I Found Some Root Beer...
A few posts back we were discussing the availability of certain soft drinks and compared what is available in the USA and here. I'm sure some drinks will be exclusive to most countries and we only get to try them when on vacation.
This also set me thinking about the importance in American life culture of the Drug Store which usually had an area where the local teenagers met as a group or used to go or have a soda pop with their date.
I'm not sure that we in the UK ever had such a place...perhaps the nearest thing we had in the 50's and 60's was the milk bar or a coffee bar which is nothing like the coffee shops of today. It doesn't somehow sound the same or have the same mystique/romance.
They even feature in films like It's A Wonderful Life and Back To The Future...
We discussed Ginger Ale amongst other flavours. Many you have to buy at crazy prices on import.
It's pot luck if you'll find it and you probably have to be living in a large city or have access to a specialist store.
Well, today after coming out of the hospital and seeing my consultant I went into a supermarket and I found some Root Beer. It is probably based on a genuine recipe but produced in the UK.
Hopefully it is as close to the real stuff as possible. North Star asked who made it...Carters I think.
Root Beer
Now, all I have to do is find an excuse to try and pass judgement.
This also set me thinking about the importance in American life culture of the Drug Store which usually had an area where the local teenagers met as a group or used to go or have a soda pop with their date.
I'm not sure that we in the UK ever had such a place...perhaps the nearest thing we had in the 50's and 60's was the milk bar or a coffee bar which is nothing like the coffee shops of today. It doesn't somehow sound the same or have the same mystique/romance.
They even feature in films like It's A Wonderful Life and Back To The Future...
We discussed Ginger Ale amongst other flavours. Many you have to buy at crazy prices on import.
It's pot luck if you'll find it and you probably have to be living in a large city or have access to a specialist store.
Well, today after coming out of the hospital and seeing my consultant I went into a supermarket and I found some Root Beer. It is probably based on a genuine recipe but produced in the UK.
Hopefully it is as close to the real stuff as possible. North Star asked who made it...Carters I think.
Root Beer
Now, all I have to do is find an excuse to try and pass judgement.
posted by The Great Gildersleeve | 3:31 pm
5 Comments:
Carters, huh? I must admit that I've never heard of it. Perhaps it's sold exclusively in the UK. I will await your review, Gildy.
Drug stores, as they historically existed in the US several decades ago (places of congregation, food and drink, etc.), are largely no more. I was in one in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, several years ago that had a counter where one could buy coffee, soda, etc., but the counter was in the very back of the store, and no staff were assigned to the counter. When I sat down, somebody came over, sold me my coffee, and then left. I was the only one at the counter.
That's quite sad and shows how society has moved on. Also, how the coffee chains like Star Bucks and the specific takeaway/fast food outlets like McDonalds have replaced them.
I suppose they were quite basic by today's standards(I wonder if that is such a bad thing)
Maybe it will only be a matter of time before the Diner's we see in films showing America over here suffer the same fate. You know the kind of Diner I am thinking of such as we used to see in tv series' like Alice's Restaurant, Happy Days. Films like American Graffitti or Porky's.
Or those Diner's that are in the middle of nowhere and people call in for rest whilst on a long car journey.
How was it? As I said before it's my favourite fizzy drink and strangly reminiscent of germoline ointment! I've now cottoned on (after recent chewing gum and Altoid experiences) that this may be the flavour "wintergreen".
great word verifiaction for these chemical ingredients we all eat
= oxides!
I'll maybe have a go at it this weekend. I have heard of Wintergreen too but I think I need to search again on the net to jog my memory.
I think diners as you describe them, Gildy, will last for quite some time yet. People will always need to eat, and with the pace of life quickening so much, many people prefer fast and informal dining that's relatively inexpensive.
Wintergreen is a fairly common flavor of gum and mints over here. I'm not sure how I would describe it. It's not peppermint or spearmint, but sort of a variant thereof. For what it's worth, I prefer wintergreen to either of those other two.
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