[Sca-cooks] OOP - Speaking of Coca Cola

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

I confess i fail to see the thrill of Vernor's Ginger Ale.

I grew up in the Chicago area, low these many decades. I didn't like 
Coca Cola, although i don't mind in nowadays in the right situations.

My preferred soda pops as a child were 7Up, Canada Dry Ginger Ale 
(the only one i knew about in the 50s), and Squirt.

When i was 12 i went to Europe with my parents. In England i got to 
drink ginger ale and ginger beer, and after that i was no longer 
interested in drinking Canada dry...

My dad began buying Vernor's which had a little more flavor than 
Canada Dry, but it just wasn't like the *real* thing.

While i was in boarding school in the mid-60s, i was won over by Dr. 
Pepper, which was only available in Texas (and maybe some neighboring 
state). I was friends with a girl there whose father was an airline 
pilot, and he'd bring back cases of the stuff when he flew to Texas. 
When i move to New York City in 1967, i would often go to a tiny 
hole-in-the-wall called The Texas Chili Parlor, that had barely more 
than a dozen seats, and was primarily a gay man's hang-out, since it 
was the only place in town to get Dr. Pepper.

Around the same time i found Cock'n'Bull ginger ale, which had 
*quite* a bit more kick than Vernor's.

Nowadays my preferred carbonated ginger ale is Reed's.

However, Prince Neville's Jamaican Ginger Beer (not carbonated) will 
really knock one flat - more punch than Cassius Clay, George Foreman, 
and Micheal Tyson rolled into one. The Prince's drink is fresh, sold 
in the cold case where the fresh juices are in my local Whole 
Paycheck, err, Foods. It's a San Francisco treat, so i don't know how 
far out of the Bay Area it is available. Fabulous stuff. If you like 
ginger and you ever see it, you owe it to yourself to try it.

Currently i'm hopped up on my own Ginger Syrup which i've been mixing 
with my Andalusian Lemon Syrup which i made for a dayboard - the 
first ever, to my knowledge, in this area - for the Mists/Cynagua 
War. I did it with a Cynaguan, the fabulous cook Anna Sera. It was by 
donation. After we made back out expenses, we donated all the rest of 
the money to our Waterbearers Guild
-- 
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita