumption of a family member or a wife who is pregnant, the key consideration here is the amount of nutritional value in the product.

Price to grammage of bird’s nest would be the key metric here.

Not all bird’s nests are created equal, but assuming most of the above criteria (1 & 2) have been met, one can assume the bird’s nest is safe and the brand is legitimate.

Do a comparison on a price to grammage ratio to determine which brand gives you the best nutrition for your money. There are many different formats of bird’s nests, from watered down to concentrated bird’s nests (like ours), which are thick and full of bird’s nests.

Next, consider also that as with most nutritional products, the key to reaping the benefits is

The Purest Co

Brand X

Brand Y

Price / Bottle ($)

$47.25

$7.20**

$76.41**

Dry Weight of Bird's Nest (g)

9g

<0.2g*

8g*

Price / gram ($)

$5.25

$36.00

$9.55

Quality

Hand-cleaned

Unknown

* Estimated based on analysis of product

** Comparison prices based on regular retail prices as of 2021

Disclaimer: Any resemblance made to other brands is purely coincidental

4. Ingredients, Taste and Sweetness

Having a good understanding of what ingredients are used for your bird’s nest drinks and how it is sweetened is also an important factor in choosing a brand.

Many brands have hard-to-read labels or missing information with regards to this, which may make for an unpleasant taste experience when you get the product.

In general, while sweetness and taste are subjective, brands that emphasize on health would err on the side of using less sugars and also avoid artificial colorings or sweeteners.

This becomes especially important if you are consuming bird’s nests during your pregnancy or confinement.

In the cooking process, common ingredients such as rock sugar, honey rock sugar, red dates and ginseng might be used.

It is always good to clarify with a brand if the tastes of these ingredients are achieved using the actual boiling process of the ingredients or an artificial flavoring to achieve.

A general rule of thumb, a brand that uses only all natural ingredients in the boils and less amounts of sugar would make for a healthier choice.

Brands that do not talk about their ingredients, might be using flavoring or artificial additives to achieve that taste.

Pro Tip: For sweetness, look out for nutrition labels and understand the sugars per serving that you are consuming. Most sweeter bottles contain 7-10g of sugars per serving, a healthier choice would be within 2-4g per serving.

The Purest Co: We only use all natural ingredients in our bird’s nest brews, and our recipes are optimized to taste great without much sugar, using the natural sweetness of ingredients such as Pandan and red dates, we keep within 2-4g of sugar per serving.

Conclusion

Buying good Bird's Nests can be a time-consuming process, especially if you are really looking for a high-quality product that is both healthy and nutritious.

The industry is relatively opaque so time spent doing homework can go a long way in ensuring you and your family get a safe and healthy product.

Even some well-known brands tend to obfuscate the amount of product you are really getting in favor of their own profit margin, so it pays to do your own research.

Find out what you are buying bird's nests for, and decide on the kind of budget you would like to allocate for your purchase.

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What Customers Are Saying

"In TCM, bird’s nest is known to nourish our lungs, combat respiratory problems and can even help to boost our body’s immune system if taken on a regular basis . The glutinous saliva made from the swiftlets contains high traces of epidermal growth factors which helps to restore youthfulness and improve our complexion.

Purest Nest uses only premium bird’s nest , cooked to perfection with recipes passed down to generations. Everything is cooked and bottled in facilities in Singapore , promising its freshness when it arrives at your doorstep.

Health is wealth, consider adding bird’s nest as part of your daily supplement."

Cynthia Koh, actress