Drinks : Non-alcoholic

From BevNET.com:


"Kentucky youths may have to turn to another source for their morning caffeine jolt if the state's legislature passes a bill introduced Friday that would ban energy drink sales to minors.

Beverage and convenience store industry professionals say the proposed bill unfairly targets energy drinks and would create an undue burden on convenience stores. But State Rep. Danny Ford (R-Mt. Vernon) said he introduced the bill "for the safety of the children."


READ: Ky. Bill would ban energy drink sales to minors

According to the New York Times, folks who are trying to keep their water tippling a tad greener by re-using plastic water bottles might be sucking down some unexpected side-effects.


"The type of plastic bottle that typically holds water, soda and juice is made from polyethylene terephthalate, a petroleum-based material also known as PET that is labeled No. 1.

The trouble with reusing those plastic bottles is that each time they are washed and refilled they become a little more scratched and crinkly, which can lead them to degrade. That can cause a trace metal called antimony to leach out, said Frederick S. vom Saal, a professor of biology at the University of Missouri who has studied plastics for years.

"We have to assume that along with that metal, others are almost certainly leaching out as well, but we don't know what they are and we don't know what to look for because manufacturers won't tell us what else is in the bottles," Professor vom Saal said."

Perhaps it's because I live in a city with well-regarded tap water, but I've never really gotten into the whole bottled water toting thing. It's not as if I'm staggering around parched all the time -- there's always a water fountain or tap ice water available when I've needed it. I've just yet to really understand the circumstances in which one is frequently tasked to be an ersatz camel, toting along their own hydration lest potable water be scare throughout the journey. Might someone explain?

Read: The (Possible) Perils of Being Thirsty While Being Green

Drink Cocktails Instead!

Blogging Stocks reports that Seattle-based Jones Soda, those wacky folks behind such marketing/flavor innovations as Turkey & Gravy Soda and Candy Corn soda are releasing a limited edition suite of Seahawks inspired drinks.

Sez the website:

"IF YOU THINK you're tough enough to play in the NFL, then you'd better step up and have a little taste of what NFL players experience throughout their entire careers.

NFL players have:

• Spent an average of 2 years in the gym.
• Perspired 10,000 gallons of sweat.
• Eaten 2 pounds of grass.
• Tasted 3 pounds of dirt.
• And spread over 5 gallons of sports cream on their muscle aches."


The starting flavor lineup includes Sports Cream, Dirt, Perspiration, Natural Turf, and Sweet victory in player-emblazoned packaging, along with a "Spirit of 12 Flag," all in a presentation box for gifting to that special Seahawks fan in your life. We can only be grateful that they showed sufficient restraint to leave out Sweat Sock, Athletic Supporter, Locker Room Shower Stall and Mike Holmgren's Moustache.

Order yours here at the Jones Soda Store.

Want tastier tailgating? Try recipes from AFC and NFC fans and grab yourself a copy of GameDay Gourmet by Pableaux Johnson.

Thanks to Adrants for pointing us to this Mountain Dew commercial from waaaayyyyyy back yonder. It features a Prohibition-era slogan "Zero Proof Moonshine", and spokes-rube "Billy The Hillbilly".

Great gosh-a-mighty, do times change. (Except when they don't.)

Golfer Boo Weekley told the press just what's been bugging him 'bout the fare in Scotland while he's duffing his way through the British Open.


BBC REPORTER: What about away from the course, the food, things like that here?

BOO WEEKLEY: It's rough. It's been rough on that food. It's different eating here than it is at the house. Ain't got no sweet tea, and ain't got no fried chicken.


And we've had a thing or two to say about Southern sweet tea, ourselves...

When my colleague, Kat informed me that July 29th was the 25th anniversary of Diet Coke, I thought "Cool, I'll write about how this bubby invasion defined 'liquid' and 'diet' all through my teen years." Then I realized, "Holy crap, I'm so old I was more than halfway through my teens when Diet Coke was even invented!" I have to admit, I was a little depressed. So I went to see 'The Simpsons' and ordered a medium-sized, ice cold half bucket of Diet Coke to buoy my mood and infuse me with some much-need youthful vigor. My friend had a few sips, but otherwise I drank the whole thing by myself.

Needless to say, I was stoked. And floating.

This is why, although I'm typically an earth-first type of eater and drinker with a preference for locally grown produce and stuff labeled 'artisanal' and 'fresh-squeezed,' I have never been able to give up my Diet Coke. Its got that refreshing balance of fake sweet, bubbly goodness that comforts me, paired with a foundation-shaking jolt the size of a small seismic tremor that may or may not cause residual damage.

