This was a MYSPACE blog entry I had written way back in 2006. I’ve always been fascinated by food and drink, but I think it’s the first time I’ve ever written about my somewhat inane interest in taste-testing soda pop:
quasi-connoisseur
Current mood:
Category: Food and Restaurants
Today while I had my weekly SAT/vocabulary prep session with Kevin, one of my 8th graders, I attempted to give him a clear explanation of the word Novelty. I told him that trendy toys like Pokemon cards or hacky sacks from my middle school years can be considered novelties. I tried to relate with him on the level of Spencer’s Gifts-sparing the vulgar stuff, and bored him with the info that even Randall’s has a novelty foods aisle (it’s in the frozen section.) I think he got the picture, but it got me thinking about my obsession with novelty drinks. I’m talking about all sorts of concoctions that are ever so popular at the Quik Stop 28 down the street. This all began with the summer of Clearly Canadian and Crystal Clear Pepsi, the former which is so tame now and the latter which I miss so dearly. I was exactly 10 years old and stumbling on its taste test outside Gerland’s Food Fair opened up a whole new world to me. Yes, I was a compliant citizen in the Pepsi Generation and my taste buds were released to try out anything. Let’s fast forward to Summer 2001, 7-11 just introduced the flavored syrups you can add to your fountain drink, I lovingly recall the cherry, but the lemon and grape are good, too. Somewhere during this era, Clearly Canadian got good knockoffs (of which I’m a huge consumer) appearing at Walmart, grocery stores and even Walgreen’s! Nothing’s really happened, yet, however, and old fashioned sodas are relatively left untouched. Then, when you’re least expecting it, all of a sudden this soft-drink marketing explosion hits you out of nowhere!! Bam, all of a sudden there’s lemon Coke, lime Coke, C2, and Coke Zero. I’m not a huge fan of any of those, that’s all I have to say, so let’s switch over to Pepsi. We have an influx of Pepsi Blue, the horribly disgusting Pepsi One, and my personal favorite Pepsi product, solely for it’s namesake, Pepsi Jazz. Dr. Pepper has even innovated itself. It has a new look and now, guess what?? Diet Dr. Pepper does taste more like regular Dr. Pepper. I’m not even joking here. I felt like the first to try the Berries and Cream version (alright, maybe too sweet) which sits alongside Cherry Vanilla DP. Then there’s the company’s side project- strawberryesque Big Red and it’s unlucky companion, Big Peach. Let’s not forget 7-Up Plus and Sprite Remix which have both made a charming, unobtrusive, and feminine impact in the realm. So as you can see, I’m a lover of all drinks novel. I get excited, my heart starts racing as I twist open that bottle cap, and I try my best to spread the word to all of those who listen. So please, trust me when I say there is an evil new drink out there. It wants to allure you with it’s edgy labeling and unusually small bottle. It’s taken me 4 months after trying it to finally be able to write about it, it’s so malicious and betraying to my kind. I’m talking about the devious,rob-you-of-your-innocence Coke Blak. It is supposed to be a coke infused with chilled coffee for that extra power we all want sometimes. But instead it makes a mockery of your mouth, it’s a horrible filthy gimmick created by the world’s most popular soft drink company. How can they think we’re foolish enough to fall for it? Okay, I was, but 1st offense- their fault, 2nd offense-mine. And trust me, for this $1.99 horror show, there won’t be a second offense. I won’t go into more detail about the misguided mess that is Coke Blak, I can’t even imagine what would happen if you drank it warm, but I’ll just state the facts: It is a disgrace to the combination drink society. As difficult as it was for me to express my grievance, all is not lost. We just need to be aware of the difference between a greedy marketing ploy and a true to it’s form novelty drink. With that being said, I’m exhausted, I think I squench my thirst with a can of Tab Energy.
Read more: http://www.myspace.com/nancymoira/blog?page=2#ixzz14cKrhzou
