Do you have Coke... in a glass harmonica?

Good things come in small packages glass bottles. That's what my mother told me when I reached for my last undersized gift one Christmas morning as my brother was tearing off the paper on a gargantuan sized box. At least neither small packages nor glass bottles usually contain socks. I don't actually remember what was in that enormous box, so I've chosen to believe that it was just pairs upon pairs of boring socks. I digress. On to glass bottles....

The bottles above came from the Mast General Store in Valle Crucis, NC. This is what's left from the two cases I bought in January of this year when visiting my mom in Lenoir, NC. Yes, I threw two cases of pop in the back of my car before driving back to New York. It's surprisingly rewarding to know that I have a stash of Cheerwine and RC Cola in the city. A bottler in West Jefferson makes these varieties with (mostly) real sugar instead of the usual high fructose corn syrup. A six-pack of this assortment was also my contribution to a recent party... because the only way to make a bigger splash than the guy who brings Swedish Fish is clearly to be the guy who brings pop in glass bottles. There was no Lingonberry pop, so it was still a bit of a gamble. Point being, pop tastes better in glass bottles. This is a fact.

High fructose corn syrup is a somewhat controversial issue. My stance is best described here, but to summarize, I think anything is fine in moderation. Putting the fork down once and a while would go a long way.

Pepsi has responded to the public outcry by issuing the Throwback line in plastic bottles. I tried the Pepsi and Mountain Dew, and I really wanted them to taste better. Maybe they did, but the experience was sullied by the lack of glass involved. I'll restrict future discussion to pure cane colas that also happen to be packaged in glass bottles.

Changing camps, the only way (I know of) to get sugar-based Coca-Cola is to buy from Mexico. There's a short list of reasons why you shouldn't go into any given Bodega and start asking about "Mexican Coke," but the fact that it is produced in 355mL glass bottles does make it a worthwhile gamble. There is a website, but I've found that it's woefully uninformed about the vastness of the present marketplace. The scientist in me should come out at this point and note that this HFCS/cane sugar taste difference could all be total nonsense. The "glass bottle" effect, however, is entirely real.

Whether the cane sugar makes a damn bit of difference or not, glass bottles certainly improve the soda pop experience. See also Dublin Dr. Pepper for another example of people not letting the dream die. Long live the long neck bottle!

Irish Cuisine

After a week in Ireland, I figured I had to mention some of the food I sampled. I'm not a difficult person, and most of it did come in the form of fish and chips. It was delicious. Even the crummy stuff (the Kennedy Fried Chicken of fish & chips, shown below) was a life changing experience. Irish fried food is still fried food, but the slight rush of trying it somewhere new really makes the experience.

The best way to begin a day is with a full Irish breakfast. This is the real deal: potatoes, bacon (rashers), sausages, a fried egg, beans, and the somewhat unsettling black (blood) and white pudding. Yes, I ate it all. Multiple times. I don't know what this says about me, but I found the beans running into my eggs more disturbing than the blood flavored portion of the meal. My favorite version might be the one I had at the Portuguese greasy spoon I discovered in Cork. Who knew?

This is beef and Guinness stew: it's meat, potatoes and braised vegetables (which just taste like beef and Guinness). Another repeat offender on my list of things I consumed. I'm a big fan of any dinner that can be served in a big, spanking bowl.

Some locals in Cork asked me what I thought of Irish food. I explained that I had gorged myself on fried food, breakfast, and some beef/Guinness concoction. Their response: try the bacon and cabbage. So I did. This is apparently the dish that sends the message that you aren't a wussy tourist (because eating the blood pudding isn't a strong enough signal). The server at the pub seemed reluctant to let me order it, and he kept asking me if I was enjoying it. Also, it's quite tasty.