LoC: Top 65 Beverages

[Johnny Unusual]

9 –Hot Chocolate

67 points          
6 of 16 lists
Top Vote: #6 Shodan
 

   

Hot chocolate (also known as hot cocoa or just cocoa or chocolate milk) is a heated beverage typically consisting of shaved chocolate, melted chocolate or cocoa powder, heated milk or water, and sugar. Drinking chocolate is similar to hot chocolate, but is made from melted chocolate shavings or paste rather than a powdered mix that's soluble in water.

The first chocolate beverage is believed to have been created by the Mayans around 2,000 years ago, and a cocoa beverage was an essential part of Aztec culture by 1400 AD. The beverage became popular in Europe after being introduced from Mexico in the New World, and has undergone multiple changes since then. Until the 19th century, hot chocolate was even used medicinally to treat ailments such as stomach diseases. Today, hot chocolate is consumed throughout the world and comes in multiple variations including the very thick cioccolata densa served in Italy, and the thinner hot cocoa that is typically consumed in the United States.

Chocolate is made from cocoa beans, the dried and partially fermented seeds of the cacao tree (Theobroma cacao), a small (4–8 m (or 15–26 ft) tall) evergreen tree native to the deep tropical region of the Americas. Recent genetic studies suggest that the most common genotype of the plant originated in the Amazon basin and was gradually transported by humans throughout South and Central America. Early forms of another genotype have also been found in what is now Venezuela. The scientific name, Theobroma, means "food of the gods". The fruit, called a cacao pod, is ovoid, 15–30 cm (or 6–12 in) long and 8–10 cm (3–4 in) wide, ripening yellow to orange, and weighs about 500 g (1 lb) when ripe.

The sweet chocolate residue found in jars from the site of Puerto Escondido in Honduras from around 1100 BC is the earliest found evidence of the use of cacao to date. An early Classic (460-480 AD) period Mayan tomb from the site of Rio Azul, Guatemala, had vessels with the Maya glyph for cacao on them with residue of a chocolate drink. The Maya are generally given credit for creating the first modern chocolate beverage over 2,000 years ago, despite the fact that the beverage would undergo many more changes in Europe.

To make the chocolate drink, which was served cold, the Maya ground cocoa seeds into a paste, and mixed it with water, cornmeal, chile peppers, and other ingredients. They then poured the drink back and forth from a cup to a pot until a thick foam developed. Chocolate was available to Maya of all social classes, although the wealthy drank chocolate from elaborately decorated vessels.

By the 15th century, the Aztecs gained control of a large part of Mesoamerica, and adopted cacao into their culture. They associated chocolate withXochiquetzal, the goddess of fertility, and often used chocolate beverages as sacred offerings. The Aztec adaptation of the drink was a bitter, frothy, spicy drink called xocolatl, made much the same way as the Mayan chocolate drinks. It was often seasoned with vanilla, chile pepper, and achiote, and was believed to fight fatigue, which is probably attributable to the theobromine content, a mood enhancer. Because cacao would not grow in the dry central Mexican highlands and had to be imported, chocolate was an important luxury good throughout the Aztec empire, and cocoa beans were often used as currency.

The first European contact with chocolate came when Montezuma (then tlatoani of Tenochtitlan) introduced Hernán Cortés, a Spanish conquistador, toxocolatl in the 16th century. Antonio de Solís, Philip IV's official Chronicler of the Indies, described Montezuma customarily taking a chocolate beverage after meals, as part of a sumptuous daily ritual:

“He had Cups of Gold, and Salvers of the same; and sometimes he drank out of Cocoas [i.e., coconut shells], and natural Shells, very richly set with Jewels.[...] When he had done eating, he usually took a Kind of Chocolate, made after the Manner of the Country, that is, the Substance of the Nut beat up with the Mill till the Cup was filled more with Froth than with Liquor; after which he used to smoak Tobacco perfum'd with liquid Amber.”

What the Spaniards then called "chocolatl" was said to be a beverage consisting of a chocolate base flavored with vanilla and other spices that was served cold. Montezuma's court reportedly drank about 2,000 cups of xocolatl per day, 50 of which were consumed by Montezuma himself.

