I used to be the Coca Cola Company's biggest fan and one of its faithful consumers. Grew up with the stuff in my baby bottle, drank it every day, and went from a six pack of little bottles to a liter or so a day, up until I was about forty-five. Then all that sugar and empty calories and dental caries started making me rethink my consumption. Hundred and fifty calories in a 12-ounce bottle of Coke, that starts to add up fast.
So I tried diet cola, and ick, that was awful for a guy who could tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi in a blind taste test. So I started looking around for other things.
Tried tea, plain water, and eventually, came to the realization that I could get by with club soda or seltzer. Got the bubbles, but no calories, and it tasted better than diet cola -- I don't care what anybody says, that stuff is just awful, an abomination unto the senses.
(The Mexican Coca Cola you can get at Costco these days has sugar and not corn syrup in it, and is delicious. I have one now and again. Once or twice a week.)
But since I always have a glass of something on my desk and flow the fluids all day, even Safeway club soda can get spendy at $2.5o a six pack on sale. So I found one of those siphon thingees like they used in the old days to bubble their water. Or, if you were one of the Three Stooges, shoot it down each other's pants ...
The CO2 cartridges, if you buy them in bulk, allows you to fizz your own tap water, and for about half what you pay if you buy the bottled or canned stuff, and it will keep in the bottle in the fridge for weeks without going flat, if you get a good model.
So, if you are looking for fizz without guilt, consider making your own ...
Once I would have agreed that diet soda is an abomination. But these days I drink Pepsi One at home and Diet Pepsi when I'm out and it's fine. It took me a while to make the transition--by getting fountain drinks and slowly increasing the percentage of diet soda in my drink until that's all I drink. Nowadays drinking a real Pepsi leaves me feeling overloaded with sugar. (Though I have to agree--those Mexican Pepsis with real sugar are great.)
ReplyDeleteI've been happy with the Soda Club model myself. The price is reasonable. They use sucralose instead of aspartame for the diet sodas, sugar instead of corn syrup for the non-diet and about a third of the sugar/calories as regular soda. The carbonators can be returned for a credit in a store at Jantzen Beach.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's Kosher for Passover. What's not to like?
Well, I had a fantastic little contribution that couldn't be posted because I dind't have a google account and now I can't remember what I wrote. Don't you just hate that? Basically, what I said was, I drank cola (pick your brand) for many years. Be careful, it cost me my esophagus and stomache to cancer. Acid. Now about all I can drink is water and good tequila.
ReplyDeleteNot to mention, if you have high blood pressure, stopping the soda goes a long way to controlling it.
ReplyDeleteThese day's I only drink soda at the movies with popcorn once in a while. My kids have seen the horror pictures at the Orthodontist of what soda can do to you so they tend to stay away from it too, thank goodness.
And my wife, she's one of those one in a thousand that's deadly alergic to artificial sweeteners, so those brain mutators don't come within miles of our house.
Now regarding esspressoo.........