My diet cola affinity started with Tab. I went to a fancy Manhattan public school where even the teachers judged you based on body type. The de riguer lunch was not salisbury steak but rather, a Tab and an apple. The thing about Tab, though, is that the saccharine taste was so disgusting you could feel the cancer eating right through the carbonation and away at your gut. But you drank it because, of course, to be thin was to sacrifice.

Then, in 1982 came Diet Coke. This was a revolutionary concept -- the soda (that's what we New Yorkers call it) most people besides me actually wanted to drink, but with NO CALORIES! As Coke's genius advertising campaign summed it up, you could drink Diet Coke 'Just for the Taste of It.' And so, 23 years after I gave up dieting for good, I still loves me some Diet Coke. I don't care when Diet Pepsi -- with it's no backbone bubble -- came to pass. I can be promiscuous with regard to my allegiance for Yanks vs. Mets depending which side of my family is present, but I'm utterly loyal to Diet Coke.

Read more about the 25th anniversary of Diet Coke

Find out what they call 'Buffalo Wings' in Buffalo

I drink a lot of Diet Coke.

I consume an unholy quantity of Diet Coke.

All right. All right. My body is comprised of approximately 97.3% Diet Coke (the other 2.7% is pie, aged Gouda, and movie popcorn), and at night, I sleep suspended in an aquarium tank filled to the top with the stuff so that my BDCL (Blood Diet Coke Level) doesn't fall below the necessary levels for me to remain functional as a human being. I drink Diet Coke before coffee in the morning. I could build a large-ish aluminum shed from the empties that build up on my desk. I've been known to tote 2 liter bottles along to parties (along with a nice bottle of Lillet or rye whiskey – I'm not a savage) where I fear there will be none at the bar. I'm not saying this is a sane or healthy way to be, but I also know I'm hardly alone in my obsession.

I can spot a Diet Coke addict from a mile away. There's something in the protective cradling of the can, the timbre of the satisfied sigh upon first sipping from the glass that's arrived at the restaurant table, and the touch-too-emphatic "YES!" when asked if they'd care for a glass. And while we don't tend to speak of it, we do generally watch out for one another's well-being and hydration. For instance, I won't show up in my boss's office for a lengthy meeting without an extra, chilled bottle in hand for her, and my husband (an ardent drinker of regular Pepsi, but he understands) has the forethought to bring home 1.5 liter bottles from the supermarket for me if he notes the supply is low (fewer than 3 liters in the house). My similarly addicted grad school roommate and I had an unspoken agreement that we'd stop at the deli on the way to campus in the morning, no matter how late we were running. She's now 10 years married to the handsome gent who'd sell it to us with a smile each and every school day, so it can't be all bad, right?

Why this public confession? Well, 'cause July 29^th, 2007 marks the 25^th anniversary of Diet Coke's public debut in a gala stage presentation at New York's Radio City Music Hall. Commemorative sleek, silver cans will be available exclusively in Atlanta area stores (what with it being Coke's birthplace and all), and no doubt there will be massive fanfare and media events associated with the occasion. But I'm not going to do anything out of the ordinary at all. I'm just going to stroll to the fridge, pour, sip, savor and smile. Probably more than once.

More about the 25th anniversary of Diet Coke

Do You Call It Pop Or Soda?

Q: A man sits down in a diner and orders a soda. What's getting poured in his glass?

A: Depends on where he's sitting -- regionally-speaking, that is.

My brother-in-law was born and raised in North Carolina, where asking for a "co-cola" will get you a bubbly cola drink -- probably a Pepsi. That same request once netted him a blank stare from a New York City waitress, until my husband translated, "He'd like a soda, please." Had my aunt from Ohio been at the table, she'd have requested a "pop", and my college pal from Boston would have put in her order for a "tonic".

While cola (defined as a beverage or a drink made with caramel, and carbonated water) has enjoyed nationwide popularity since its invention in the 1880s, we certainly haven't reached a consensus on what to call it. Growing up in Northern Kentucky, "soft-drink" would get me a Coke, Pepsi, or the occasional RC Cola, but later caused my East Coast college friends to roll their eyes with an apologetic, "She means soda." Back home, that would have meant I wanted a Sprite or 7UP, but I learned to adapt.