Because sugar was yet to come to the Americas, xocolatl was said to be an acquired taste. The drink tasted spicy and bitter, unlike modern hot chocolate, which is typically sweet. As to when xocolatl was first served hot, sources conflict on when and by whom. However, Jose de Acosta, a Spanish Jesuit missionary who lived in Peru and then Mexico in the later 16th century, described xocolatl as:

“Loathsome to such as are not acquainted with it, having a scum or froth that is very unpleasant taste. Yet it is a drink very much esteemed among the Indians, where with they feast noble men who pass through their country. The Spaniards, both men and women, that are accustomed to the country, are very greedy of this Chocolate. They say they make diverse sorts of it, some hot, some cold, and some temperate, and put therein much of that "chili"; yea, they make paste thereof, the which they say is good for the stomach and against the catarrh.”

After defeating Montezuma's warriors, and demanding that the Aztec nobles hand over their valuables, Cortés returned to Spain in 1528, bringing cocoa beans and chocolate drink making equipment. At this time, chocolate still only existed in the bitter drink invented by the Mayans. Sweet hot chocolate and bar chocolate were yet to be invented.

After its introduction to Europe, the drink slowly gained popularity. The court of King Charles V soon adopted the drink, and what was then only known as "chocolate" became a fashionable drink popular with the Spanish upper class. Additionally, cocoa was given as a dowry when members of the Spanish Royal Family married other European aristocrats. At the time, chocolate was very expensive in Europe because the cacao beans only grew in South America.

The first recorded shipment of chocolate to Europe for commercial purposes was in a shipment from Veracruz to Sevilla in 1585. It was still served as a beverage, but the Europeans added cane sugar to counteract the natural bitterness and removed the chili pepper while retaining the vanilla, in addition they added cinnamon as well as other spices. Sweet-tasting hot chocolate was then invented, leading hot chocolate to become a luxury item among the European nobility by the 17th century. Even when the first Chocolate House (an establishment similar to a modern coffee shop) opened in 1657, chocolate was still very expensive, costing 50 to 75 pence (approximately 10-15 shillings) a pound.

In the late 17th century, Hans Sloane, president of the Royal College of Physicians, visited Jamaica. There, he tried chocolate and considered it "nauseous", but found it became more palatable when mixed with milk. When he returned to England, he brought the recipe with him, introducing milk chocolate to Europe.

In 1828, Coenraad Johannes van Houten developed the first cocoa powder producing machine in the Netherlands. The press separated the greasy cocoa butter from cacao seeds, leaving a purer and less fattening chocolate powder behind. This powder—much like the instant cocoa powder used today—was easier to stir into milk and water, and led to another very important discovery: solid chocolate. By using cocoa powder and low amounts of cocoa butter, bar chocolate was then possible to manufacture. The term "chocolate" then came to mean solid chocolate, rather than hot chocolate.


 Drink Recipe – Creamy Hot Chocolate
Ingredients
•   1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
•   3/4 cup white sugar
•   1 pinch salt
•   1/3 cup boiling water
•   3 1/2 cups milk
•   3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
•   1/2 cup half-and-half cream
Directions
1.   Combine the cocoa, sugar and pinch of salt in a saucepan. Blend in the boiling water. Bring this mixture to an easy boil while you stir. Simmer and stir for about 2 minutes. Watch that it doesn't scorch. Stir in 3 1/2 cups of milk and heat until very hot, but do not boil! Remove from heat and add vanilla. Divide between 4 mugs. Add the cream to the mugs of cocoa to cool it to drinking temperature.

Now some Hot Chocolate to really warm you up!
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/J-GkwIRbLw8" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/J-GkwIRbLw8</a>

[sarcasm_made_Easy]

And, I have to say, that green tea in the picture is REALLY green. Where can I get tea like that? I fixed what was called gunpowder tea, which was green tea that was rolled up into tight balls. The balls resembled old fashioned gunpowder, hence the name. I'd put the loose tea leaves into a steel tea ball and steep it for like 15 minutes. It was pretty good, but my tea always came out more orange than green.

Hey look! Somebody used the word "loose" correctly on the internet!

It literally burns me up when people misuse words.

Heh i get it.

