Learning about lesser-known soft drinks
I don’t drink soda very often, but I have been known to enjoy ginger ale and other bubbly refreshments from time to time.
I thought I knew about soda, but I’ve never heard of most of these unique regional drinks written about on MentalFloss.com. Check out these profiles of 11 regional sodas, many of which were invented by doctors and pharmacists.
Interestingly, Hires root-beer is actually more like “tea” than “beer”–but the marketers nailed that one.
Given the outpouring of love for North Carolina-born Cheerwine, I need to try it. A can full of Moxie sounds pretty awesome as well. This article taught me to looker deeper into the grocery store aisles.
~cheers
Last night, I realized that I have powers of prediction. As I put my water glass down on my bedside table, I saw this…
The oracle's coaster
Back on July 2nd, stacks of coasters were on the table of a “sexy soccer bar” in Brooklyn. I sifted through them to pick out a couple. I took the South Africa one (in honor of their hosting the World Cup) and the Spain one and stashed them in my pocket. I’m not sure what inspired me to take the Spain one–maybe because I studied Español in high school, maybe because I appreciate a nation that appreciates naps, but it wasn’t coaster aesthetics–red and yellow are decidedly not my favorite colors. Yet, I felt moved to choose it, and thus Spain would win.
Paul the Octopus has nothing on me.
~cheers
Cali Calling/Sipping
It’s been a while, but here’s a great excuse to post anew…
This came over the transom from my friend.
"A very SF beverage...bubble tea!" says my California correspondent.
She was so inspired by her beverage that she emailed it right over. That’s the kind of beverage/beveridge appreciation that I enjoy.
~cheers
Alabama’s Signature Drink?
Down in Alabama, calling your politician a “boozer” may not be slander. Actually, it could be a point of fact, if a bespeckled gentleman named Young Boozer wins the State Treasurer election in June.
This man is no lush (at least, not famous for it). In fact, he was an award-winning eagle scout, according to his bio.
A newcomer to elected office, could this name uniqueness (and his own $400,000) trump the name recognition of his Republic primary opponent George Wallace Jr.?
As someone who once ran for a student council office and put a drink carton on her flyers, I must applaud his campaign video slogan “Funny Name, Serious Leadership.” Here is Young Boozer III’s video for your edutainment.
I’ll leave the real puns to the news media’s coverage of this (perhaps the most novel attention a state treasurer race earns in a long time).
~cheers
UK Election Publitics
The election results may still be in the air, but the UK stance on booze is clear–bring it on, election day and all.
According to the BBC, here’s the official rule:
Yes. Polling station staff cannot refuse a voter simply because they are drunk or under the influence of drugs. However, if the presiding officer suspects you are incapable of voting you will be asked a series of questions to determine whether you are up to the task of casting your ballot. If the voter cannot answer satisfactorily they will be told to come back when they’ve sobered up.
This is an important rule because there are pub polling stations in the U.K., as noted in The Atlantic.
Our US bars may not be polling stations, but do not fear, dear drinking voters, your boozey ballots can count too, as shown in a 2008 example in New Mexico when a drunk woman made a scene and passed out as she voted:
A little checking determined that it was not illegal to be drunk when casting a ballot, but election laws do prohibit liquor at voting sites and creating a disturbance..Because the woman passed out before inserting her ballot into an electronic tabulator, her vote will be hand-counted.
Smooth(ie) Style
It’s definitely a smoothie kind of day here in warm, sunny NYC. I’ve spent much of the day inside, but a smoothie is like summer in a cup.
I went for a variation on the “Sybil” smoothie from 88 Orchard Cafe with raspberry, blueberry, strawberry, pineapple juice and yogurt.
Who is the smoothie’s namesake? I don’t know, but it was tasty.
Plus, I think it coordinates well with my outfit.
A Sizeable Little Beverage
If this is, in fact, a “small” juice
Then I am petite (more on that later).
Either way, it’s a whole lot of refreshing (carrot/orange/ginger).
~cheers
Feliz Dia del Santo Patrick
How did I celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?
I ventured south, where they wear clover regalia
and drink green(ish) drinks
I had crossed the border to Brooklyn–the land of Corona-sponsored hats and green margaritas (on the rocks with salt…just like St. Pat used to drink*).
*not verified, but should be so
~cheers/salud
Captain Cat’s Cocktail
On the eve of Oscar night, I attended the closing reception for Wales Week. There, at the Morgan Lubrary & Museum, a choir performed traditional Welsh music and some poppier tunes, people were thanked, Dylan Thomas poems and manuscripts were on view, and cocktails were distributed. These were special Captain Cat cocktails, inspired by a line from Dylan Thomas’s “Under the Milkwood Tree”
What’s a Captain Cat?
“the retired blind sea-captain, asleep in his bunk in the seashelled, ship-in-bottled, shipshape best cabin of Schooner House.” (Played by Peter O’Toole in the 1972 movie adaptation)
What’s a Captain Cat cocktail?
1 Part – Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum
1/2 Part – Fresh Lime Juice
2 Parts – Cranberry Juice
All parts shaken over ice and strained into a martini glass. Garnished with a fresh lime wheel.
Did I feel a little odd sipping cocktails inspired by a man who drank himself to death? Maybe, but the drink was perky and refreshing, and I stopped at two.
Check out the first part of the radio play “Under the Milk Wood,” and enjoy the links between literature and libations.
Happy Beer Day, Iceland!
March 1st marks the anniversary of free drinking in Iceland.
Prohibition in the U.S. lasted from 1920 to 1933. In Iceland, it lasted from 1915 to 1989.* Congress instituted the U.S. ban dubbed, the “Great Experiment.” Meanwhile, Icelanders themselves voted for prohibition through a referendum. This means that Icelanders couldn’t legally enjoy beer for a full 75 years–because of their own doing.
Would the passage of a healthcare bill warrant a holiday?
*Granted, there was some slackening of prohibition over the years, starting with wine in 1935. Beer was prohibited throughout.
Until today, the only things I knew about Iceland came from Bjork, depressing economic news and Where in the World is Carmen San Diego (the capital of Iceland is Reykjavik!).
~cheers to Bjordagur
