All beverages great and small

[slipjig3]

First off, here's the all-important link. It's been in my favorites list for eons, but I hadn't peeked at in in a while until I took an interest in the concept of soda pop regionalism. (I use the term "soda pop" to bridge the highly devisive lexical issue between the term "pop" of my Midwestern homelands and the "soda" of my adopted East, while unfortunately not addressing the generic "coke" of the South.)

See, rafaela and I often make comparisons between her native Tennessee, my native Illinois, and our adopted upstate New york, in terms of What You Can Get and What You Can't. For some reason, it all comes back to carbonated sugar water: The fact that she misses birch beer whenever she has to head home for any duration. The sense of wonder I felt when I was visiting her home state and discovered Mello Yello and Mr. Pibb on the McDonald's serve-yourself taps. Her shock when I found a flattened Faygo can in the parking lot and Sundrop in a convenience store cooler this far above the Mason-Dixon. My firm belief that IBC Root Beer never tasted better than when I lived in Champaign-Urbana, and having some meant sending a St. Louis friend to smuggle a caseload over the Mississippi River.

Which brings me back to the link above, which leads to Pop the Soda Shop.

In a word, yes.

Dude, everything I named above, and a metric snortload more. Grape Nehi. Cheerwine. Green fucking River, for Pete's sake. And dear God's golden gravy, they have Bubble-Up?! They still make that? I haven't tasted that since...um...Jesus, I feel old now...

(Oh, and when you get bored with that? CyberCandy. Imported candy bars. You're welcome.)

Comments

[adamchristopher.livejournal.com]

You've done a bad, bad thing, Adam.

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

But for all the right reasons.

[engagefriction.livejournal.com]

Oh my god, food like that is definitely one of my favorite topics. It is funny, I remember I used to have to drive all over to find Jones Soda, and now it's in two places up there, Target and Panera Bread.

Mello Yello is on tap at SUNY Oneonta! My dad buys Faygo like crazy back in GF.

Imported candy bars - have you checked out the irish store on Broadway in Saratoga at all? I absolutely miss it right now, lots of Cadbury and Nestle items. I absolutely love Smarties! Oh god I need some british chocolate right now :(

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

Celtic Treasures? Ohhh, yes! Trouble is, I seldom can pry myself away from the CDs long enough... *laugh*

And where the blazes does one get Faygo around here, anyway?

Pearl Dust Lollipop!

[engagefriction.livejournal.com]

Description:
A beautiful pearly white pearl shaped vanilla flavoured lollipop laced with genuine pearl dust said to have aphrodisiac properties.

Pearl dust is made from by crushing real pearls and was believed by the ancient Chinese to be an anti ageing elixir and an aphrodisiac. Great for sharing with someone close.

BTW...

[engagefriction.livejournal.com]

this guy is local to Glens Falls and travels over plenty of states to find soda so he can collect and/or sell it:

http://sodafinder.com/

Re: BTW...

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

Ooo! So bookmarked!

Re: BTW...

[engagefriction.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you like it! He is a nice guy, although we no longer talk but that's personal junk O_O. Should be trustworthy if you order!

[daev.livejournal.com]

Green River phosphates at the Courier Cafe. They taste ... green.

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

No kidding? Where were these when I was in town? And yeah, they do taste green. Odd, innit? I used to chug the stuff when it made a brief comeback in the '80s, and I've been jonesing for it since.

[atalantapendrag.livejournal.com]

...Manhattan Special? Blenheim Ginger Ale? Black Lemonade? Jones Crushed Melon? Sweet Cthulhu, Mystic Seaport Cola?


Three weeks to my birthday, y'all...

(just sayin')

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

*giggle* Noted.

[atalantapendrag.livejournal.com]

*clearly is Without Shame*

[jenphalian.livejournal.com]

Dude, in the beverage distribution industry, anything non-beer and non-mainstream "Coke and Pepsi" is referred to collectively as "New Age Beverages". Thats industry standard.

The crazy shit I learn working for accountants.

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

Ooookay, so, like, Mountain Dew is "New Age" now? I...am confused.

[jenphalian.livejournal.com]

No. Mt. Dew is a major brand. Mostly iced tea and energy and coffee drinks are "new age," but also less common sodas.

[enderfem.livejournal.com]

Cheerwine?? So, a brief cheerwine story. I loved the commercials when I was younger, but never tried it. Flashback about....three years ago, I was in Asheville NC, having needed to put distance between myself and a broken heart. I went to the gas station near my hotel, and found a can of Diet Cheerwine. I took it back to Nashville with me, chilled it, and my roommate and I, full of glee, prepared to share our first Cheerwine.


It tasted like....Diet Cough Syrup.

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

Um, ew. Just...ew. (Reminds me of when I finally got my mitts on a genuine bottle of Moxie. Helpful tip: DON'T.)

[docorion.livejournal.com]

Tonic. You forgot "tonic", which is Massachusetts for soda/pop/coke/whatever.

First time I heard that, I expected 'tonic water', which is something completely different.

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

Wow, I never heard that one. Huh. (Has anyone done up an isogloss on the whole soda/pop/coke/tonic geography? I'd muchly like to see if they have.)