[D.B. Barnes]

And, I have to say, that green tea in the picture is REALLY green. Where can I get tea like that? I fixed what was called gunpowder tea, which was green tea that was rolled up into tight balls. The balls resembled old fashioned gunpowder, hence the name. I'd put the loose tea leaves into a steel tea ball and steep it for like 15 minutes. It was pretty good, but my tea always came out more orange than green.

Hey look! Somebody used the word "loose" correctly on the internet!

It literally burns me up when people misuse words.

Heh i get it.

Thrifty's joke was smokin'!

No, seriously, call 9-1-1.

[Johnny Unusual]

8 – Root Beer Float

68 points          
4 of 16 lists
Top Vote: #1 Psycho Goatee

   

Also known as a "black cow" or "brown cow", the root beer float is traditionally made with vanilla ice cream and root beer, but can also be made with other flavors.

In the United States and Canada, the chain A&W Restaurants are well known for their root beer floats. The definition of a black cow varies by region. For instance in some localities, a "root beer float" has strictly vanilla ice cream; a float made with root beer and chocolate ice cream is a "chocolate cow" or a "brown cow." In some places a "black cow" or a "brown cow" was made with cola instead of root beer.

In 2008, the Dr Pepper Snapple Group introduced its Float beverage line. This includes A&W Root Beer, A&W Cream Soda and Sunkist flavors which attempt to simulate the taste of their respective ice cream float flavors in a creamy, bottled drink.

The origin of the name "black cow" has always been of interest to food and beverage experts and allegedly dates to August 1893 in Cripple Creek, Colorado. The only source of this story is the great-grand-nephew of Frank J. Wisner, who has popularized it through advertising on his soft drink products and Wisner, owner of the Cripple Creek Cow Mountain Gold Mining Company, had been producing a line of soda waters for the citizens of the then-booming Cripple Creek gold mining district. He had been trying to create a special drink for the children of Cripple Creek and came up with an idea while staring out at his properties on Cow Mountain on a moonlit night.

The full moon's glow on the snow capped Cow Mountain reminded him of a dollop of vanilla ice cream floating on top of his blackened Cow Mountain. As he told the story later, he was inspired by this view to hurry back to his bar and add a big scoop of vanilla ice cream to the one soda water he produced that the children of Cripple Creek seemed to like best - Myers Avenue Red root beer - and served it the very next day. The drink was an instant hit. Originally named "Black Cow Mountain", the local children shortened this to "black cow". Wisner was known to say many times in his later years that if he had a nickel for every time someone ordered a black cow, he'd have been a rich man.

    
Drink Recipe – Root Beer Float
Ingredients
•   1/2 pint vanilla ice cream
•   1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle root beer
•   1/2 cup whipped cream
•   4 maraschino cherries

Directions
1.   Place 1 scoop of ice cream into each of two tall glasses. Pour root beer carefully over the ice cream. Add another scoop and repeat. If possible, repeat again.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/lLq1Hma0KvA" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/lLq1Hma0KvA</a>

[D.B. Barnes]

10 –Coca-Cola
66 points          
4 of 16 lists
Top Vote: #8 BBQ Platypus

Preferred Serving: Fountain (Team RAD)

   

They need to go back to putting cocaine in Coke. That would be Coke Classic and New Coke with have meth in it.

9 –Hot Chocolate
67 points          
6 of 16 lists
Top Vote: #6 Shodan
 

   

Definitely deserves to be in the top ten. What a tasty treat. Sometimes, I'll mix in some coffee.

8 – Root Beer Float
68 points          
4 of 16 lists
Top Vote: #1 Psycho Goatee

   

One of the most awesome beverages on the planet as far as I'm concerned. This Frank J. Wisner fellow was a genius.

Take your big, black cow, and get outta here

[CJones]

They need to go back to putting cocaine in Coke. That would be Coke Classic and New Coke with have meth in it.

I have read that Coke actually still uses Coca leaves as part of the flavoring, just with the Cocaine removed. I find it hard to believe they could get a hold of Coca leaves though. And if they do do this, what do they do with all the Cocaine?

BTW, I'm surprised that article didn't mention where the name Coca-Cola came from. It comes from the fact that the two main ingredients in the original formulation (besides water and sugar) were Coca leaves (which contain Cocaine) and Kola Nuts (which are loaded with caffeine).

