Beverages of All Kinds

[Ziggy]

Manhattan Special.

That sounds awesome, but I've never seen it on Long Island.

Years ago, all too briefly there was Coca-Cola BlāK.



It was Coke and coffee, and it was surprisingly good. At least, my friend and I like it a lot. It disappeared real fast though.

Just a couple of years ago, I spotted a new Coca-Cola coffee product in the supermarket. I think it was labeled as "Coca-Cola With Coffee" and it had a couple of different flavors like regular and vanilla. The problem though is that it contained fake sugar, which I can really do without (health concerns aside, I really do not like the way it tastes). But even without that problem, I guess it was just one of those limited things because I haven't seen it since that one time.

I'd be curious to find out how to make a coke and coffee drink at home. The one time I tried it (years ago, after first trying Coke BlāK) the black coffee didn't mix right with the Coke. Although I want to try and really limit my soda intake going forward.

So is Manhattan Special just like a carbonated coffee? Or is it coffee and coke, or something like that?

[Gucci]

So is Manhattan Special just like a carbonated coffee? Or is it coffee and coke, or something like that?

Yes exactly. It’s a carbonated coffee drink. Comes in a diet version as well. They had other flavors in the past but I never had anything outside of the original and I’m not even sure if they are in production anymore.

[REPO Man]

Does anyone here drink energy drinks?

My go-to is Reign, which is why I get a 12pk every two weeks. It helps with getting up at 6am for my morning job. I like the Red Dragon flavor, but if I'm tapped out and need some until my next shipment I'll just snag a few cans from Food Lion. The Reignbow Sherbet and Orange Creamsicle flavors are pretty good, and I think they have a sour gummy flavor.

I used to drink Bang, but I found out they donate to right-wing causes. And before that, I'd drink a can or two of Monster, but the sugar crashes hit hard. Keep in mind that this was when I was still working as an overnight stocker.

Other than that, I don't drink alcohol. I mostly stick with A&W Root Beer and Dr. Pepper, switching from the latter to the former after 5pm. And I like MtDew. What's the new VooDew flavor supposed to be? Definitely has a fruity flavor, like Skittles or gummies left to soak in MtDew for an hour.

Probably the last drink I "made" was last Christmas when I added a splash of Sunny Delight and topped it off with Sprite (or some other citrus soda, I can't remember). It was pretty good.

I've been working out ideas for a trio of non-alcoholic party beverages for a '90s theme party. One would be a Sunny Delight-inspired orange drink, like a mix of Tang and Country Time Lemonade but made with Sprite. The next would be a purple mixed-berry beverage, like the purple Hawaiian Punch but carbonated. And finally, a green slime-colored beverage that's a mix of sour apple and lime, a nod to the sour candy craze of the '90s. The idea is to draw from what I consider to be the quintessential '90s colors of orange, purple and green, which by sheer coincidence are often associated with Nickelodeon merch from that era.

[Limewater]

Flavored drinks are candy. They're fun in moderation.
I mainly just drink water, black coffee, and protein shakes.
I probably average about one alcoholic beverage a week.

[Gucci]

Holy sugar! Soda has become a hard no over the years.

Water for 85% of the time for me. From time to time I do drink ginger ale because it helps with upset stomachs and digestion. Arizona teas are really the only sugary drinks I have.

I was a fan of Mexican Coke for a time because they switch out high fructose corn syrup for cane sugar.

[Limewater]

I was a fan of Mexican Coke for a time because they switch out high fructose corn syrup for cane sugar.

If you're in NYC you can probably also get kosher coke during passover.

I would be interested to do a side-by-side comparison of Mexican coke versus kosher coke. I've only had Mexican coke.

[REPO Man]

I'm personally not much of a cola person. Dr. Pepper doesn't count.

Is it true you can use Coca Cola to remove rust? Sounds like the very kind of bullshit rumor that actually has a chance to be true.

But to all my fellow root beer drinkers, what are your favorite brands? I usually stick with A&W, mostly because that and store brand are all my local Food Lion has in 2 liter bottles. If I have the cash to splurge (I probably don't) or there's a special occasion (there usually isn't), then I might go for a four-pack of Virgil's. There used to be a grocery store nearby (Village Grocery) that had a wide variety of sodas in glass bottles, and Virgil's was one of them. If I was planning a party and had the cash to burn, I'd definitely order enough Virgil's Root Beer to fill its own cooler.

[Ziggy]

Recently I decided that I want to drink no soda, save for the rare occasion. And in fact, I haven't any any soda for weeks now. I got into the bad habit of doing takeout for lunch every day, which would usually result in having a rather large cup of soda every day. Since I've been packing a lunch every day for a few weeks now, this is mainly why I haven't had any soda. I've lost around 5 pounds in this time, and I attribute it just to the soda.

I've only ever casually looked at nutritional facts in my younger years, so I'm struggling to remember, but I swear there's more sugar in soda these days. When I look at the sugar in a cola or root beer 20oz bottle, it's insane. I don't know if they add more these days, or if my brain just registers that number differently now.

I never worked out the numbers, but I definitely drink mostly water. They say it's good to have a glass of water in the morning. I take a decent amount of vitamins/supplements each morning, so just to swallow those takes about half a glass of water. Then the other half is easy to finish off. And I keep water with me all day, taking drinks often. It use to be that I would crave a lot of water after lunch (fast food and soda) but not anymore since I've been bringing lunch.

I'm still drinking a Red Bull almost daily. I limit myself to one 8.4oz can per day. Which has 26g of sugar. So let's say about 3g of sugar per once. A 20oz coke has 65g, so 3.25g per ounce, about the same really. Since I've been packing a lunch, and drinking no soda, I've been starting to feel better. I would like to eventually cut out the Red Bull. But dammit, I really like the way they taste!

I've been limiting myself to just one beer a day, if I have one at all. The exception being if there's a gathering, or if it's the weekend and I'm enjoying myself. But that's a rare occasion. Liquor I go on spurts with. I can have none at all for a very long stretch, or have a drink every night for a stretch. For example, in June and July I was enjoying that vodka/peach schnapps drink I describe in this thread. I had one nearly every night. But I haven't had one since sometime in early August, I think. Come December, I will probably start having an eggnog and cinnamon whiskey drink most nights after work, but that's pretty much only a three week stretch that I care to have that. I'm sure eggnog isn't the best thing to have daily. Maybe if I lose a few more pounds by then, that'll be incentive to not have one every night. Still, it's only for about 3 weeks so I'm not gonna beat myself up over it.

[marurun]

I keep thinking vitamins might be a way to go and then I keep googling up studies that repeatedly and reliably show that taking vitamins has absolutely no positive effect except when you have a distinct deficit. Especially multivitamins may actually have detrimental effects. But man it’s a booming industry and they do a good job selling us on those phantom health benefits. Oof. So since I’ve seen the studies, why do I continue to occasionally buy them to give them a chance?

I do drink a lot of diet soda, approximately one a day. And my wife has finally got me into flavored carbonated water. It helps break up the monotony of drinking fluids at work.

[REPO Man]

Sometimes I'll drink some of those sparkling fruit-flavored beverages like Sparkling Ice and Bubly. They're okay but I get the feeling they might be more acidic.

Also, @Ziggy, I may have mentioned this but Reign has zero sugar and only ten calories, which may help cutting down on sugar since Red Bull has sugar in it. I don't know how much caffeine Red Bull has, but Reign has 300mg (with 400mg being the maximum amount of caffeine daily).