Now in my eleventh year of Brooklyn life, I'll ask for a Diet Coke at a local diner, half the time be asked if Diet Pepsi is OK (yeah, sure -- I need my caffeine either way), and the vast majority of the time will be presented with a cold can, an ice-filled glass and a slice of lemon. Goodness knows what I'd get if I ordered a glass of "dope", like my friend's grandfather in Southern Kentucky, but I just might try to find out.

Add your two cents to the great pop vs soda debate, or just see how your state's lingo stacks up at http://www.popvssoda.com.

Use our comments section below to let us know what they're calling it in your neck of the woods.

Take The Food Name Poll!

What Do You Call...Sandwiches, Meals, Ice-Cream Sprinkles

Read About Southern Sweet Tea

25th Anniversary of Diet Coke

Hickory Smoked Cherry Lemonade

Read More From the AOL Drinks Blog

Party Dip

Buffalo Wings

Get Grilling!

More soon on this weekend's all-day hickory smoking adventure, but first, a little libation.

Hickory Smoked Cherry Limeade

Juice of 2 dozen limes
1 1/2 cups simple syrup (more or less to taste)
2 cups water (more or less to taste)

Stir these together in a large pitcher with 2-3 handfuls of smoked cherries.

Hickory Smoked Cherry & Bourbon Lemonade

2 quarts lemonade (fresh or from concentrate)
1 cup triple sec or orange curacao
2-3 cups bourbon (to taste)
1 cup smoked cherries

Pour over ice. For a lighter drink, top with seltzer.

So how do you happen to come upon smoked cherries? Prolly not in your local 7-11. Seeing as I was spending 8-ish hours smoking brisket, I figured I might as well put the top racks to use. Took a couple of foil baking pans, and laid in a layer of fresh cherries in each. Two hours in the low, steady lump charcoal heat, suffused with the heady smoke of beer-soaked hickory chips left the cherries with unbelievably rich, mellow, sweet-smoked flavor. Seeing our guests repeatedly sidling over to the bowl with the extras, and plucking them from their cocktails to savor on their own makes me think I've stumbled upon something pretty distinctive. I've a notion there will be a goodly bit more experimentation as long as they're in season.

Oh - and I also tossed in a foil pan of kosher salt for about 6 hours. That smoked salt will add some delicious wood-char undertones to my next batch of margaritas. But that's a whooole other post.

Next outing - we smoke the lemons & limes, and potentially a few peaches. Wanna come over?

Get More Great Grilling Tips
Lemonade 101

Special to AOL Food from Kat Kinsman

When I was growing up in the 'burbs, lemonade had just about as much to do with actual lemons as garlic salt does to garlic. Powdered Wylers and frozen concentrate kept me quenched through camp, soccer games and neighborhood pool parties, but once I got a sip of the real stuff, there was just no substitute.

Treat yourself to the true taste of summer.


Tip – To get maximum juice and flavor from lemons, microwave them
on high for 10-15 seconds before squeezing.

Tip – If you don't want to fork out cash for an electric juicer,
use, well, a fork. Roll the lemon against a hard surface for a few
moments before slicing it open. Once it's halved, prick the open
side with the fork tines a few times, and then twist them against
the sides in a circular motion until you've squeezed out every
last drop.

Tip – To make simple syrup, stir 2 cups sugar and one cup water in
a small saucepan, and bring to a gentle boil. Simmer until the
mixture is slightly thickened. Remove from heat, and let it cool.
Syrup can be stored in a clean, sealed jar in the refrigerator
until it's needed.


Basic Lemonade

2 – 2 ½ dozen lemons - freshly squeezed
1 - 2 cups simple syrup
1 - 4 cups cold water (to taste)

Stir the lemon juice and 1 cup each of the water and simple syrup
into a large pitcher. Sample, and continue to stir in additional
water and syrup to taste.

(Note - it might seem like a LOT of lemons for that little water and syrup, but keep in mind that simple syrup is much sweeter than regular sugar, as the heat super-concentrates it, and the recipe is calibrated to allow for ice melting and diluting the drink.)


It's great served plain over ice, but why stop there?

Add-ins

- Mix equal parts lemonade and iced tea for a classic Arnold
Palmer or Half and Half.

- Drop in a cup or two of your favorite summer fruit or herbs, and
use a wooden spoon to muddle them at the bottom of the pitcher for
a cool, infused twist.

- Spike it up with a few shots of your favorite whiskey, vodka, or
tequila.

- Freeze it into ice cubes, so your drinks stay cool and
undiluted.


Old-Fashioned Lemonade
Easy Strawberry Lemonade
Icy Blender Lemonade
Lemonade Cake

Get More Great Lemonade Recipes