[sarcasm_made_Easy]

http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/cocaine.asp

[Johnny Unusual]

7 – Iced Tea

70 points          
4 of 16 lists
Top Vote: #1 DB Barnes
Serving Preferences: Unsweetened (Cole Stratton, Anais Le Conejita, Monty) Lemon (Cole Stratton, Monty)

   

Iced tea (sometimes known as ice tea) is a form of cold tea, often served in a glass with ice. It may or may not be sweetened. Iced tea is also a popular packaged drink. It can be mixed with flavored syrup, with common flavors including lemon, peach, raspberry, lime, passion fruit, andcherry. While most iced teas get their flavor from tea leaves (Camellia sinensis), other herb-infused beverages are also sometimes served cold and referred to as iced tea. Unsweetened iced tea is sometimes made by a particularly long steeping of tea leaves at lower temperature (one hour in the sun versus 5 minutes at 80-100 °C). Some people call this "sun tea". In addition, sometimes it is also left to stand overnight in the refrigerator.

    
Drink Recipe – Iced Tea
Ingredients:
8 cups water
3 orange pekoe tea bags
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
Slices of fresh lemon to garnish

Instructions:
Step 1: In a large saucepan, heat water to a rapid boil. Remove from heat and drop in the tea bags. Cover and let steep for 1 hour.
Step 2: In a large pitcher, combine the steeped tea and the sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved, then stir in lemon juice. Refrigerate until chilled. Before serving, garnish with thinly-sliced lemons in the pitcher or on the rim of the glass.
 <a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/E8ze0dJFd-M" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/E8ze0dJFd-M</a>

[D.B. Barnes]

7 – Iced Tea

70 points          
4 of 16 lists
Top Vote: #1 DB Barnes
Serving Preferences: Unsweetened (Cole Stratton, Anais Le Conejita, Monty) Lemon (Cole Stratton, Monty)

   

My #1 at #7. Not too shabby!

I drink frightening amounts of this beverage. Always straight up, no lemon, no sugar. I make sun tea all the time. I like to mix a bunch of different bags for the sun tea. It's like an iced tea suicide. And, you get free refills in restaurants. Can't beat that.

I also really like Long Island Iced Teas, even thought there isn't anything resembling tea in them, at least not in the traditional version.

[gojikranz]

not really a fan of iced tea dunno why i guess im used to tea being hot.  but i do sometimes put ice cream in my tea...

[Johnny Unusual]

6 – Orange Juice

73 points          
7 of 16 lists
Top Vote: #4 CJones
 

   

Orange juice is a popular beverage made from oranges. It is made by extraction from the fresh fruit, by desiccation and subsequent reconstitution of dried juice, or by concentration of the juice and the subsequent addition of water to the concentrate. The term "orange juice" or "OJ" is also used, both colloquially and commercially, to refer to all of these forms.

Citrus juices contain flavonoids (especially in the pulp), that may have health benefits. Orange juice is also a source of the antioxidant Hesperidin. Due its citric acid content, orange juice is acidic, with a typical pH of around 3.5.

   
    
Drink Recipe – October Screwdriver
Ingredients:
•   3 oz Blavod vodka
•   3 oz orange juice

Preparation:
1.   Pour the orange juice into a collins glass filled with ice.
2.   Slowly float the Blavod on top.
 <a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/T8KJGtMGMSY" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/T8KJGtMGMSY</a>

[Johnny Unusual]

5 – Coffee

74 points          
6 of 16 lists
Top Vote: #3 DB Barnes
 

   

Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark, slightly acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia, South Asia and Africa. Green (unroasted) coffee is one of the most traded agricultural commodities in the world. Coffee can have a stimulating effect on humans due to its caffeine content. It is one of the most-consumed beverages in the world.

Coffee has played a crucial role in many societies. The energizing effect of the coffee bean plant is thought to have been discovered in the northeast region of Ethiopia, and the cultivation of coffee first expanded in the Arab world. The earliest credible evidence of coffee drinking appears in the middle of the 15th century, in the Sufi shrines of Yemen in southern Arabia. From the Muslim world, coffee spread to India, Italy, then to the rest of Europe, to Indonesia, and to the Americas. In East Africa and Yemen, it was used in religious ceremonies. As a result, the Ethiopian Church banned its secular consumption, a ban in effect until the reign of Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia. It was banned in Ottoman Turkey during the 17th century for political reasons, and was associated with rebellious political activities in Europe.

Coffee berries, which contain the coffee seeds or "beans", are produced by several species of small evergreen bush of the genus Coffea. The two most commonly grown are the highly regarded Coffea arabica, and the 'robusta' form of the hardier Coffea canephora. The latter is resistant to the devastating coffee leaf rust (Hemileia vastatrix). Once ripe, coffee berries are picked, processed, and dried. The seeds are then roasted to varying degrees, depending on the desired flavor. They are then ground and brewed to create coffee. Coffee can be prepared and presented in a variety of ways.

An important export commodity, coffee was the top agricultural export for twelve countries in 2004, and it was the world's seventh-largest legal agricultural export by value in 2005. Some controversy is associated with coffee cultivation and its impact on the environment. Many studies have examined the relationship between coffee consumption and certain health conditions; whether the overall effects of coffee are ultimately positive or negative has been widely disputed. The method of brewing coffee has been found to be important to its health effects.

Ethiopian ancestors of today's Oromo people were believed to have been the first to recognize the energizing effect of the coffee bean plant. However, no direct evidence has been found indicating where in Africa coffee grew or who among the natives might have used it as a stimulant or even known about it, earlier than the 17th century. The story of Kaldi, the 9th-century Ethiopian goat herder who discovered coffee, did not appear in writing until 1671 and is probably apocryphal. Other accounts attribute the discovery of coffee to Sheik Omar. According to the ancient chronicle (preserved in the Abd-Al-Kadir manuscript), Omar, who was known for his ability to cure the sick through prayer, was once exiled from Mocha to a desert cave near Ousab. Starving, Omar chewed berries from nearby shrubbery, but found them to be bitter. He tried roasting the beans to improve the flavor, but they became hard. He then tried boiling them to soften the bean, which resulted in a fragrant brown liquid. Upon drinking the liquid Omar was revitalized and sustained for days. As stories of this "miracle drug" reached Mocha, Omar was asked to return and was made a saint. From Ethiopia, the beverage was introduced into the Arab world through Egypt and Yemen.

The earliest credible evidence of either coffee drinking or knowledge of the coffee tree appears in the middle of the fifteenth century, in the Sufi monasteries around Mokha in Yemen. It was here in Arabia that coffee beans were first roasted and brewed, in a similar way to how it is now prepared. By the 16th century, it had reached the rest of the Middle East, Persia, Turkey, and northern Africa. Coffee beans were first exported from Ethiopia to Yemen. Yemeni traders brought coffee back to their homeland and began to cultivate the bean. The first coffee smuggled out of the Middle East was by Sufi Baba Budan from Yemen to India in 1670. Before then, all exported coffee was boiled or otherwise sterilised. Portraits of Baba Budan depict him as having smuggled seven coffee beans by strapping them to his chest. The first plants grown from these smuggled seeds were planted in Mysore. Coffee then spread to Italy, and to the rest of Europe, to Indonesia, and to the Americas.

In 1583, Leonhard Rauwolf, a German physician, gave this description of coffee after returning from a ten-year trip to the Near East:
A beverage as black as ink, useful against numerous illnesses, particularly those of the stomach. Its consumers take it in the morning, quite frankly, in a porcelain cup that is passed around and from which each one drinks a cupful. It is composed of water and the fruit from a bush called bunnu.
—Léonard Rauwolf, Reise in die Morgenländer (in German)

From the Muslim world, coffee spread to Italy. The thriving trade between Venice and North Africa, Egypt, and the Middle East brought many goods, including coffee, to the Venetian port. From Venice, it was introduced to the rest of Europe. Coffee became more widely accepted after it was deemed a Christian beverage by Pope Clement VIII in 1600, despite appeals to ban the "Muslim drink." The first European coffee house opened in Italy in 1645. The Dutch were the first to import coffee on a large scale. The Dutch later grew the crop in Java and Ceylon. The first exports of Indonesian coffee from Java to the Netherlands occurred in 1711. Through the efforts of the British East India Company , coffee became popular in England as well. Oxford's Queen's Lane Coffee House, established in 1654, is still in existence today. Coffee was introduced in France in 1657, and in Austria and Poland after the 1683 Battle of Vienna, when coffee was captured from supplies of the defeated Turks.

When coffee reached North America during the Colonial period, it was initially not as successful as it had been in Europe as alcoholic beverages remained more popular. During the Revolutionary War, however, the demand for coffee increased so much that dealers had to hoard their scarce supplies and raise prices dramatically; this was also due to the reduced availability of tea from British merchants. After the War of 1812, during which Britain temporarily cut off access to tea imports, the Americans' taste for coffee grew, and high demand during the American Civil War together with advances in brewing technology secured the position of coffee as an everyday commodity in the United States. Paradoxically, coffee consumption declined in England, giving way to tea during the 18th century. The latter beverage was simpler to make, and had become cheaper with the British conquest of India and the tea industry there. During the Age of Sail, seamen aboard ships of the British Royal Navy made substitute coffee by dissolving burnt bread in hot water.

The Frenchman Gabriel de Clieu brought a coffee plant to the French territory of Martinique in the Caribbean, from which much of the world's cultivated arabica coffee is descended. Coffee thrived in the climate and was conveyed across the Americas. The territory of San Domingo (now Haiti) saw coffee cultivated from 1734, and by 1788 it supplied half the world's coffee. However, the dreadful conditions that the slaves worked in on coffee plantations were a factor in the soon to follow Haitian Revolution. The coffee industry never fully recovered there. Meanwhile, coffee had been introduced to Brazil in 1727, although its cultivation did not gather momentum until independence in 1822. After this time, massive tracts of rainforest were cleared first from the vicinity of Rio and later São Paulo for coffee plantations. Cultivation was taken up by many countries in Central America in the latter half of the 19th century, and almost all involved the large-scale displacement and exploitation of the indigenous people. Harsh conditions led to many uprisings, coups and bloody suppression of peasants. The notable exception was Costa Rica, where lack of ready labor prevented the formation of large farms. Smaller farms and more egalitarian conditions ameliorated unrest over the 19th and 20th centuries.

Coffee has become a vital cash crop for many Third World countries. Over one hundred million people in developing countries have become dependent on coffee as their primary source of income. It has become the primary export and backbone for African countries like Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, and Ethiopia, as well as many Central American countries.

   
    
Drink Recipe – Jamaica Coffee
Ingredients
•   3/4 fluid ounce dark rum
•   3/4 fluid ounce coffee flavored liqueur
•   1 cup brewed coffee
•   2 tablespoons whipped cream
•   1 chocolate covered coffee bean
Directions
1.   Pour rum and coffee liqueur into a decorative coffee glass. Fill glass with hot coffee. Top with a dollop of whipped cream and garnish with a coffee bean.
 <a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/2AAa0gd7ClM" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/2AAa0gd7ClM</a>

[Johnny Unusual]

4 – Cream Soda

81 points          
4 of 16 lists
Top Vote: #2 Pak Man
 

   
   
Cream soda is a sweet carbonated soft drink, often flavored with vanilla.
The drink originated in the United Kingdom in the 19th century. A recipe for cream soda—written by E.M. Sheldon and published in Michigan Farmer in 1852—called for water, cream of tartar, Epsom salts, sugar, tartaric acid, egg, and milk, to be mixed together, then heated, and when cool mixed with water and a quarter teaspoonful of soda (sodium bicarbonate) to make an effervescent drink.

Alexander C. Howell, of Vienna, New Jersey, was granted a patent for "cream soda-water" on June 27, 1865. Howell's cream soda-water was made with sodium bicarbonate, water, sugar, egg whites, wheat flour, and "any of the usual flavoring materials—such as oil of lemon, &c, extracts of vanilla, pine-apple, &c., to suit the taste"; before drinking, the cream soda water was mixed with water and an acid such as tartaric acid or citric acid. In Canada, James William Black of Berwick, Nova Scotia was granted a U.S. patent on December 8, 1885, and a Canadian patent on July 5, 1886, for "ice-cream soda". Black's ice-cream soda, which contained whipped egg whites, sugar, lime juice, lemons, citric acid, flavoring, and bicarbonate of soda, was a concentrated syrup that could be reconstituted into an effervescent beverage by adding ordinary ice water.

 Drink Recipe – Italian Cream Soda
Ingredients
•   8 fluid ounces carbonated water
•   3/4 fluid ounce passion fruit flavored syrup
•   3/4 fluid ounce watermelon flavored syrup
•   1 fluid ounce half-and-half cream
Directions
1.   Fill a tall glass half full with ice. Fill to 2/3 with carbonated water. Pour in watermelon and passion fruit flavored syrups, then float the half-and-half cream on top. Stir when ready to drink.
 <a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/iMBvj20umQE" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/iMBvj20umQE</a>

[Johnny Unusual]

3 – Root Beer

98 points          
5 of 16 lists
Top Vote: #2 Gojikranz, Johnny Unusual
 

   
   
Root beer is a carbonated, sweetened beverage, originally made using the root of a sassafras plant (or the bark of a sassafras tree) as the primary flavor. Root beer, popularized in North America, comes in two forms: alcoholic and soft drink. The historical root beer was analogous to small beer in that the process provided a drink with a very low alcohol content. Although roots are used as the source of many soft drinks in many countries throughout the world (and even alcoholic beverages/beers), the name root beer is rarely used outside North America and the Philippines. Most other countries have their own indigenous versions of root-based beverages and small beers but with different names.

There are hundreds of root beer brands in the United States, produced in every U.S. state, and there is no standardized recipe. The primary ingredient, artificial sassafras flavoring, is complemented with other flavors. Common flavorings are vanilla, wintergreen, cherry tree bark, licorice root, sarsaparilla root, nutmeg, acacia, anise, molasses, cinnamon, clove and honey. Although most mainstream brands are caffeine-free (including A&W Root Beer, Dad's Root Beer, and Mug Root Beer), there are two brands of root beer, Bawls Geek Beer and Barq's, that contain caffeine. Barq's, however, produces a caffeine-free variety sold in several U.S. markets.

Homemade root beer is usually made from concentrate, though it can also be made from actual herbs and roots. Both alcoholic and non-alcoholic root beers have a thick and foamy head when poured, often enhanced by the addition of Cassava extract.

 Drink Recipe – Root of All Evil
Ingredients
1 part(s) Pernod Absinthe (more Pernod Absinthe drinks)
3 part(s) Root Beer (more Root Beer drinks)
Instructions
Fill cocktail glass with ice. Pour in Pernod Absinthe and top with a quality Root Beer.
 
 <a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/NFR4me0B198" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/NFR4me0B198</a>

[Johnny Unusual]

2 – Dr Pepper

149 points          
7 of 16 lists
Top Vote: #1 Gojikranz
 

   
   
Dr Pepper is a soft drink, marketed as having a unique flavor. The drink was created in the 1880s by Charles Alderton of Waco, Texas and first served around 1885. Dr Pepper was first nationally marketed in the United States in 1904 and is now also sold in Europe, Asia, Canada, Australia (as an imported drink) and South America. Variants include a non-high fructose corn syrup version, Diet Dr Pepper, as well as a line of versions with additional flavors, first introduced in the 2000s.

W.W. Clements, a former CEO and president of the Dr Pepper/7-Up Company, described the taste of Dr Pepper as one-of-a-kind, saying "I've always maintained you cannot tell anyone what Dr Pepper tastes like because it's so different. It's not an apple, it's not an orange, it's not a strawberry, it's not a root beer, it's not even a cola. It's a different kind of drink with a unique taste all its own."

The U.S. Patent Office recognizes December 1, 1885 as the first time Dr Pepper was served. It was introduced nationally in the United States at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition as a new kind of soda pop, made with 23 flavors. Its introduction in 1885 preceded the introduction of Coca-Cola by one year.

It was formulated by Brooklyn-born pharmacist Charles Alderton in Morrison's Old Corner Drug Store in Waco, Texas. To test his new drink, he first offered it to store owner Wade Morrison, who also found it to his liking. Patrons at Morrison's soda fountain soon learned of Alderton's new drink and began ordering a "Waco". Alderton gave the formula to Morrison who named it Dr Pepper.

There are many theories about the origins of the soft drink's name. One conjecture is that the "pep" refers to pepsin. In 2009, an old ledger book filled with formulas and recipes was discovered by a man named Bill Waters while shopping at antiques stores in the Texas Panhandle. Several sheets and letterheads hinted that it had come from the W.B. Morrison & Co. Old Corner Drug Store (the same store Dr Pepper was first served at in 1885) and faded letters on the book's cover spelled out "Castles Formulas" (John Castles was a partner of Morrison's for a time and worked at that location as early as 1880). One recipe in the book titled "D Peppers Pepsin Bitters" was of particular interest, and some speculated it could be an early recipe for Dr Pepper. However, Dr Pepper Snapple Group insists it is not the formula for Dr Pepper, but is instead a medicinal recipe for a digestive aid. The book was put up for auction in May 2009 but no one purchased it.

Like many early sodas, the drink was marketed as a brain tonic and energizing pick-me-up, so another theory holds that it was named for the pep it supposedly gave to users.

Others believe the drink was named after a real Dr. Pepper. One candidate is Dr. Charles T. Pepper of Rural Retreat, Virginia, who might have been honored either in order for Morrison to obtain permission to marry the doctor's daughter, or in gratitude to Pepper for giving Morrison his first job. However, Morrison lived nearly 50 miles from Rural Retreat, and Pepper's daughter was only 8 years old at the time Morrison relocated to Waco.

Another possibility is Dr. Pepper of Christiansburg, Virginia. U.S. Census records show a young Morrison working as a pharmacy clerk in Christiansburg. One of the following pages of this census supposedly shows a Dr. Pepper and daughter Malinda or Malissa, age 16. Since census takers of the period were walking door to door, and their census entries were on following pages, it seems likely that Morrison and the family of Dr. Pepper did not live very far from each other.

The period (fullstop) after "Dr" was discarded for stylistic and legibility reasons in the 1950s. Dr Pepper's logo was redesigned and the text in this new logo was slanted. The period made "Dr." look like "Di:". After some debate, the period was removed for good (it had been used off and on in previous logos), as it would also help remove any medical connotation with the product.

In 1951, Dr Pepper sued the Coca-Cola company for $750,000(US) asserting that nickel Coca-Colas were sold below cost and were a restraint of trade.

In 1972, Dr Pepper sued the Coca-Cola company for trademark infringement based on a soft drink marketed by Coca-Cola called "Peppo". They tried naming it Dr. Pibb, which was also determined to violate the trademark. The soft drink was later renamed Mr Pibb.
Dr Pepper became insolvent in the early 1980s, prompting an investment group to take the company private. Several years later, Coca-Cola attempted to acquire Dr Pepper, but was blocked from doing so by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Around the same time, Seven Up was acquired from Phillip Morris by the same investment company that bailed out Dr Pepper. Upon the failure of the Coca-Cola merger, Dr Pepper and Seven Up merged (creating Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc., or DPSU), giving up international branding rights in the process. After the DPSU merger, Coca-Cola obtained most non-U.S. rights to the Dr Pepper name (with PepsiCo taking the Seven Up rights).

Dr Pepper was a frequent player in the 1990s antitrust history of the United States. As part of these activities, economists and the courts have weighed in with the opinion that Dr Pepper is a "Pepper" flavored drink and not a "Cola". In 1995, the FTC blocked a merger between The Coca-Cola Company and Dr Pepper on grounds that included concerns about a monopoly of the "Pepper" flavor category of soft drinks. In 1996, Dr Pepper was involved in an antitrust case involving Jerry Jones, the Dallas Cowboys, NFL Properties, Nike, and other commercial interests active at Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas. Jones had made deals with Dr Pepper and the other companies that, the league said, violated their exclusive marketing contracts with Coca-Cola and other businesses. The NFL agreed to allow Jones and other teams to pursue their own agreements.

In 1998, the "Pepper" flavor soda category was a major part of the analysis supporting an antitrust case between Coca-Cola and Pepsi.


 Drink Recipe – Dr. Pepper Wassail Holiday Punch
INGREDIENTS:
16 ounces Dr. Pepper
16 ounces grape wine
1 teaspoon lemon juice concentrate
4 ounces bourbon
4 dashes bitters
1 apple, cored sliced and stuffed with cloves
1 orange, sliced thin

PREPARATION:
Heat all ingredients to moderate temperature. Serve warm. Great holiday party drink.
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